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Ideas on on how control/kill the trees? Property next to mine is abandoned and I want stop the trees before they grow too large. Cutting is an option but prefer some other less obvious method of control
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Abandoned or not, that would be illegal, and the owner or subsequent owner could sue you for the value of the trees. You could also be prosecuted for trespassing, vandalism, and/or malicious mischief.
Buy the property first...then consider your options. White pine trees are pretty desirable, so you still shouldn't cut them down if they're not an imminent threat to your house.
You only think that property is abandoned. The forestry cycle for pine is generally 20 to 25 years. If you disturb those trees you are stealing someone's property. If you want to buy a strip of the neighbor land, perhaps the owners will sell it to you.
White pines are dying in my area (Western PA). Part of my backyard is wooded ant I've cut down at least 40 dead white pines. I just recently noticed that I have a couple more dead ones. I've been cutting down the dead ones for about 18 years.
I cannot add to what the others have said. In Md., it's illegal to cut down another's trees except for those branches that "trespass" onto your property. But this talk of Eastern whites brings back memories.
In 1976, a neighbor planted 100 Eastern white pines along the property line. Problem is that she inadvertently planted 50+ of them on my property. Her husband was dying of cancer so I let them stay. That poor man -- only age 33 -- didn't need the hassle. However, to prevent her in the future from claiming my property under the Law of Adverse Possession, I planted a row of trees along the true property line. These were Androscoggin poplars, advertised to live for 50 years.
The Andros grew 8' a yr. for the first 10 yrs. but after 20 yrs. they began to fall down., mostly onto her property. Not sure if I was legally obliged to clean up debris that fell onto her property, but in the interest of good neighbor relations, I did so. Oh man, that was work. At the same time, the pines that she planted on my property interfered with the power line. The power outages affected only my house and two nearby farms, not her place; so she didn't really care about that aspect. The utility would trim the branches but they'd visit infrequently.
In 2003, I got disgusted and had all the trees in question taken down: the remaining Andros and the 50+ pines. Replanted with grass and two large flower gardens that my wife tended until she passed. Neighbor lady and husband #3 weren't happy but that's too bad.
I doubt that the property is abandoned. It might be unused, but it still belongs to someone.
You have two legal options. Buy the property, so that you own the trees. The other option is to contact the owner of the property and see if you can get written permission to remove the trees.
I don't know where you live, but where I am, tree rustling is a very serious offense with heavy fine and probably jail time. Those trees don't belong to you. Leave them alone. (One fellow who cut down one tree that was in his view was fined $15,000-- that's for one tree)
OP, have you asked the landowner if you could at least prune the trees to control their height? Contrary to what many think, pines can be pruned. The trick is to prune the new growth "candles" to half their length in the spring (they only grow once a year.) That's how Christmas tree growers produce thick, bushy trees. That's how I'd approach it, but maybe they're already too tall to reach for pruning.
Ideas on on how control/kill the trees? Property next to mine is abandoned and I want stop the trees before they grow too large. Cutting is an option but prefer some other less obvious method of control
No, it isn't your property, you can't do anything unless you want to get in legal trouble. The only option is to buy the lot in question if it ends up for sale. White pine trees are very valuable, far more than an empty lot with grass.
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