I won't flame you, but I am curious why you wouldn't want this tree there. I
must be the odd egg because when growing up in Brooklyn, part of the charm of
riding our bikes on the sidewalk were the parts which were raised up by tree
roots.

You may be able to make a claim on your homeowners insurance. You can ask her
to remove the tree. You can remove what lives on your side, but wouldn't that
look much worse?

I say live with it and where it's up in the lawn, remove the turf and put some
nice mulch on top of the roots. Don't cover them with soil or too much mulch or
you will inhibit gas exchange which the roots need when they approach the
surface.

If you dislike your neighbor, work on letting that go. If you like the
neighbor, approach it in a way which is non-combative and see what the two of
you can come up with.

Last week my neighbor from hell decided he was going to put in a metal divider
between his and our property out front. He put the metal edging material down
on the lawn and as soon as I saw that I went out and dug out all my sod and made
it easier for him to come in and lay his metal edge in. He said I cut two
inches off his property line and pointed to the pin in the street. I asked him
if he was so petty as to concern himself with a few inches. I thought I did all
the grunt work for him as a nice gesture and he threw it in my face. We agreed,
finally, that neither of us were moving anywhere and what's the diff of a few
inches. He put the edge in and now I don't have to mow at all on that side.

There are many ways to achieve harmony. And I'm not flaming you, but pointing
out that the beauty and value of the tree far outweighs the sidewalk or lawn it
is invading and I'm suggesting you find ways around it. You will feel much
better and you won't have that resentment looming.

Just a gentle suggestion.

Victoria


On 17 Nov 2003 08:25:22 -0800, (Mike) opined:

Hello,

I will probably get flammed for this but I am looking for solutions or
answers or alternatives.

I live in a twin house, my attached neighbor planted a tree approx 20
years ago, when her son was born. The tree was planted on the grassy
area infront of the sidewalk approximately 1 foot from my property.
Over the years the tree has grown and is now overhanging my property.
She never rakes or takes care of her leaves, but that is not the real
issue. Over the last couple years my sidewalk has been raised and has
broken as a result of the roots of this tree. About a month ago, I
was out raking (her leaves) and noticed that there is a huge root that
has now pertruded through the grass in front of my sidewalk. I
currently have 4 standard blocks of concrete ruined (2 of which I
already replaced several years ago before the problem really
surfaced).

The main truck and several large roots of the tree has extended itself
to my propery as well as hers. She planted it, but it is currently on
my property as well as hers.

I don't necessarily want to kill it, but there is definately a
significant amount of damage being caused by this. Any ideas on what
I can do? Talking to her has done no good.

Thanks
Mike