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| It's a constant battle! |
Speaking of neighbors, she hates the tree and would probably be happy if I chopped the entire thing down, but I am not going to do that. In my area, there are rules for who is responsible for what when it comes t trees. This is something I learned the semi-hard way, as I have had tree issues with the neighbors on all three sides. The one on the side of the maple had branches touching her power lines. Technically if the branch is over the property line, the neighbor can cut the branch as long as it does not harm the tree (i.e. cutting an entire side of the tree off). However, as a good tree owner, I not only paid for the work to be done but had to coordinate with PG&E to have the power shut off and the lines taken down for the day while the arborist cut the tree.
On the back of my house, I have a huge incense cedar, which has needles. The neighbor in the back came over and complained to me that "the leaves were dropping on his property" and he would like me to cut off the entire side that hangs over his property so he did not have to clean up the leaves. He also said that he was afraid that a branch was going to fall on a car parked under the tree. In this case, I had the arborist trim any dead looking or dangerous or extra long branches off and do maintenance for the health of the tree, but I was not about to lop off one entire side of the tree.
The rules are that the person with the trunk on their property is responsible for regular maintenance of the tree. It should be trimmed in order to get rid of any dead, dangerous or dying limbs to keep it safe, but if a hurricane or natural event comes and knocks off a healthy branch and it damages the neighbor's property, technically they should have their insurance pay for it. If there is a branch hanging over their property and they want to trim it, technically they can; like I said, as long as it does not damage the health of the tree, it is allowed. They do not even need to ask for permission, although as a good neighbor I think that it is only polite.
The guy in the back did not like that I did not lop off the entire tree, so when I asked him politely a couple of years later to stop leaning heavy things on our shared fence because it was starting to buckle under the weight, he gave me a "I will remove the items if you chop off the tree" retort. Sigh! Not to make this rant too long, but technically the fence is shared and if it needs to be fixed, we should share the cost. Now, if the one neighbor is a pain, you would have to go to court to request payment for half, which of course nobody wants to do, so you may just be SOL.
The neighbor on the third side asked if he could trim a bit of the tree (the incense cedar) since it was hanging over his garage a little and I said sure and he cut off that entire side of the tree, which was much more than a "trim." In this case, I was not happy, he did not do what he said he was going to do, but the action had been taken and there was nothing I could do really at that point, so I opted to do nothing. Who knew that a simple things such as trees could cause so many discussions, issues and conflicts in the hood!?
Enjoy the new season! Good luck with the raking!
Have you ever had a conflict with a neighbor and if so, what did you do about it? What are the rules about shared trees and fences in your neighborhood? Is the weather changing where you are?
Growing up our house was surrounded by trees and we were not in a neighborhood so I had no idea there could be so many issues about trees! It's got to be so frustrating having to deal with so many different personalities! We have shared grass and my husband gets a little frustrated that he mows that more often, but seriously it's a strip and takes like a minute and I don't get what the issue is! However, there is always plenty of drama in our neighborhood community and I'm sure there is someone who is creating an issue with a tree, I would just have to look at Next Door, LOL! Ultimately it works out one way or another but oh how frustrating! Hugs!!! Happy Fall!!!
ReplyDeleteYou and me both! I grew up with lots of acres and no neighborhood per se. We did not have fences and all trees were part of nature, not something that you want to chop because the leaves are falling in your yard! If a branch needed cutting, my Dad or Uncle would climb up the tree and cut it off. Living in the city is sometimes tiresome with all of the people and their dogs who poop and trees that need cutting and all of the other things that people who all have to coexist have to deal with!
DeleteI actually had to get off Nextdoor during the pandemic because it was a constant rant about who was/was not wearing a mask or walking too close to someone else or not practicing safe social distancing and it became a huge B-fest and it just got to be too much!!!
Oh wow, you have some neighbors with strong opinions!! Sheesh. We have a huge oak tree in our backyard and some of the branches hang over our neighbors yard, and some of hers might hang over ours? I am not sure. 2 years ago Phil coordinated some tree trimming and the 2 houses next to us went in on it. He did not love being the planner of the trimming because the tree person was not very responsive but the neighbors would ask for updates on when the trimming would happen, etc etc. And then those neighbors wanted/needed much more extensive tree trimming than we did. Luckily they worked it out and paid their fair share (the tree guy just gave one price, he didn't price it out for each house).
ReplyDeleteWe haven't had any conflicts with neighbors luckily. That would be a nightmare for me as I do not like conflict. I mean no one does but I really really do not like conflict. There were things that bothered us about the neighbors in our last house, like how they had an old washing machine in the space between our two homes. But we decided not to say anything and just let it go to keep the peace. Phil didn't want to risk any sot of revenge on their part!
I get Phil's frustration! I had to shut off the power to mine and my neighbor's house when we trimmed the tree near her powerline and it was a pain! She works from home as a caterer so needs to have power during the day normally and I had to work from home that day in order to coordinate and the arborist left branches strewn about on my side so I had to go make sure they did not do it on the neighbor's side...it was a pain! I am not bagging on city people (or modern rules), but where I come from (back in the day, when I was a wee lass...in the country...) we just take care of things ourselves most of the time! My other neighbor behind me has a tree that has been dropping BIG limbs on my neighbor (the caterer's) garage which then slide down and fall into my backyard. I told the caterer so that if she wanted to talk to her back neighbor about trimming (these limbs were DEAD, aka not properly maintained) she could, but otherwise I just cleaned the limbs from my yard, sawed them into pieces and put them in my green bin. It's not worth getting into an argument over a branch.
DeleteTree law! I follow the subreddit r/treelaw and people are so weird about trees. You move into a neighborhood with mature trees and what do you think is going to happen?! Your neighbors are so weird and good for you for standing your ground!
ReplyDeleteTotally! My favorite was the request that I cut the tree so that he did not have to clean up the needles. It is a plant, that has needles, and they drop on the ground, and they will not hurt you! Get a darn leaf blower and leave me alone; it is not my responsibility to clean the needles OR cut the tree. I do not think I want to follow the treelaw reddit...I have a feeling it would make me grumpy.
DeleteWe have 2.5 acres so our "neighbors" aren't close enough to our house to bother us. I will say that a guy who lives across the road and down a bit is on my poop list because he has been BLARING music all summer and now into fall. It was on saturdays only and now it is like all the time. Why? I have no idea. It's so loud I can hear it at my house and i really shouldn't. also he is as old as my dad, like whyyyyyyyyyyy?
ReplyDeleteHahah! You should blare your own music so that you cannot hear his. And if his is Zepplin, play Kelly Clarkson! I mean, don't get me wrong, I love Zep and I like to listen to it loud, but it would not hurt to give him a taste of his own music, or medicine. OR...you should take a six pack of beer and go over there and I bet you would make a new friend!
DeleteHmmm. Do I have some neighbour challenges? That would be a hard YES. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI really hope your issues get sorted quickly. After two years of neighbour conflict we are considering moving to avoid it which sucks, yes, but also feels quasi-necessary. My quality of life has really tanked, especially in the last few months as things have escalated. Good neighbours make a HUGE difference. The sad thing is, we live in a lovely neighbourhood and have so many incredible neighbours.
Well luckily my neighborhood spats are mundane, but it is still kind of annoying. I have had other small things like them parking in front of my driveway without saying anything or asking permission and once I even had to go knocking on people's doors on Thanksgiving so I could park my car (I did not find the culprit and had to park way down the street). I just hate disrespect! Your situation has gone way past that though, and it is too bad that it is so bad that you are having to take such desperate measures.
DeleteWoof, neighbours and trees. You sound like a conscientious neighbour and tree owner. We had large trees on our Calgary property, and one of our spruces grew so that the branches were IN the neighbour's garage's eaves, which of course required some work. My neighbours have always been pretty great though. My one neighbour had a crab apple tree and the squirrels would drop the apples in our yard after nibbling on them, and then our dog Barkley would eat them. And then he would fart. We just had to steel ourselves for a very stinky farty dog for a month or so each fall.
ReplyDeleteI know! It seems like such a simple thing, and where I grew up, a tree was a tree (or maybe I was a child!) and we never had to think about how it was affecting other people! It is nice that you and your neighbors were copacetic and just kind of took it how it came. I am like that; I would normally just clean up any branches that fell in my yard, regardless of whose tree it was and go about my day. I would never think to complain to the neighbor or to ask them to chop off branches.
DeleteSo funny about Barkley! Haha! It may be worth cleaning up the apples! I have a plum tree and it does drop the plums everywhere and I feel bad about it doing that on my neighbor's side, so I happily let them chop off the branches that hang over their yard.
Oh man, I never even considered the neighborhood spats that could result from trees! I live in an apartment so I don't have to worry about stuff like this thankfully. I don't think I would enjoy that sort of conflict. I don't have any issues with my neighbors right now, which I am very grateful for! Everyone keeps to themselves and that's nice.
ReplyDeleteYes, that is a nice thing about apartments! I have a friend who kept saying that she wanted to move from her condo to a house with a yard and I had to tell her that it is not always what it is cracked up to be! Sometimes not having to mow or weed or talk to neighbors about trees is a blessing!
DeleteOh man - Neighbours and trees is such a sensitive one! Over here you are allowed to cut trees back to your property line, and actually legally you're supposed to offer to retun any pieces you cut to the person who owns the tree. However, you can't cut the height of the tree. We live on a the bottom of a sloped garden (sloped up from our house) with HUGE trees at the back which belong to our neighbor. They live on the top of a sloped garden so from their house the trees are gorgeous and not very big, but from our garden they tower over us. When we moved in we asked if we could trim them and split they cost and they agreed - it looked so much better. However, that was 5 years ago and it's grown a lot since then. I would like to have them trimmed down again but I don't think they will want to pay for it, and we can't trim the top without their consent... which I don't feel they'll want to give. So, we are just going to ask our lovely tree people to cut the trees back to our property line and that should make a big difference. They can't see our side and it's definitely not hurting the tree so it's not a problem, but our garden has the most massive trees on the whole street so it would be nice to bring them in line with the rest of the trees.
ReplyDeleteAfter we had our trees cut our next door neighbours (who back onto the same trees) apparently asked if they could do the same. They thought our tree people were too expensive so found "someone cheaper" who then lopped off about 10 feet of tree, far more than what we had trimmed. The back neighbours were really upset and basically rescinded their permission - so now our neighbours have one section of tree about 10 feet shorter than the rest which looks possibly worse than it did before.
Maybe I'll do a tree post with photos soon too, such a modern day problem lol
Hah! That is exactly what my side guy did! He painted his house and to do so had to be in my yard, which was already a bit of an inconvenience (they had to be in my driveway so I could not park my car there, they were walking back and forth outside my living room window etc.) but then he asked if he could trim "a little" and then lopped off the entire side, which is exactly what I had told the other neighbor that I would not do! So now it is lopsided. The poor tree actually got topped years ago, which was apparantly a fad, but is not great for the tree either, but it has survived, just to have all of the neighbors want to get rid of all of the sides! Sigh.
DeleteI am looking forward to your tree post!
Luckily, we don't really have any neighbor issues, except for a bit of a hoarder next door (not as bad as on TV) who likes to come and do yardwork in our front yard (even though our landlords pay for a gardener service). Weird.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, people have strong opinions in your neighborhood. We live in a neighborhood with lots of old (and big) trees and I love it (people should be happy to be surrounded by trees!) but there is upkeep for sure. Many older trees toppled in last winter's storm and that was no fun.
Wait, you have a lady who WANTS to do your yardwork!!? Send her my way! Especially now that the leaves are starting to fall again, I could use the help! I agree that people should be happy to be surrounded by trees but some people (I guess) just see them as a nuisance. Just like anything they do require maintenance but that is just a part of life!
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