What can I do about a pesky tree? (parking issue)

VincentHanna

VincentHanna

VincentHanna

Caporegime
Joined
30 Jul 2013
Posts
29,639
I'm posting this in Motors because it affects my car, and nothing else.

Basically I live in a cul-de-sac and my allocated parking area is underneath a rather large tree. Unfortunately the tree is behind a fence, at the bottom of a garden of another house (that isn't even part of the cul-de-sac) and causes me lots of problems

The two main ones are:

1) Birds - Sometimes I come out of the house to leave for work and the car is covered in acidic bird crap.

2) Sap - Springtime my car gets absolutely covered in sap, to the point where wipers and electric windows get stuck and it needs washing every few days.

And then in Autumn it gets covered in leaves and twigs which clog up my windscreen area where the windscreen washers are.

So far I've lived with it for 5 years with cars I've owned, but I will be contract hiring a car soon that has a panoramic sunroof and though I've been lucky with my cars, i'm concerned it could ruin the paintwork, and I won't be the owner of the vehicle.

As I understand it, you can cut plants that encroach on your property boundaries, but the tree is too high for me to reach cut branches off anyway - I don't mind talking to the person whose tree it is, but are they or their landlord legally obliged to do anything about it?
 
I should probably provide a photo to show the size we're dealing with.

bloomin_tree01.jpg


bloomin_tree02.jpg


Obviously it's winter so it looks smaller without the leaves.
 
adam cool dude said:
You need to cut the whole lot down. You will always get mess on your car from wind etc. Especially in spring and autumn. I guess building some sort of car port is out of the question?
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We rent, so spending any money is a bit out of the question :)

The landlord literally do the bare minimum as well (but they do also leave us alone and haven't raised the rent in 5 years), so I won't be getting any help from them.
 
I love how people are so quick to judge without any information other than two pictures.

1) I'm a company director and you need at least two years accounts before anyone will even consider giving you a mortgage. I don't even have the first years accounts yet.

2) It's not a ''flash car', it's an estate with 80,000 miles on it that I bought used from BMW.

3) I live in the south east where a 2 bedroom flat costs £300,000....
 
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adam cool dude said:
Not really the car is worth 15 to 20 grand depending on mileage and condition. That's a house deposit right there. Also people use the South as an excuse. There are plenty of jobs North of Watford and you do not have to live renting a matchbox house for a silly sum a month with a tree dropping it's contents on your car for three quarters of the year.

This branched from the fact that the tree is absolutely mahoosive and the only other way to solve the OP's problem is to get the whole thing cut down which is easier said than done as I guess that tree and neighbouring house was there a long time before and entirely depends on what they want to do.
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It's done 80,000 miles and is worth around 13K, If I am lucky...

We already have money saved for a mortgage, in a Lifetime ISA, but like I said as a company director I need 2 years worth of accounts to actually get a mortgage. Jeez.

Thanks to all those who answered the question and didn't just judge my lifestyle, with no actual information about me to go on.
 
adam cool dude said:
So why are you worrying about a tree that you have put up with for the past 5 years when you are saying it will be a complete non issue in two years time?
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Allow me to repeat the key information for you.

VincentHanna said:
So far I've lived with it for 5 years with cars I've owned, but I will be contract hiring a car soon that has a panoramic sunroof and though I've been lucky with my cars, i'm concerned it could ruin the paintwork, and I won't be the owner of the vehicle.
Click to expand...
 
Journey said:
I agree, cutting a tree down completely has been suggested as someone who only lives there temporarily. The obvious choice is to employ a tree surgeon to cut it back correctly, or just put a cover over your car if you are that bothered.

Oh, with regards to paintwork finish on your vehicle when handing it back it will probably cost you less to pay a fine (if they bother) and a professional paint valet type affair, than hiring a tree surgeon. If you've never PCH'd a car before as long as it doesn't look like it's been grated and gouged they don't give two hoots most of the time.
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Wait, what?

Where did I say I wanted it cut down completely?

My question was, am I legally entitled to ask the people whose garden the tree is in to do something about it - i.e. trimming it back.
 
Oh sorry, i'm obviously on the defensive after some of the posts here criticising my entire life-style.

I mean, it's fine for someone to spend 3 hours at a weekend cleaning their car, but god forbid you want solutions to protect it from nature.
 
The bins aren't usually there, I just happened to take the photo as soon as I got back home on bin-day

The car is as far back as it can go, as there is a line of shrubbery and then a little path leading to the door.

House is end terrace (of 4) and sadly not much room next to me when my neighbour parks their van outside their house.
 
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