GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

22-07-2006, 11:49 AM posted to alt.home.lawn.garden

On 11 Jul 2006 05:12:23 -0700, wrote:
First, you have my sympathy. Your neighbor is an idiot. Where I
live, I have a 1 acre lot. The neighbor behind my house has a similar
size lot, maybe a little bigger, with a 9000 sq ft house on it. This
dummy took all the trees on the lot out right up to his property line.
There is a buffer of natural trees of about 25 ft on my side. That's
how the situation was when I bought it. It's OK right now, but if he
had any sense or decency, he would have left at least 10 or 15 ft ft on
his side too. If I or a future owner ever take out all the trees on my
side, we too would be staring at each other. Had he done the right
thing, and shared creating a buffer, I could take out some of the
trees, have more open space, without creating a problem for both of us.

I feel your pain because I am in the exact same situation. Young,
aggressive, expansionist neighbors on three sides have cut down
practically ALL of their own trees (and many of mine) and now consider
my land as their own land's buffer (and yard waste dumping) zone. This
problem has been going on for a few years now. The old neighbors
valued peace, quiet and privacy. The new neighbors apparently only
value cleared land. I truly wish I understood their logic.

The only real answer is going to be a definitive property line survey
with permanent markings and a sturdy six foot chain link fence backed
up on my side with some tall, fast-growing shrubs. I fear they would
literally destroy a wooden stockade fence (to re-achieve that "open"
feeling) just like they destroyed the trees. It would only take one
match.

Ironically, the surveyors and fence installers can only gain good
access to the property line with their equipment by using the evil
neighbor's yards... setting up a real "Catch-22" situation as we are
not exactly the best of friends. How ironic that to re-establish my
lost privacy, I will probably need to clear out a ton of trees and
other natural privacy cover from my own land.

Kenny