Countryboy1

The villa next door to our property was sold a couple of years ago to a French couple who visit with family in August and rent it out during the summer,
We have a small boundary wall a couple of metres high which I had built some years ago on my side of the property line.
The previous owners who we got along with very well, planted conifer trees along their side of the wall and always kept them trimmed to the height of the dividing wall.
Since change of ownership however the new owners have just let them grow. I can understand a privacy consideration in their decision, but the top line of the trees is very ragged ranging from 1 metre above the top of the wall to about 4 metres at its maximum. Not only that but a lot of the growth sticks out over the wall onto our side,
Last year when I had a gardener in for some work he trimmed all the branches that were protruding over the wall, but now things are just as bad as well as the trees just getting higher.
On their last visit I tried to draw their attention to the situation, but was met with an uninterested shrug of the shoulders. They don't live there so I don't think it bothers them.
So, my question is what, if anything, can I do now? Am I just stuck with the situation?
Thanks.

EMR

Can you prove them to be a fire risk ?.
If so a complaint to the local council could work.

Moses2013

We have a plot with older pine trees and according to council where we are, we have to keep around 20% of the trees and can't just cut down without permission. Obviously your case is different, as the owners planted the conifer. I know that in Germany there are laws you are not allowed to cut hedges between end of March to September and there are laws on height etc. As mentioned by EMR, fire risk is an issue in Spain and we also received a letter from council to cut grass last year. When you're not there you obviously don't know how long it is, but as soon as the letter comes, I just get a guy to do it for me.


If the letter comes from council, you won't be the bad one.

VEDShappy

I had a similar problem at our last house in the U.K. and the neighbour there was not bothered about the amount of light blocked from our garden. However, when two of the trees right in the middle of the hedge, in line with neighbour's patio coincidentally, mysteriously died (!!) it wasn't long before he took them all down and erected a very tidy 6' fence instead.

Moses2013

A bit of weed killer

Countryboy1

Not a bad idea methinks! I've heard that Salfumant agua fuerte is effective (and cheap). Can anyone confirm?

Fred James

Agua Fuerte is Hydrochloric Acid. It might kill the tree if constantly applied to a trench round the tree, but it isn't a particularly corrosive acid.

Far better is Glyphosphate weedkiller, such as Roundup. Drill a hole into the tree and inject it with full strength weedkiller. That will do the trick fairly quickly.

avocados

Killing stuff is wonderful.............but, ensure that u profile your opponents first to ensure that the likelihood of retaliation is low.

It is Spain, the wild west, so anything goes !!!

If my trees started to die, I would know who did it and they would punished severely. I've been here long enough to know how to deal with matters of this kind.

So, be careful.

Pulaski

The end result of applying hydrochloric acid will be contamination with chloride salts, such as sodium chloride, calcium chloride, iron chloride, etc, so pretty much the same as seawater, and therefore the ground will be toxic to most plants and it would be difficult to grow anything there, including grass.

missile

I can't believe people would kill trees on someone else's property Before taking such drastic action which will no doubt cause issues ....... You may not like looking at those trees but would you really want to look at dead and dying trees?


Why not ask your neighbour if he would allow you to prune them at YOUR cost.

Countryboy1

Thanks, I agree that I wouldn't like to look at dead trees. The thing is, they have employed a gardener on a regular basis to maintain their garden whilst they are not here. From their attitude and the fact they have allowed the trees to grow higher and higher and because they are of such an uneven height, they look a mess. I could be accused of being stubborn, but I don't see why I should pay to maintain them.

Moses2013

I think it would be the last option, but if the people are stubborn why should he pay for their maintenance. Other option would be to spray the conifers with vinegar to stop growing further and it won't kill the roots. As mentioned, I would probably contact council to see if there are height restrictions etc.

missile

I would agree OP could contact his Ayuntamiento, but I do hope he got permission to build that 2 metre high boundary wall? I doubt they will take action unless the trees are causing damage. The OP has given no information to suggest these trees are in any way endangering his property? He is perfectly entitled to prune any overgrowing branches.


IMHO neighbours are not being stubborn, they have no obligation to prune their trees and OP could be liable for prosecution if he damages them. Offering to pay for the pruning would seem an obvious solution to resolving his problem.

missile

I am not unsympathetic to OPs plight. I am guessing these are Leylandii (cypress conifer) trees? These do form an effective hedge when young but when left unchecked they can become a real problem.

Pulaski

I am not sure that is the case, because once you cut a Leylandii or similar cypress to a certain height it doesn't grow much taller as the main trunk can't grow once the apex has been removed. The OP said they were previously trimmed to the height of the wall, but have now grown several metres higher than the wall.