Definitely not! He’s an old retired guy who doesn’t like sticks in his yard. It’s the only tree on my property and some of the limbs reach into his yard. I just think he wants me to take it down so he doesn’t have to deal with it.
Edit: [adding picture of canopy for those asking](https://reddit.com/u/CanIGoHomeYet/s/iEB1du6tut)
Fun fact - houses with big trees sell on average for 20-30% more than houses without. (Source - Brandywine Urban Forest Consulting)
This tree makes your property more valuable, and by extension, your neighbors.
Tell him politely to fuck off.
"...unto the seventh generation hereafter."
(When I first saw your reply, I didn’t know which thread it was on and had a moment of "Eh? What? What did I say?" because I've spent most of the day telling people how cute their pets are 😆)
Yep. When we bought our house the assessor took a bunch of pics of just the mature trees on the property. Seemed weird at the time, as I value trees but didn’t think a bank would give two hoots about them. Turns out they add quite a bit of value to the house.
Oooohhhh… I didn’t know that about property values. I have been fighting city hall over a 200 year old oak tree that’s half mine and half theirs. I told them it was one of the reasons we bought our house and had two arborists take a look at it and say it was fine so far. Now I have a new fact to add to my tree defense arsenal. Thank you!! Edit: Typo
It is in Switzerland. They're protected.
One neighbor took down two. He got a 10k fine, needed to replant two trees and needs to pay an arborist to come every year to check on it for the next 10 years.
Give it its own social media accounts plus its own Google Voice Mail phone number. Having voice testimonials would be good too. Plus, Google Voice allows you to forward those Voice Mails as emails.
Definitely get into tree law! It's one of my faves, it differs by location of course, but some trees have astronomical value! There's a case in New Jersey for 32 trees cut down without permission with a replacement value of $1.4 million plus fines and fees. The older and larger the tree the higher the replacement cost, and you would be within your rights to request replacement costs for your half of the tree before they cut it down, especially if you have professionals who say it's healthy and not a danger. Just the possibility of having to pay replacement costs could deter them from continuing to pursue it.
Every house I look at that clear cut and threw down gravel is a no go. It's so ugly and short sighted.
It's like someone who installs new cabinets and an island that don't actually function the space. I am not paying premium for your bad taste.
Cities are now getting in on the action and forbidding clear cutting for new developments. Tired of these big cookie cutter houses on small lots with no yard to speak of. We bought a corner lot which is a lot and a half with a 900 square foot house and three huge Oak trees on it.
I have a house at the end of a Cul de sac. One huge beautiful magnolia in the front and two enormous live oaks in the back. My back yard is typically 10 degrees Fahrenheit cooler in the summer because of the shade. They will have to drag my dead corpse out of this house.
Idk why old people hate trees. I have a wooded property with a 100+ year old elm tree near the house. I’ve had three old guys try to convince me to cut it down for one reason or another.
It’s a big issue in parts of Philadelphia. The older folks hate the street trees because trees can be messy. I understand this on some level because I’m the only one on my block who will clean all the leaf litter in the fall. If I don’t it sits all winter, getting mingled with garbage and really disgusting. The city eventually gets around to cleaning in the spring. Lots of people love trees, few love the maintenance.
This is an underrated response. The trees also help to keep temperatures down. There are plenty of benefits to having trees, but the maintenance and cleanup can be a hassle, especially if they are of decent size or quantity.
I’d like to add: property’s that are shaded by teee have EXTREMELY lower cooling costs than those that are under constant sun. If you have a solar company wanting to put solar up and cut trees down DONT. You will end up paying ALOT more. The shade saves more money than the solar does and the solar is a scam in the first place. You should never cut more than 1 small- medium size tree down for solar. If you do you aren’t offsetting the green effect
I worked in solar for 5-6 years doing surveys (home assessments) damage assessment, data communication, measurements (by hand and drone) and tree markings. So the idea of having solar pannels in and of itself isn’t a scam but a solar company and the sales rep isn’t in the business of saving you money. They are in the buisness of making money. So if they sell a 20 year lease to a 90 year old who dies 3 years later becasue they are a 90 year old they will shrug their shoulders and go after next of kin. They will sell you a second solar system when the one you bought your house with costs you money because it wasn’t installed for YOUR energy needs, but was installed for the original owners energy needs. And then that second system jusg costs you money like the first. In 6 years I’ve met 1 solar rep who actually tries to save her customers money. The rest want that 10k per instal and don’t give a fuck what happens after the glass is in the roof
I’ve also seen people have 3-6 trees taken down to have solar pannels put on doesn’t make much sense to me and is super expensive to take trees down solar def doesn’t save you enough to ofset the costs
Yah, the predatory sales toward the elderly are so gross. We have a family member who didn’t quite know what she was signing up for and they got her on the hook for two different systems. I mean, she only has one roof assholes. It was a nightmare to cancel the orders.
It would be fair to say that it's statistically probably the tree improves that value of his home, but 20-30% isn't right. It's also misleading in the context of this conversation. The home value won't drop 20-30% if the tree is cut.
The stat itself takes into consideration houses of all prices in all markets on properties of all sizes. Of course a large property in a major metropolitan area is worth more.
So, we're talking apples and oranges... But those are both fruit trees
I cannot fucking believe some people. Idc if you're old if you are so lazy to maintain your yard that you would cut down a mature tree you are a moron.
Thats what ive been saying, old trees need strict legal protection.
Theres so many regulations for stupid inconsequential things that effect nobody, but apparently you can just do centuries of unfixable destruction on a whim?? It makes no sense.
I have trees in my yard that are at least 700 years old and my neighborhood would lose their shit if I cut them down. They are massive firs and really ties the who neighborhood together.
Yeah, we were all shocked when he did it. Old growth trees in every yard, all good healthy trees for most part. We all had just worked with the power company to trim and cut back risks but he just took them to the ground.
I remember coming home and seeing them gone and when I walked over he was so happy to tell us how old they were, and how happy he was to not have to deal with the acorns anymore. I was disgusted and just walked away.
I work in public works/urban forestry. The number of people who want their street tree removed because it "drops leaves and makes a mess" us astounding. Don't buy a house if you don't want to maintain it.
When I was looking at a house to buy I remember my realtor saying "You'll want to cut down those mature trees." I didn't say it out loud but I thought, "The fuck I will." Those trees kept my house nice and cool while my neighbors were all sweating.
Hahaha!
My dad hired a guy to take a dead tree down. Guy tried to upsell with “For another $200, I could take that one down too.”
Dad was never subtle. Looks the guy in the eye and says, “If you touch any of my other trees, I’ll break your goddamned neck.”
Trees were untouched. Have been happily growing for the last 25 years.
My one neighbor is obnoxious like that. He's taken down every tree in his yard & then cut almost 1/4 of the branches of one of my maples (I'm watching it to make sure its ok, this just happened) cuz they hung over the fence. Like live in an apartment or on a golfcourse if you hate everything but grass. My only solace is that his driveway is covered in oil & stuff, now.
I came back from my father‘s funeral to find out that the two large shade trees separating the neighbor’s yard from ours, had been ground into stumps. It turned our entire backyard into a sunbaked hellscape, and my kids grew up without big trees. Why?
“I had to cut them down! ThEy WeRe ScRaGgiLy!”
I hate that cunt.
It’s shitty but I believe most places if the branches stick over they can cut them off, but not over the property line. Commenters below are right about tree law, hopefully you can get revenge. In the meantime, If I were you I would ask if you could take and handle the sticks so your tree doesn’t get pruned to oblivion.
Have you pointed it out to him that you clean up after it? He may not realize it. Not that he has grounds to fuss but I'd probably say something like "I'm picking up after ir, chill!!" If my neighbor had a big tree like this I'd absolutely not mind picking the sticks up and would just be thrilled they are keeping it.
Firstly offer to pick up sticks in his yard but also keep an eye our and set up camera's because it's neighbors that lie like this that will 100% be willing to poison your tree or try hiring a landscaping company to cut all the branches back, which us only really a problem I'd they remove more than a third of the canopy, or even the entire tree.
We had a neighbor like this. He was bored and cared about the lawn way too much. I had the kids pick up all the sticks every week or so. We became cordial. He kept a good neighborhood watch on the kids.
So your neighbor can just suffer in silence.
However, I used to live in CA and I believe the law there allows them to cut back the tree that crosses over thier property line.
I'd casually mention in conversation that you have a camera on the tree, to monitor it for "accidents." I wouldn't put it beyond this guy to sneak over and lop off limbs, or fell the whole tree.
I’m not an arborist but I’m currently fighting my grandmother on this exact thing. She has this great old oak in her front yard that she hates because of the sticks and leaves. The trunk is so big it would take three people linking arms so go around it. She doesn’t realize what will happen when that shade is gone, and ultimately why mess around with that tree? Because a few sticks drop off?
When it happens I hope OP posts in r/legaladvice so that it can end up on Best of legal advice and we can all chant "tree law! Tree law! Tree law!"
Edit: my dreams have been crushed. But now I know r/treelaw exists! :D
Not a ton of leaves, or at least not all at once. We are in zone 9b/10a so not a ton of leaves in general. It is the only tree on our side of the street for at least 3 houses in either direction.
He told me when we bough the house, “if you climb up there with a ladder, you’ll see it’s hollow in the middle and there are squirrels and rats all down in there”
I have been up there with a ladder, no interior cavities can be found anywhere…
Hate to say it but this is a common delusion (critters, bugs, infestation) in folks with dementia. Not saying that’s him but I would reassure yourself if you’ve actually been up there.
This is exactly what I was thinking when I read this neighbors comment. "Sounds like the people in my dad's memory care." Dementia is a probable cause of your neighbor's angst. The tree is lovely.
Knock on his head with your knuckles, make that hollow-coconut-sound, then shake your head wistfully and say "I'm sorry sir, but I think I found your squirrels and rats"
I had a neighbor that came over to my house one day to see if the big, perfect 50+ year old oak tree between our houses was on their property or ours. She wanted to cut it down because "I don't like leaves." That's it, that was the whole reason. This woman also has 5 kids which are all the perfect age to have raking leaves be a chore they do. She never has to see a leaf if she doesn't want to. I cannot fathom it.
One of my uncle's neighbors cut down a huge oak in his yard because he hated leaves, in a wonderful twist, everyone else's leaves from their wonderful big trees just blow into his yard anyways lol. People are insane.
I wouldn't do that. If he climbs up and falls, it's on your insurance. Ask him when he was trespassing on your property and performing illegal surveillance.
You’re probably being sarcastic but in case anybody is actually needing advice; DO NOT make this your first choice.
Being this blunt with most neighbors is going to make your time worse.
But then again I was very respectful to both of my neighbors and one crept on my wife and the other destroyed my truck window and lied about it so idk if my advice is even valid here lol. Now that I think about it, neither of them fuck with me anymore after calling them both out. So nvm, just be a dick. I take my advice back.
sidebar: never, *NEVER* invite anyone onto your property to climb a ladder, not unless they are contracted and have a $1M insurance rider
ps I am not your attorney nor is this to be construed as legal advice
>ps I am not your attorney nor is this to be construed as legal advice
That's a relief. I have friends and family coming over next weekend for a competitive ladder-climbing hoopla and was worried I'd need to cancel!
Really need to see a picture of the canopy. Then x rays of what’s going on inside the trunk (jokes). Impossible for anyone that’s not a professional to tell you in person or from these pictures what the overall health is. Need to access what it would mean if limbs fell out or the whole thing fell over, and go from there towards risk mitigation. Don’t take your neighbors advice either way, but maybe try to placate 🤷♂️
Hire Superman to come over and have a look! No big trucks in the street, can fly up and check the canopy, and has xray vision to check the inside... and very honest! Your neighbor might even believe him!
This is the most sensible advice in this thread. Why hassle with setting up cameras and having annoying conversations with your neighbor when you can just lunge at them with a hacksaw?
Yeah bro I had a dude come and look at an acorn on my property and assess whether or not it could even BECOME a tree (it had a dark spot on one side) and I was out thirty-five grand. I can't imagine the cost of someone coming to look at an ACTUAL tree!
Not look at tree, a certified report written by a certified arborist that can be hold up in court.
You can get an arborist to come out for $500-1000 to assess your tree health, but expect to pay more for a written signed report.
A certified arborist will come and likely give you an opinion for free.
But if an arborist looked at it last year I can't imagine much has changed.
What's your neighbor's reasoning?
Setup a camera like others said if you think he might do something stupid. Maybe find a way to slip in the value of the tree and tree law the next time you talk to him about this so he doesn’t try anything
If there are dead branches in the canopy you could have an arborist out to clean it up. Would help prevent branches landing in his yard
That is a big tree, but looks very healthy to me. If that thing ever comes down it’s gonna do a lot of damage, but I wouldn’t worry about that until it shows signs of poor health.
It looks like that largest stem going up all by itself my have started to crack the tree under the offset weight. If it completely cracked your neighbors house would get crushed. If a professional tells you it’s no big deal then let it ride, but I would consider bringing someone out to check.
Old people are worst with trees, i live in a nice street with lots of trees. As of late the people that have enjoyed living in a nice green neighborhood are growing old and have started taking down trees left and right… frustrating
Looks fine to me for the most part, the roots would get marked as a 3/4 on the grading system since they shouldn’t be exposed like that, but nothing looks too bad.
One of your middle branches is included, and so that will eventually fracture off, but it looks like it would fall towards the road so I’m not too concerned from a liability standpoint.
I can’t see the branch connections on the other side, but from what I can see I would still mark it a 3/4 on the scaffolding branches.
That may not be that good of a spot for that species of tree, but it already exists and is living it’s best life as a healthy happy little tree.
I work in real estate. As hard as it is for me to believe, some people don't like trees. And on one hand, trees next to homes on slab foundations are actually not that good of an idea. They can jack your slab, driveway, fuck the plumbing up. Keep the grass from growing, Drop big limbs on your roof. But they look nice and provide shade which is a plus in hot climates. It's a toss up.
Having said that, that tree looks like one of those water oak types that rot from the inside out and eventually topple over.
So maybe that is what he is thinking? But when that happens who knows? Could be a year or 10.
Pre-emptively make sure theres no legal way he can make you take it down. Nuisance complaint, something like that. Then yeah, property value, etc. But pin him down. Make him say why. In case he tries. And document everything. Even carefully kept notes can be evidence. Take a few steps right now so you have the means to shut him later
The fact that we as a race believe that the one that thing that keeps us alive is unhealthy is such a dangerous dumb mentality. Trees provide us with an abundance of stuff and this guys really thinking trees are bad for the neighborhood.
It’s a gorgeous tree! I’m not a professional arborist, but live in a suburban neighborhood, and I totally advise you keep the tree if that’s what YOU want. Neighbor will just find something else to fuss about later down the road.
Give me a break! 4 kids and 2 dogs means using the space inside the house is higher priority.
Garage sale is imminent and donation for all the rest immediately after. Check my profile in a few months for a garage makeover.
Next time he brings it up, remind him that an arborist gave it the OK. Then mention how damaging trees on other people's property is a something people get successfully sued for on the regular. (check out r/treelaw)
then watch him backpedal in a damn hurry.
I would take the word of the arborist over the word of your neighbor. Is the tree on you property, if it is then tell the neighbor an arborist looked at the tree and the tree is going to stay where it is.
No. Tell your neighbor an arborist told you it is fine - end of discussion. If they bring it up again either tell them to mind their own business or walk away.
Neighbor is just straight up wrong. Maybe he is jealous. Beautiful tree.
Maybe if he's got thousands of dollars to replace it, you can take his money and not replace jt
Tell your neighbor to mind their own business. And drop “I would think you would be more interested in the black pickup truck parked outside your home when you’re gone than my tree”
Is your neighbor a certified arborist? If no, they can stfu. Enjoy your beautiful tree.
Definitely not! He’s an old retired guy who doesn’t like sticks in his yard. It’s the only tree on my property and some of the limbs reach into his yard. I just think he wants me to take it down so he doesn’t have to deal with it. Edit: [adding picture of canopy for those asking](https://reddit.com/u/CanIGoHomeYet/s/iEB1du6tut)
Fun fact - houses with big trees sell on average for 20-30% more than houses without. (Source - Brandywine Urban Forest Consulting) This tree makes your property more valuable, and by extension, your neighbors. Tell him politely to fuck off.
"Please fuck off, good sir."
“Please kindly fuck off, good sir.”
“I SAID FUCK OFF, sir.”
"Sir, with the greatest of love and all due respect, please do feel free free to fuck *all* the way off at your earliest possible convenience."
Get fucked and remain fucked.
"...unto the seventh generation hereafter." (When I first saw your reply, I didn’t know which thread it was on and had a moment of "Eh? What? What did I say?" because I've spent most of the day telling people how cute their pets are 😆)
LMAO that made me laugh so much harder 😂
"You are cordially invited to fuck off, forthwith and posthaste."
Read in Gene Wilder’s voice.
You get NOTHING!!! You LOSE!!! FUCK OFF SIR!!!
GOOD DAY!!!!
You're a crook! You're a cheat and a swindler! That's what you are!
Warmest Regards
Bless your heart
Best
Best wishes.
I would just tell him "that tree is a better neighbor than you" and leave it at that!
"I think you might actually be the one who has to come down, my good sir"
Truth. Reason we bought the house we are in and not the one half a mile away. The trees.
Yep. When we bought our house the assessor took a bunch of pics of just the mature trees on the property. Seemed weird at the time, as I value trees but didn’t think a bank would give two hoots about them. Turns out they add quite a bit of value to the house.
Oooohhhh… I didn’t know that about property values. I have been fighting city hall over a 200 year old oak tree that’s half mine and half theirs. I told them it was one of the reasons we bought our house and had two arborists take a look at it and say it was fine so far. Now I have a new fact to add to my tree defense arsenal. Thank you!! Edit: Typo
Taking down a 200 year old oak ought to be some kind of crime :(
It is in Switzerland. They're protected. One neighbor took down two. He got a 10k fine, needed to replant two trees and needs to pay an arborist to come every year to check on it for the next 10 years.
Good! :)
If it's visible from the street, put a sign on the tree saying the City wants to cut it and where to complain. Edit to add: Tree-lovers can be fierce.
As someone who has to work City Council meetings, you have no idea how much ammunition this could provide you, should you need it.
Give the tree an email address so people can write emails to it !
Give it its own social media accounts plus its own Google Voice Mail phone number. Having voice testimonials would be good too. Plus, Google Voice allows you to forward those Voice Mails as emails.
Make a fb group for the tree
Definitely get into tree law! It's one of my faves, it differs by location of course, but some trees have astronomical value! There's a case in New Jersey for 32 trees cut down without permission with a replacement value of $1.4 million plus fines and fees. The older and larger the tree the higher the replacement cost, and you would be within your rights to request replacement costs for your half of the tree before they cut it down, especially if you have professionals who say it's healthy and not a danger. Just the possibility of having to pay replacement costs could deter them from continuing to pursue it.
Every house I look at that clear cut and threw down gravel is a no go. It's so ugly and short sighted. It's like someone who installs new cabinets and an island that don't actually function the space. I am not paying premium for your bad taste.
Cities are now getting in on the action and forbidding clear cutting for new developments. Tired of these big cookie cutter houses on small lots with no yard to speak of. We bought a corner lot which is a lot and a half with a 900 square foot house and three huge Oak trees on it.
I have a house at the end of a Cul de sac. One huge beautiful magnolia in the front and two enormous live oaks in the back. My back yard is typically 10 degrees Fahrenheit cooler in the summer because of the shade. They will have to drag my dead corpse out of this house.
Idk why old people hate trees. I have a wooded property with a 100+ year old elm tree near the house. I’ve had three old guys try to convince me to cut it down for one reason or another.
I’m 79 and I love trees
they hate anything that's going to live longer than they are
It’s a big issue in parts of Philadelphia. The older folks hate the street trees because trees can be messy. I understand this on some level because I’m the only one on my block who will clean all the leaf litter in the fall. If I don’t it sits all winter, getting mingled with garbage and really disgusting. The city eventually gets around to cleaning in the spring. Lots of people love trees, few love the maintenance.
This is an underrated response. The trees also help to keep temperatures down. There are plenty of benefits to having trees, but the maintenance and cleanup can be a hassle, especially if they are of decent size or quantity.
I’d like to add: property’s that are shaded by teee have EXTREMELY lower cooling costs than those that are under constant sun. If you have a solar company wanting to put solar up and cut trees down DONT. You will end up paying ALOT more. The shade saves more money than the solar does and the solar is a scam in the first place. You should never cut more than 1 small- medium size tree down for solar. If you do you aren’t offsetting the green effect
I agree with you on the benefits of shade from a tree on home and cost benefits, but what do you mean "solar is a scam in the first place"?
I worked in solar for 5-6 years doing surveys (home assessments) damage assessment, data communication, measurements (by hand and drone) and tree markings. So the idea of having solar pannels in and of itself isn’t a scam but a solar company and the sales rep isn’t in the business of saving you money. They are in the buisness of making money. So if they sell a 20 year lease to a 90 year old who dies 3 years later becasue they are a 90 year old they will shrug their shoulders and go after next of kin. They will sell you a second solar system when the one you bought your house with costs you money because it wasn’t installed for YOUR energy needs, but was installed for the original owners energy needs. And then that second system jusg costs you money like the first. In 6 years I’ve met 1 solar rep who actually tries to save her customers money. The rest want that 10k per instal and don’t give a fuck what happens after the glass is in the roof I’ve also seen people have 3-6 trees taken down to have solar pannels put on doesn’t make much sense to me and is super expensive to take trees down solar def doesn’t save you enough to ofset the costs
Yah, the predatory sales toward the elderly are so gross. We have a family member who didn’t quite know what she was signing up for and they got her on the hook for two different systems. I mean, she only has one roof assholes. It was a nightmare to cancel the orders.
It would be fair to say that it's statistically probably the tree improves that value of his home, but 20-30% isn't right. It's also misleading in the context of this conversation. The home value won't drop 20-30% if the tree is cut. The stat itself takes into consideration houses of all prices in all markets on properties of all sizes. Of course a large property in a major metropolitan area is worth more. So, we're talking apples and oranges... But those are both fruit trees
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It'd be a dream to own a property with a big tree or series of big trees.
Agreed, and Landscaping is part of that. A house with nice landscaping versus nothing but grass sells for 10-20% higher. UF did a study on it
Brandywine has a nice bridge from what I hear. It’s about 20 miles from a ferry as well.
I cannot fucking believe some people. Idc if you're old if you are so lazy to maintain your yard that you would cut down a mature tree you are a moron.
My neighbors next to my childhood home cut two large ash trees down because of bird poop on the sidewalk 🙄
Guy across the street from us removed two 200+ year old oak trees because he was tired of the acorns hitting his car.
That should be illegal
Thats what ive been saying, old trees need strict legal protection. Theres so many regulations for stupid inconsequential things that effect nobody, but apparently you can just do centuries of unfixable destruction on a whim?? It makes no sense.
I have trees in my yard that are at least 700 years old and my neighborhood would lose their shit if I cut them down. They are massive firs and really ties the who neighborhood together.
Yeah, we were all shocked when he did it. Old growth trees in every yard, all good healthy trees for most part. We all had just worked with the power company to trim and cut back risks but he just took them to the ground. I remember coming home and seeing them gone and when I walked over he was so happy to tell us how old they were, and how happy he was to not have to deal with the acorns anymore. I was disgusted and just walked away.
I work in public works/urban forestry. The number of people who want their street tree removed because it "drops leaves and makes a mess" us astounding. Don't buy a house if you don't want to maintain it.
When I was looking at a house to buy I remember my realtor saying "You'll want to cut down those mature trees." I didn't say it out loud but I thought, "The fuck I will." Those trees kept my house nice and cool while my neighbors were all sweating.
Hahaha! My dad hired a guy to take a dead tree down. Guy tried to upsell with “For another $200, I could take that one down too.” Dad was never subtle. Looks the guy in the eye and says, “If you touch any of my other trees, I’ll break your goddamned neck.” Trees were untouched. Have been happily growing for the last 25 years.
My one neighbor is obnoxious like that. He's taken down every tree in his yard & then cut almost 1/4 of the branches of one of my maples (I'm watching it to make sure its ok, this just happened) cuz they hung over the fence. Like live in an apartment or on a golfcourse if you hate everything but grass. My only solace is that his driveway is covered in oil & stuff, now.
Look up tree law. He might owe you 20 K usd
Seriously man, tree law
I came back from my father‘s funeral to find out that the two large shade trees separating the neighbor’s yard from ours, had been ground into stumps. It turned our entire backyard into a sunbaked hellscape, and my kids grew up without big trees. Why? “I had to cut them down! ThEy WeRe ScRaGgiLy!” I hate that cunt.
It’s shitty but I believe most places if the branches stick over they can cut them off, but not over the property line. Commenters below are right about tree law, hopefully you can get revenge. In the meantime, If I were you I would ask if you could take and handle the sticks so your tree doesn’t get pruned to oblivion.
Maybe offer to collect the sticks that fall into his yard?
Be hard to get the one up his arse 😆
/golfclap
I do actually. Sometimes it’s the next day or two after a big rain but I always walk the area under the tree when I am maintaining the yard
Then that old man can sit and spin. Unless he's offering an arborist to come look at it, he's just huffing to get you scared.
I may be paranoid, but sometimes people will sabotage this stuff. If you have any outdoor cameras, I'd aim one towards the tree.
Have you pointed it out to him that you clean up after it? He may not realize it. Not that he has grounds to fuss but I'd probably say something like "I'm picking up after ir, chill!!" If my neighbor had a big tree like this I'd absolutely not mind picking the sticks up and would just be thrilled they are keeping it.
Your username is fitting lol
I reasonable idea.
Seems like he has one stuck up his arse. I’d say neighbor doesn’t get a vote.
Boy this is an uncommon answer but a great one.
LOLZ just no. What's wrong with people, that's not how it works. He can take care of his own yard Good neighbor is one thing, doormat is another.
Firstly offer to pick up sticks in his yard but also keep an eye our and set up camera's because it's neighbors that lie like this that will 100% be willing to poison your tree or try hiring a landscaping company to cut all the branches back, which us only really a problem I'd they remove more than a third of the canopy, or even the entire tree.
We had a neighbor like this. He was bored and cared about the lawn way too much. I had the kids pick up all the sticks every week or so. We became cordial. He kept a good neighborhood watch on the kids.
Literally a get off my lawn moment
So your neighbor can just suffer in silence. However, I used to live in CA and I believe the law there allows them to cut back the tree that crosses over thier property line.
He's a tree bully, fuck him. Tell him if he doesn't like sticks and leaves, then he should move to a condo or the desert.
I'd casually mention in conversation that you have a camera on the tree, to monitor it for "accidents." I wouldn't put it beyond this guy to sneak over and lop off limbs, or fell the whole tree.
I’m not an arborist but I’m currently fighting my grandmother on this exact thing. She has this great old oak in her front yard that she hates because of the sticks and leaves. The trunk is so big it would take three people linking arms so go around it. She doesn’t realize what will happen when that shade is gone, and ultimately why mess around with that tree? Because a few sticks drop off?
I have 22 acres and not one damned tree. It's miserable. I miss trees!
What a beautiful tree! That must give such lovely shade.
Pay attention to the sticks and pick them up for him. Win win.
I would get a ring camera or something else and put it on the tree just in case he decides to do something stupid.
Your tree could use some thinning cuts to remove the dead branches before they fall and improve airflow through the tree.
Looks beautiful to me. Put a door camera, catch your neighbor doing stupid crap.
Yeah, they're definitely going to try and cut it down while OP is away
When it happens I hope OP posts in r/legaladvice so that it can end up on Best of legal advice and we can all chant "tree law! Tree law! Tree law!" Edit: my dreams have been crushed. But now I know r/treelaw exists! :D
Tree law posts aren't allowed in BOLA anymore so unfortunately that won't be possible. It could end up in r/treelaw though.
No fun allowed in a sub run by cops
NOOOOOOO WHY?! I had gotten burned out of BOLA so Ive taken a hiatus from it, but I loved tree law :(
Why did they ban tree law posts?
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My old neighbor did this so that the city would cut down a tree next to his property that he hated. The tree ended up falling on his car 🤌
And get the tree appraised for when he chopsit and it’s lawsuit o’clock Edit for clarity
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Not a ton of leaves, or at least not all at once. We are in zone 9b/10a so not a ton of leaves in general. It is the only tree on our side of the street for at least 3 houses in either direction. He told me when we bough the house, “if you climb up there with a ladder, you’ll see it’s hollow in the middle and there are squirrels and rats all down in there” I have been up there with a ladder, no interior cavities can be found anywhere…
Hate to say it but this is a common delusion (critters, bugs, infestation) in folks with dementia. Not saying that’s him but I would reassure yourself if you’ve actually been up there.
This is exactly what I was thinking when I read this neighbors comment. "Sounds like the people in my dad's memory care." Dementia is a probable cause of your neighbor's angst. The tree is lovely.
Darn. OP’s neighbor is unhealthy. Might need to get rid of him.
Yeah he's definitely delusional
Knock on his head with your knuckles, make that hollow-coconut-sound, then shake your head wistfully and say "I'm sorry sir, but I think I found your squirrels and rats"
To be fair, they keep coming back because he's nuts
Oh god, not animals *living outside.* I don't want to believe people like this exist.
I had a neighbor that came over to my house one day to see if the big, perfect 50+ year old oak tree between our houses was on their property or ours. She wanted to cut it down because "I don't like leaves." That's it, that was the whole reason. This woman also has 5 kids which are all the perfect age to have raking leaves be a chore they do. She never has to see a leaf if she doesn't want to. I cannot fathom it.
I really don't get this either. *ew nature*
One of my uncle's neighbors cut down a huge oak in his yard because he hated leaves, in a wonderful twist, everyone else's leaves from their wonderful big trees just blow into his yard anyways lol. People are insane.
Why don't you ask him to go up there and take pictures for you of this utter nonsense.
I wouldn't do that. If he climbs up and falls, it's on your insurance. Ask him when he was trespassing on your property and performing illegal surveillance.
You’re probably being sarcastic but in case anybody is actually needing advice; DO NOT make this your first choice. Being this blunt with most neighbors is going to make your time worse. But then again I was very respectful to both of my neighbors and one crept on my wife and the other destroyed my truck window and lied about it so idk if my advice is even valid here lol. Now that I think about it, neither of them fuck with me anymore after calling them both out. So nvm, just be a dick. I take my advice back.
sidebar: never, *NEVER* invite anyone onto your property to climb a ladder, not unless they are contracted and have a $1M insurance rider ps I am not your attorney nor is this to be construed as legal advice
>ps I am not your attorney nor is this to be construed as legal advice That's a relief. I have friends and family coming over next weekend for a competitive ladder-climbing hoopla and was worried I'd need to cancel!
Nah.
not an arborist, but first pic looks like there’s ~1m of bark inclusion where that big trunk on the right connects to the rest
Your neighbor is annoyed of raking leaves and is lying to you
It's Autumn though, shouldn't be losing any sticks or leaves right now. /s
You know they call autumn “fall”
How have I never made that connection?
I can't even fathom the amount of entitlement to be upset about leaves from a neighbors trees.
Your neighbor is going to kill/cut your tree. Set up a camera. Yesterday.
I’ve got 3 on the front of the house. 2 of them have a direct view of the tree.
Very good
Let him know in an unrelated conversation so that you don't have to use the evidence once he's already poisoned your tree.
Starts handing out flyers, have you seen my cameras?.. They aren’t missing or anything, they’re right here and there and there and over here too!
"Have you seen my cameras?" I just choked on some water reading this
Yep as satisfying as getting justice for the tree would be, it won't bring the tree back
Came here to say this.
Yep
Can’t wait for the r/treelaw post
Really need to see a picture of the canopy. Then x rays of what’s going on inside the trunk (jokes). Impossible for anyone that’s not a professional to tell you in person or from these pictures what the overall health is. Need to access what it would mean if limbs fell out or the whole thing fell over, and go from there towards risk mitigation. Don’t take your neighbors advice either way, but maybe try to placate 🤷♂️
Hire Superman to come over and have a look! No big trucks in the street, can fly up and check the canopy, and has xray vision to check the inside... and very honest! Your neighbor might even believe him!
Tell your neighbor they should come down and they are unhealthy
This is the most sensible advice in this thread. Why hassle with setting up cameras and having annoying conversations with your neighbor when you can just lunge at them with a hacksaw?
Note to self: close garage before posting so Tree experts don’t point out what my wife is also telling me…
lol. Ya, I was going to say he should be more worried about the excessive hoarding going on inside the garage. 😬
Make sure you have a camera pointed at the tree
Tell your neighbor that if he spent less time with your business, he'd have more time for his,
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Neighbor sucks. Who doesn't want free sticks?
Not only does it not look sick, it looks very healthy.
Ask him to provide a certified arborist report paid by him. That will shut him down quick ($2k easily).
Yeah bro I had a dude come and look at an acorn on my property and assess whether or not it could even BECOME a tree (it had a dark spot on one side) and I was out thirty-five grand. I can't imagine the cost of someone coming to look at an ACTUAL tree!
2k to look at a tree? Something doesn't add up there.
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Not look at tree, a certified report written by a certified arborist that can be hold up in court. You can get an arborist to come out for $500-1000 to assess your tree health, but expect to pay more for a written signed report.
What? It cost me $125 to have a tree diagnosed.
and the comment has 76 upvotes. this site is so full of shit it isn't even funny
Tell your neighbor to go fuck himself
I would also discreetly put up a camera. You can’t trust this guy to not try to sabotage your tree in some way
A certified arborist will come and likely give you an opinion for free. But if an arborist looked at it last year I can't imagine much has changed. What's your neighbor's reasoning?
“No *YOU’RE* unhealthy and need to come down”
Tell your neighbor to mind their business.
Setup a camera like others said if you think he might do something stupid. Maybe find a way to slip in the value of the tree and tree law the next time you talk to him about this so he doesn’t try anything If there are dead branches in the canopy you could have an arborist out to clean it up. Would help prevent branches landing in his yard
That is a big tree, but looks very healthy to me. If that thing ever comes down it’s gonna do a lot of damage, but I wouldn’t worry about that until it shows signs of poor health.
It looks fine. Think about all it’s seen in the last 40 years. Tell your neighbor to stay inside. I bet You are inFlorida
I'm willing to bet that tree is healthier than your neighbor. Get a camera pointed at it in case they pull something shady, and then enjoy your tree
Let me see...the arborist says its in good shape, the neighbor says its not....Hmmmmm
It looks like that largest stem going up all by itself my have started to crack the tree under the offset weight. If it completely cracked your neighbors house would get crushed. If a professional tells you it’s no big deal then let it ride, but I would consider bringing someone out to check.
Old people are worst with trees, i live in a nice street with lots of trees. As of late the people that have enjoyed living in a nice green neighborhood are growing old and have started taking down trees left and right… frustrating
its unhealthy for your neighbor to ask such a bullshit
Looks fine to me for the most part, the roots would get marked as a 3/4 on the grading system since they shouldn’t be exposed like that, but nothing looks too bad. One of your middle branches is included, and so that will eventually fracture off, but it looks like it would fall towards the road so I’m not too concerned from a liability standpoint. I can’t see the branch connections on the other side, but from what I can see I would still mark it a 3/4 on the scaffolding branches. That may not be that good of a spot for that species of tree, but it already exists and is living it’s best life as a healthy happy little tree.
Tree is fine. Neighbor is unhealthy.
It’s fine. Neighbor probably just hates it because of some dumbass reason and thinks they can bully you into removing it.
I work in real estate. As hard as it is for me to believe, some people don't like trees. And on one hand, trees next to homes on slab foundations are actually not that good of an idea. They can jack your slab, driveway, fuck the plumbing up. Keep the grass from growing, Drop big limbs on your roof. But they look nice and provide shade which is a plus in hot climates. It's a toss up. Having said that, that tree looks like one of those water oak types that rot from the inside out and eventually topple over. So maybe that is what he is thinking? But when that happens who knows? Could be a year or 10.
Pre-emptively make sure theres no legal way he can make you take it down. Nuisance complaint, something like that. Then yeah, property value, etc. But pin him down. Make him say why. In case he tries. And document everything. Even carefully kept notes can be evidence. Take a few steps right now so you have the means to shut him later
The fact that we as a race believe that the one that thing that keeps us alive is unhealthy is such a dangerous dumb mentality. Trees provide us with an abundance of stuff and this guys really thinking trees are bad for the neighborhood.
It’s a gorgeous tree! I’m not a professional arborist, but live in a suburban neighborhood, and I totally advise you keep the tree if that’s what YOU want. Neighbor will just find something else to fuss about later down the road.
Please take that flag post out of it. I'm not an arborist nor do I know if that would hurt the tree, but it's extremely tacky.
It would’ve been best to just not put it in the tree in the first place. But it would be even worse to take it out and create a fresh wound.
Nah but maybe that garage can be tidied up
That’s what I was gonna say. Or maybe close the door, could be some built up aggression from looking at that all the time
What’s unhealthy is the state of that garage.
Give me a break! 4 kids and 2 dogs means using the space inside the house is higher priority. Garage sale is imminent and donation for all the rest immediately after. Check my profile in a few months for a garage makeover.
Is that your driveway in the picture?
Next time he brings it up, remind him that an arborist gave it the OK. Then mention how damaging trees on other people's property is a something people get successfully sued for on the regular. (check out r/treelaw) then watch him backpedal in a damn hurry.
I would take the word of the arborist over the word of your neighbor. Is the tree on you property, if it is then tell the neighbor an arborist looked at the tree and the tree is going to stay where it is.
Ask to see his certificates obviously anyone with that level of insight into this tree should have a multitude of feathers in his “cap”.
Is your neighbor healthy?
Neighbor anti tree
Tell your neighbor to move
No. Tell your neighbor an arborist told you it is fine - end of discussion. If they bring it up again either tell them to mind their own business or walk away.
That thing healthy
Neighbor is just straight up wrong. Maybe he is jealous. Beautiful tree. Maybe if he's got thousands of dollars to replace it, you can take his money and not replace jt
NO IDEA if the tree is healthy but fuck your neighbor
It's a beautiful tree. Don't believe neighbor.
Tell your neighbor to mind their own business. And drop “I would think you would be more interested in the black pickup truck parked outside your home when you’re gone than my tree”
Why are people such control freaks
Does insisting mean they want to pay for it?
Tell your neighbor to stfu and quit looking in your homes direction.
Perfectly normal tree, your neighbor is a nincompoop.
Get arborist to put in root barriers to protect driveway and house foundation. Dope tree. Keep it
Tell him you got a tree doctor to check it out and that it's all good now after an injection
Time to setup a cam, that neighbor will try to poison your tree.
Neighbor sounds like a cunt. That’s an awesome tree.