Gardener's tip for dealing with 'nightmare' issue growing in Aussie suburbs
Warren Yaghmour has visited dozens of Sydney homes where residents have been stuck in bitter disputes with their neighbours about who is responsible for the branches across boundary lines, and he believes the quickest and easiest way to get out of the dilemma is to know exactly what you legally can and can't do. This is all laid out by councils.
"You've got to find out every single suburb's council, and then go through their list and see what you're allowed to do and whatnot," he told Yahoo. "Different species of trees require different assessments, and sometimes you're allowed to trim big branches and sometimes not."
Complying with regulations will ensure the resident is on the right side of the argument, and knowing what species can be cut, and at what height, will make the process much more seamless. Warren said he's often stuck in the middle of disputes, some of which have become so tense he's had to call the police.
Another Sydney gardener, Nathan Stafford, is no stranger to neighbourhood disputes, once catching on camera a man shouting at him during a job. Like Warren, he has previously urged residents to maintain an amicable relationship.
"Don't chuck the branches back over is definitely the first rule of thumb. That will just get you in all sorts of a mess," Warren explained.
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Why do Australians get so wound up by overhanging branches?
Yahoo News has reported on multiple incidents involving residents getting caught up in arguments with neighbours about overhanging trees, including a Sunshine Coast woman who tried to have her neighbour's branches removed for two years, and an elderly couple in England who have a cut-in-half tree standing on the edge of their driveway.Warren believes tensions become so heightened between neighbours because Aussie cities are becoming increasingly more cramped, so irritation looms large when "everyone's living on top of each other".
"Everyone has the same problem, it affects everybody. Everything's tight and bunched up," he explained. "We've got a lot of trees [in urban areas]... if an overhanging tree branch is leaning over and scraping your gutters, you can't sleep. Or, you have to phone a plumber... or it can destroy fences... that's why it starts becoming a major issue."
He is urging residents to reach out to professionals if they are facing problems with overhanging trees. Arborists and gardeners can assure council regulations are being complied with, and the health of the tree isn't compromised in the process.
"The tree can get infected. It can get diseases. It can get different types of bugs attracted [to it], and then they generally kill the tree, or at least make it sick."
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