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The neighbor behind us planted Leyland Cypress trees directly on our property line, some slightly over the line on our side. We're not the kind of people who care overly much about lines in general, but our back yard is rather small as it is. Knowing that Leyland Cypress can get up to 50' tall and 10' across, we're a little put out about this.
First of all, the trees will eventually encroach into our yard, and second, they're eventually going to form a literal wall that will block out all the sun to our back yard and the back of our house. (The yard behind the house is only about 30 feet deep...most of our yard space is on the front and sides of the house.)
We do have a Homeowner's Association, but have yet to call them because there's nothing specific about plantings in the guidelines. My husband went over to talk to the man who planted them, but he was indisposed at the time. My husband gave his wife his cell number, explained the situation very courteously, and asked that she have her husband call him. It's been over a week. The trees are still there and no phone call.
(We live in Johnston County.)
Does anyone know if there are regulations about planting new trees on boundary lines? For instance, are they supposed to be inset a certain number of feet from the boundary line?
And do we have any recourse? We don't plan to stay in this house forever, but Leyland Cypress are fairly recognizable and are known for their privacy and size characteristics, so I'm worried that they may affect the sale of our house.
We do plan to involve the Homeowner's Association if our neighbor doesn't call us back. But if anyone has been through this or knows anything about it, I would appreciate your advice.
Confirm/survey your property "lines" and if you are correct, go through the appropriate channels to have them moved. Obviously talk to the neighbor first.
Our HOA requires that anyone who wants to make any sort of change must notify and receive approval from any neighbor(s) who might be affected. We had to do this when we landscaped the backyard. Does your HOA require this step?
When you go to sell or your neighbor goes to sell, problems may arise if the issue has not been resolved.
We previously had nightmare neighbors, so buying a home in an HOA community was important to us.
>>Our HOA requires that anyone who wants to make any sort of change must notify and receive approval from any neighbor(s) who might be affected<<
Check with your HOA, I think the above is standard procedure.
As suggested, make certain you know where your property line runs. Not sure about trees, but many ordinances require that fences be set back a certain number of feet from property lines.
Continue your attempts to contact your neighbor, expressing your concerns. Leyland Cyprus can be sheared into a nice hedge at 4 ft or so. Perhaps transplanting them so that all the foliage will remain on their property and shearing into a privacy hedge would meet both your needs.
Should you not be able to resolve the matter amicably and you find yourself forced to live with your neighbor's landscaping encroaching on your property, it it is worthwhile noting that care should be taken not to over water. More trees die from over watering than under watering.
Perhaps planting a row of plants requiring near continual watering will resolve the issue. Bamboo, for example, is a wonderful privacy planting.
Be certain to put a barrier down at least 18 inches on your side as bamboo can be invasive and is close to impossible to eradicate.
Check with your HOA first, of course. And check with your neighbor to be certain he is okay with you planting bamboo.
Last edited by PatRoy1; 04-03-2011 at 04:52 AM..
Reason: spelling
>>Our HOA requires that anyone who wants to make any sort of change must notify and receive approval from any neighbor(s) who might be affected<<
Check with your HOA, I think the above is standard procedure.
As suggested, make certain you know where your property line runs. Not sure about trees, but many ordinances require that fences be set back a certain number of feet from property lines.
Continue your attempts to contact your neighbor, expressing your concerns. Leyland Cyprus can be sheared into a nice hedge at 4 ft or so. Perhaps transplanting them so that all the foliage will remain on their property and shearing into a privacy hedge would meet both your needs.
Should you not be able to resolve the matter amicably and you find yourself forced to live with your neighbor's landscaping encroaching on your property, it it is worthwhile noting that care should be taken not to over water. More trees die from over watering than under watering.
Perhaps planting a row of plants requiring near continual watering will resolve the issue. Bamboo, for example, is a wonderful privacy planting.
Be certain to put a barrier down at least 18 inches on your side as bamboo can be invasive and is close to impossible to eradicate.
Check with your HOA first, of course. And check with your neighbor to be certain he is okay with you planting bamboo.
Not to mention leylands are prone to disease, so you may find fallen trees in your yard.
This is not an HOA issue unless the HOA requires arc approval for plantings in the back yard. Even then, they would just be approving the appearance. Let's say the HOA sends your neighbors a letter saying, "The addition of the leylands is approved as long as at full maturity, they will not encroach on your neighbor's property". Then the neighbors leave the plants where they are (encroaching). It would still be up to you to resolve that border issue with your neighbor, not through the HOA.
I suggest going to speak to the neighbor directly. It will be a lot easier to move the trees back now while they're recently planted. Wait a year or so and they'll be a lot bigger.
Coming from a neighborhood where ALL the trees were removed to build our houses and where just about everyone's lawn is a dust bowl, I would LOVE if my neighbors planted stuff. Even a neighbor with somewhat questionable taste at the nursery is better than not planting anything (in our case). Plants in general raise property value so I don't really think you need to worry about resale, especially if your backyard is 30ft deep. You have other resale issues on your hands. Buyers will want privacy in the backyard.
But if you want to approach it from the 'glass half empty' perspective, a call to the HOA is in order. My HOA does not require neighbor approval but it does require architectural approval for "any improvement to the building or land" (strictly speaking, planting flowers would require approval, although in practice the HOA is not that neurotic!)
And you could always build a fence if you want to stick to the "what's mine is mine" philosophy....
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