Do I have to let my neighbour know nefore taking down my tree?

fergy wrote: ↑ Living in a detached home I've never heard of a requirement to notify neighbors. ..... You can also call your city to see if they have any bylaw requirement.

No requirement - but a nice thing to do. When we've work that could impact neighbours, we've let them know ahead of time. It would be shitty to host a kids birthday party if someone had heavy machinery going next door.

If OP is in a city, most will have a tree bylaw in place - and removing that many trees might not be allowed at all or might cost $ depending on their sizes.

It's doubtful the city will allow you to cut down healthy trees for the reasons you have posted.

you should be able to do what ever you want its your property. its like saying you cant water the grass in the middle of the hottest day of the year, I call BS on that.

I hope you're not able to cut down the trees just because you don't like to rake.

why? i had to cut down a tree because i did not like to rake 20 bags of leafs every fall, i also had a back injury which prevented me from doing manual labour

smitty9999 wrote: ↑ I hope you're not able to cut down the trees just because you don't like to rake.

Especially as a "dad of two babies". Those kids are going to need those trees in the urban canopy - most cities are working towards increasing their tree canopy because we need them for so many reasons. Don't complain when your basement floods, it gets too hot, the air quality is crap, higher cooling costs, among others.

It's one thing to cut one or two down if over crowded - a city arborist will be able to tell you when they inspect for the permit - but clear cutting is a shame.

As for the manual labour of raking, paying a kid $20/year to rake them up is nothing compared to what it would cost to cut down the tree. If one is too injured to rake, they certainly can't be cutting a 20 bag of leaves tree down by themselves.

You said you live in a small property (end unit townhouse) with 8 trees and want to cut down 6.

I have a bit hard time imagining a small property with 8 trees in it. You or the prior owner might intend to grow a tree farm. LOL. I have a SFH with a large backyard and only have 3 trees (front Crap Apple, side Honey Locus and back Lilac). For the fallen leaves in the fall, I just mulch them with my riding mower. For the gutters, I just put screens on top.

As a curtesy, u may inform your neighbours, but u dont have to. And, the city may or may not give you the permit to cut some down for the reasons you given and the tree sizes. Being an end unit, 1 or 2 of your trees may also be on public (city) land that you cannot cut down, as my Honey Locus tree (within 15 ft from the street curb?) belongs to the city, and they trim it every 7 years.

Depending on your house location vs the sun path, trees do provide valuable shades and colors (spring and fall).

Crew0800 wrote: ↑ Hello,

I have a plan to take down 6 trees in my property.
I have 3 in front yard, and 5 in the backyard.
I live in a end unit townhouse but it's waaaaaay to many trees for a small property.

I have a triangle shaped backyard and one side of my fences, I face many other neighbours back yard. (Almost 10 units of townhouse)
My concern is, some of the trees provide shade to 4-5 neighbour units while sunsetting in summer.

I'm going to get a permit, but do I have to let my neighbours know just to be nice before taking them down?
I know they are my trees but I don't want to make conflict with my neighbours. Because even if they say no, I will most likely proceed with my plan. They are not cleaning my leaves anyways..

I'm a dad of two babies and It's alot of work to clean all the leaves every fall and I'm getting tired of it. (I also have to clean second story gutter myself)
I need your advise please.

No need to let them know. It is your own property ... they have NO RIGHT to tell you what to do with your property.

Just speak with the municipality to see what the bylaws are and if you require a permit.

If your neighbours are cranky about it ... it gives you even MORE REASONS to get rid of the free shade for them ... tell them to go to HOME DEPOT and buy their own shade umbrellas!

Screw them ... do they pay the property taxes for you? do they rake the leaves for you? heck! it's giving you more space on your LOT which you pay taxes for!

M1K3Z0R wrote: ↑ No requirement OP, as long as your municipality OKs the permits (if needed) you're good to go.

Nice to see the classic RFD responses bashing OP, surprised nobody has told him to move lol. Trees are great if you have a large yard, but too close to the house or driveway becomes a huge damage liability during storms. People tend to have really poor planning/foresight when planting trees. either too close to homes or property lines, or not factoring in how tall/wide they can grow and what the root system can impact in the surrounding ground. Then there are the garbage trees like maple that drops seeds and crap all over the place and clog gutters and drains.

People have different opinions on what is too close and what a garden should be like. Too many IMO think a garden should just be a large lawn with a tree in the back corner. That's not a garden, that's basically a parking lot...

Trees are generally good for the environment, both for nature and humans (shade, humidity, pollution) hence why so many cities are pushing people to plant more trees.

The OP needs to consider just how long it would take to replace those trees if they cut them down. It'll be decades before the same privacy and shade may be available again, for both them and their neighbour. Trees are one of the few things that can shelter and protect a two or more story building. Too many people's first thought when seeing a big tree is to cut it down, which is sad. Maybe the OP could get an arborist to thin or reshape the tree first.

That said, we don't know what the OP's garden looks like and just how big the trees are, so they could be too big for the space. If the main complaint is the leaves, get a lawnmower that mulches and run over them. By spring they'll have been absorbed into the lawn and provide natural nourishment to the lawn.

It’s your property, check your bylaw for circumference threshold. If it exceeds, you need permit. If it’s too tall, hire someone with bucket truck. Not worth the risk.

If you are in Toronto proper, you need a permit from the city to remove a tree and they are unlikely to grant one for a healthy tree without some "reason" (other than you do not like it). That applies for trees of diameter 30cm or more (so truly mature trees).
https://www.toronto.ca/services-payment ... ne-permit/

If you take them down, you are required to replant 3 trees for each removed tree of 30cm diameter or more. You might be able to get around it by paying a fee in lieu of planting (cash in lieu) and if the memory serves right, it is around $600 per tree, so $1800 for each tree you need a permit to remove - in addition to the cost of the permit (for the required "3 trees to be replanted for every tree taken down").

For your front yard, look closely whether the trees are on your property or on a city boulevard. For Toronto, much of the front yard for many houses is actually city-owned. Trees growing on city-owned boulevard are city-owned, and it is even harder to take them down (as if I would not even try unless the tree is diseased and falling down, in which case the city would agree to remove it but then would replant one.

Generally, I can easily see multiple trees on the end lot because prior owners may have attempted to grow a privacy hedge using cedar/apple/oak/beech or other species suitable for hedging. Personally if this is the case - I would keep the trees/cultivate them.

The only reason to notify your neighbors would be to alert them about the work so that they do not call the city on your when you start removing trees. People in Toronto feel strongly about tree removal and private trees are protected by city by-laws. I would tell them you got permits and scheduled work for such and such day because you want to be a good neighbor, not because you want take thei

I would add that your babies will soon grow and it is better for them to play in the shaded yard rather than wearing a ton of sunscreen every day at home. And they will be old enough to rake - so win-win.