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Call a professional tree company and they will trim back the tress that hang over on your side. If it looks like the trees are going to fall you could call the city and they will send out one of their code people to have a look. I have always had good luck with the code enforcement people. They are fair and know the rules.
I think the suggestion of hiring a professional tree company is a good one. Get them to document what trimming can be done without damaging/killing the trees. If you like the idea, show it to your neighbor to inform them of what you are thinking of doing. They might be concerned about any cost to them, damage/loss of trees, etc. Keep the discussion friendly.
I know some may frown on it, but I would just call out the professional tree trimmer and have them take care of it. You already gave the neighbor woman the chance to consent, and it's gone on long enough. Personally, I won't be bullied by neighbors or told what I can or can't do with my property if it's completely legal.
You should always check for sure, but in most instances I've heard of it is permissible at least in the eyes of the law to prune anything that's on your side, regardless of where it is rooted.
I agree, anything that crossed the "line" you can prune as much as you want. Any branches are fair game to be cut. If the actual truck of the tree extended over the line, technically you can cut it at the point as well. But you can't jump over the fence and cut the base of the tree, no matter how many leaves it dumps on your yard. If these trees are indeed leaning enough over your yard, with enough pruning from your side, they should start to lean over the neighbors side instead.
Quote:
Originally Posted by greg42
Leaves, everyone gets screwed by that.
Amend to that. The first house I owned, I had 4 or 5 good sized trees and it used to dump lots of leaves in the yard. I remember one year, it was windy for a week, when I looked that the trees, they had no leaves on the trees and there was no leaves in the yard. They became someone else's problem I guess.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spokane26
Some limbs are SO HIGH I would have to hire a professional to come deal with the trees and that's going to end up costing ME money.
Yea so. I've over your property, it's YOUR problem. Unless the trees fell over and damaged your property (crushed a shed, whatever) the neighbors are under no obligation to trim the trees.
As others have mentioned, you are free to prune branches on your side of the property line as long as you are not damaging the tree. It'd be an interesting situation if the trees were leaning in such a way that the top was on your side of the property line and the trunk on your neighbor's.
Leaves that fall into your yard a frustration but your neighbor is under no obligation to do anything in that regard. One of life's frustrations.
If the trees are top heavy over the fence and look like a liability, you may be able get the city/county to declare them a quality of life hazard and make the owner remove them. If they stay, grow larger, get top heavy and fall on your side then you can sue for damages. You may want to make the tree owners aware of this.
I have no new suggestions, but this situation is a great example of why you never want to plant anything like tress or bushes near the property line, fixed structures only and make sure they are at least the minimum distance away.
A couple comments:
Any part of a tree/bush that is over your property you can trim it back, you CAN'T do this in a way that will kill it, anything you damage in the process is on you.
If the tree or its branches fall and damage your property, during a storm or whatever, that too is on you, unless you can show they knew or should have known the tree was diseased or damaged in a way making it unsafe.
We had the same situation happen at our house. But, we went and talked to our neighbor and she was willing to let us trim the trees back over her property line. My wife was planting a garden and we needed the sun. I would go and knock on the door and say "I'm planting things at the back of my property and need to trim your trees back to your property line. Can you come back here and I will show where I plan to trim them to?"
Make sure you tell them that you ARE trimming the trees. Not getting their permision to trim over your property, but that you are in the process of doing it and would appreciate their valued feedback....
The OP should be aware, from his previous experience, that "trimming" may result in luxuriant new growth...making matters worse, as he said. It needs more forethought and research than just cutting off some branches.
Many years ago I did this to a tree on my property line....one that was there before the new neighbor moved. I heard him complaining one day in his backyard about this tree. So, I pruned it severely, but only on his side. The tree loved the haircut, and in short order put out twice as many new branches on his side. By this time, I had come to know that he was both a complainer and at the same time totally inconsiderate of all his neighbors.
One possibility is to rethink your garden plans, and go with the flow. It is like lemons and lemonade.
Many years ago now, I moved into the garden apartment of a newly renovated building with a backyard that was nothing but hard-baked soil and struggling new weeds.
I had come from a small town in a rural area, and I missed trees, bushes, birds, etc. So, I planted a clump birch, a no-name tree, and a miniature cherry tree - and the tops of two trees in the lower backyard behind me on the next street screened the back of the garden. In a few years what I had was a forest...and only a quarter of the space would now support plants that needed sun.
I had no intention of attacking these lovely trees, particularly as my backyard was now filled with songbirds and not awful pigeons. I did some research and planted a forest garden of plants that tolerate shade...the result was gorgeous in a year, in two or three years the garden path was truly a walk through the woods. I even found a place that sold the bulbs and roots of wild forest flowers. I was able to get a small patch of trilliums to grow, which bloomed shyly each spring in my forest. They were without a single doubt the only trilliums blooming in NYC outside of the possibility of the Botanical Gardens.
As I said, I had about a quarter of the space for showy, sun-loving plants; but, quite unexpectedly, what made that backyard was the forest garden I created by accident and necessity. It was the showplace of the neighborhood for those lucky enough to see it, and joy to see coming into bloom in the spring and providing a respite for the eyes and body in the hot summers. It remains my favorite garden experience, and I have had the good fortune to be able to create a couple of gardens from scratch since...one in the bright sun light and heat of Cyprus. Still, that forest garden is the one I am most fond of in my mind.
Fallen leaves, yes. It is called Autumn, enjoy it. Rake them up when they have all fallen, and be grateful for the trees. If it is too big a problem for some reason, get a neighborhood lad to do it for money...assuming, of course, that you have any neighborhood boys who want to earn money and understand the purpose of a rake.
Attached is a scan of a painting my old aunt did of the view of the garden path seen from my bedroom window. This is the extreme right hand side of the space, next to the wall dividing the properties.
Call a professional tree company and they will trim back the tress that hang over on your side. If it looks like the trees are going to fall you could call the city and they will send out one of their code people to have a look. I have always had good luck with the code enforcement people. They are fair and know the rules.
I am guessing you do not live around here... I am positive you do not live around here ... Unless you are one of the people "who knows someone"
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