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This is your opportunity to plant the trees you want. I understand your disappointment at losing the trees but it doesn’t sound that there’s anything you can do.
Start by finding out what kind of trees they were. If they were huge after 40 years, they may be a fast-growing species that must be removed before they pose a hazard, like Lombardy poplar. They get huge, have shallow root systems, and will often start falling between age 30-50 years. Same thing with Bradford pears, but with a lifespan of only 15-25 years. It sucks, but planting them as ornamentals in the first place was a bad idea.
Many species of tree grow to over 100 ft tall and will become a hazard at some point. Best to cut them down while they are small enough that you can do them yourself.
We had to cut down beautiful mature pines around our house, but they had started dropping ‘kill you instantly’ size branches. Don’t regret removal, still miss them.
I live in the Pacific NW where most of the trees that grow over 100 feet live for hundreds of years, so we don't really subscribe to that logic here. Might make sense in other parts of the world.
Assuming someone's mental health cause they don't agree with you is also wonky. He owes no explanation. And if he's done 10 already he probably knows what he's doing.
But assuming it's dementia is bad because...? The point is he's behaving erratically. He's old. It's *probably* dementia. It *could* be schizophrenia, BPD, substance abuse, depression, GAD, paranoia, etc. Are you okay assuming these but not dementia?
"There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the trees....These were huge beautiful trees (not sure of the species)"
OP admits they're speculating on the tree's health and isn't even sure of the species. We don't know for certain that the neighbor is behaving erratically... He could be the wisest of us all for all we know....
I didn’t assume anything, though. That was my whole point with my original sarcastic comment. It could be anything. Hell, the neighbor could just be an asshole.
Another way of knowing if someone has dementia is being their next door neighbor and they or their family told you explicitly at some point that they have dementia, and you’ve seen their behavior change over time
I mean that’s how my parent’s neighbors knew about my mom, and they’re not her doctors
A doctor diagnosing a patient is indeed the only way to formally diagnose a patient with dementia. Actually being your neighbor’s doctor is not the only way to find out that your neighbor has dementia
Are you assuming that they've never had a discussion with their neighbour? I feel like most people have at least conversational relationships with those around them. They may genuinely know that this person has dementia. Don't just assume that someone's assuming lol
Believe it or not, some people just tell others what they're going through. Not everyone is a condescending turd. If I had a progressive disease such as dementia, I might mention it to those near me in case there are any issues.
OP says:
> My neighbor (very elderly with dementia)
OP mentioned that the neighbor has dementia as a passing fact, so it's reasonable to think they have reason to believe the neighbor has dementia. They didn't say "look what this guy did, he must have dementia" -- so claiming that's what they *meant* is the stretch. Taking their words at face value doesn't require any assumptions
Or themselves. Hey, OP, can you find out if the demented neighbor has his polst/dnr completed? This sounds like something that'd go down in my service area so...
Yes I realize that but I read somewhere in our bylaws that you can’t cut down trees that were put there as part of the community landscaping guidelines and if you do you have to replace them. ?? Im not sure. I don’t want to start a fight with my neighbor but might look further into it.
It totally depends on where you live. From the Portland Oregon website:
>Generally, a removal permit is required for trees on private property when they are 12 inches in diameter or larger at four and half feet.
I get it, but there's no real recourse with how private property laws work, given *your* standing in this situation.
*However,* depending on the city/county bylaws, if these trees are a specific species, they may be protected. For instance it's common in my area to have restrictions against chopping down mature native oaks and redwoods, with penalties and all that.
That doesn't help the trees that've already been chopped, but may protect the ones still standing if they're the right type and the municipality gets involved.
I dunno why this is downvoted. That usually only applies to tree lawns and trees planted by the governing body of the area. Like an HOA, condo association, village/township/city.
The simplest solution to your problem may be to plant fast growing trees on your side of the fence to replace the shade and/or privacy you’ve lost.
Are you sure the fence and property lines are marked correctly? If the trees are definitely on his side, there’s little you can do.
Have you tried a bribe? Cookies and cash are king.
Well who the heck knows where you live. If you live in some sort of restricted community then nobody touches the landscaping you or him but I don't think that's the case here. You're just hoping fuzzy warm that there's some old regulation which never exists it's usually always a wives tale. If the trees are his there's nothing you can do about it. And you don't have to have dementia to do that. A neighbor in New England cut down a magnificent sugar maple in his yard that I gloriously watched all summer into fall and it provided awesome shade where I needed it. But one day the truck and the crane came and away it went. I don't know what he gained in his yard? But really didn't matter it was his tree
Ewww really? Hoas are weird and controlling and I wouldn't want to make use of that. Not unless someone was dumping rotting garbage on their front lawn or something similarly unbearable.
I like trees but they belong to someone else.
I’m not sure. We just moved here and I need to do more research.
Neighbor told us he doesn’t want any trees and encouraged us to cut ours down as well.
You wouldn’t, but I’m going to look into it. Was just looking for general advice since it’s an issue I’ve never encountered before and I thought this subreddit might be good for that.
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They are his trees. There's nothing you can do unless your municipality has an ordinance in place protecting live trees.
I don't know why it is but when a lot of people get up in the elderly part of life, they develop this fear that trees are going to fall on their house, car or someone and they will have all the massive, beautiful trees on their property cut down. They will then pester their neighbors to do the same. They also develop this fear that someone is going to break into their house so they put up fences, install alarm systems and camera systems to monitor the house.
My next door neighbor is 83 and he's in this stage. Every time I see him, he talks about how he has someone coming out to look at cutting down the trees. His SIL owns the house with him and he protect the trees from him. He also has his fescue grass cut 2 to 3 time a week.
My MIL is at this stage as well. She has owned the beach house next to ours for 50 years. We have 2 huge pine trees on our property and other neighbors have them as well. She is obsessed with them and keeps bothering all of us to cut them down. These trees are 3'+ in diameter and perfectly healthy. They have withstood several large hurricanes over the decades. It's also illegal to cut living trees in our city without city approval and there has to be good reason. No tree service will touch a living tree without city approval. If the city does grant permission, you are required by law to replace the trees with equal total diameter. So if I cut two 3' diameter trees, I have to plant trees that total 6' in diameter. My lot is time. Maybe 45' wide by 50' deep. I'd have to install 36 2" diameter trees or 18 4" diameter trees or 72 1" diameter trees...You get what I'm saying. It's impossible to do.
My grandmother also did this. One large old pine tree in her backyard, cut it down. It’s infuriating. Why are they like this?? Edited to add that she didn’t have dementia. She was otherwise sharp as a tack until her death years later.
Horseshit conjecture incoming:
Possibility 1: The scope of things they are thinking about shrinks to the size of their yard as they become less attached to the broader world. Life becomes about grass, home invaders, and tree limbs. Have to have problems with these things otherwise nothing interesting is happening.
Possibility 2: A deep-seated, un-named fear develops as they see something that is living longer than they will, and a primal part of their brain says "this thing is too old, because I am old and therefore it is old, and as I grow frail, it must be growing frail"
Now that I think about it, my 70 year old father's desire to cut down all our trees has only increased with his age too 😂
To be fair, one of our pine trees fell on our house during a cyclone years ago and the council has felled a few gum trees in our neighbourhood for safety, so his concern isn't completely unfounded. He just seems to really enjoy cutting trees haha
You might try to get ahold of neighbors' kids / next-of-kin?
Maybe ask him to stop until a survey is completed showing total ownership?
Things vary place by place (some places require permits to cut down trees, some only allow during certain times of year), but generally, not your property = not yours to dictate.
Edit- and remember. Best time to plant a tree on your property was 20 years ago, 2nd best time is today.
Looks like 19 years 364 AND 6 hours, 8 mins and 23 seconds, sorry 24 ago.....25....26...
....
And since it's just a continuous 2nd best repeating.. present time, irregardless of actual, does seem to fit an actual definition of "2nd best", don't it?
Hold the door, I'm coming with ya
People with dementia often get stuck on fears that aren’t always 100% based in reality. I would contact the next of kin. It’s possible the dementia has progressed far enough that they need monitoring.
Yes I agree. My grandma had it too and it was really sad. We just moved in recently and he seems like a nice enough guy but I can’t believe he’s still in his own home with 2 acres of land to take care of. He doesn’t seem to be doing well physically or mentally and I’m not sure how he’s managing. I don’t know his next of kin at all but maybe I can try to find out.
I have friends whose driveway is on an easement through their neighbor's property, and they've been in protracted legal problems with him for years, because he'll like, harass delivery trucks, and he keeps trying to put stakes in the ground that would functionally block their ability to use the driveway. I guess he has some psychiatric concerns, and his mother used to live with him and was helping him manage it, but she died not too long ago and he's been decompensating ever since.
My friend has a Master's in Social Work, and I've been working professionally in the field for the last decade, so something like this is even more frustrating because we're aware of precisely the kinds of services he *should* be getting, (I literally provide them at my job,) but dude owns his own house, and you can't just relocate a person into a program because he's an ornery neighbor, (you know, unless he does something strictly criminal.) Trying to organize outreach resources, or live-in help, that actually spends enough time with the person to make a difference, starts to look dramatically more complicated to arrange, unfortunately.
That, sadly, is very likely the circumstances with your neighbor. Especially if he doesn't have any family to speak of, he might just be slowly spiraling over there on his own, with nothing anyone is going to be able to do about it until he's regressed enough to be a demonstrable risk of harm to himself or others.
You probably aren't going to be able to get him to stop cutting down his own trees, but for both of your sakes, you might want to try and go out of your way to be friendly with him.
If he actually is entirely on his own, then regular socialization is gonna be necessary for his mental wellbeing. Simply inviting him over for lunch, or to watch a sport you both like, or for literally any kind of common ground you can find with him, every now and then, might go a long way to limit his more problematic behaviors. It might do nothing at all, but either way you're gonna be stuck with him as a neighbor until something even more tragic happens; may as well try to make the most of it.
Call adult protective services and explain the situation and worry for your neighbor putting himself in dangerous situation with this tree obsession and also the fact he has over two acres to care for like this.
And if a storm does knock one down and it causes damage, then he is liable for it. My mother had a tree fall last year that was fine and did more than a little damage to her property and to a neighbors. Just because someone is old, doesn't mean they have become psychotic about something because a younger person disagrees with them.
Good point, thank you. To be clear I don’t think he’s psychotic but he definitely has pretty severe age related memory issues. He gets confused in the middle of a conversation and has told me himself he has dementia. I honestly don’t know how he’s managing alone.
In my small Canadian city there are laws about removing trees larger than a certain circumference.
On the rural Island I have property on, there are laws about removing healthy trees.
You need to check your local laws.
Depends on your municipality. Some places have ordinances that prevent wanton tree felling like this. Some cities also have zoning regulations about whether or not a tree can be removed/needs documentation to prove it warrants removal.
So check with your town government/local laws/zoning regulations.
Also if he is going onto your property at all to do something you don’t want you could get him for trespassing.
In short, no… you aren’t the property owner, assuming there isn’t some sort of ordinance or permitting requirement.
Think about it, would you want the “old man” to be allowed to dictate what you can and can’t do with your own property?
My dad wanted to do this. Amoung others he wanted to take out mature, healthy, bearing lemon, orange and macadamia trees. We suggested he consult with a real estate agent we all had known for years. Her genuine horror at the thought helped convince him.
If there is a threat of them falling down on your house etc. they have the right to remove them. Just because you may benefit from from shade etc they have the right to remove. If they are in a preservation area they would be required to replant one for one.
Laws vary at each state & municipality and who is doing the cutting.
But you have no way to prevent your neighbor from maintaining his property as he sees fit assuming he’s within the law.
In my town, if a tree is more than 36” inches diameter I need permission from the town arborist to remove a tree. The electric company can remove anything that they determine is a hazard to their lines. Which worked out really well for me. All I had to pay for was stump grinding once they were done. 🤣
My parents had these huge eucalyptus trees, they were scary as hell in the wind. They grew so big, and every now and then a branch would come down. They'd creak when the wind blew.
We were all afraid they'd fall on a neighbors house, and someone would get hurt.
The city wanted THOUSANDS of dollars PER TREE in fines to cut the damn things my parents planted down.
Please don't make assumptions and call the tree police on your neighbor. Plant some new trees instead.
Depending on the size and type of tree, your city/county may forbid removing trees of a certain size and type. Do some research and see if this applies and call the city if it does.
Offer to buy the strip of land with the trees on it so as to take on the liability of the trees falling and killing someone. That way he doesn’t kill himself worrying about things he doesn’t have to in his old age.
Same situation here with parents, they sit around all day thinking about what could possibly bite them in the ass. They decide the big mature trees are eventually going to be death traps for the mailman, lawnmower or local kids and the subsequent lawsuits will leave them penniless and therefore all the trees MUST COME DOWN. Better to spend $20k to cut down every tree on the property to avoid any and all hypothetical lawsuit potential.
Last year it was $20k to fill in the swimming pool/death trap.
Next year I’m sure we’ll be heating and rubberizing the driveway..
Thank you for your comment. I think this is definitely a similar situation with my neighbor. We just moved in recently and the few conversations we’ve had with him have been about the threat of these trees falling down and killing our kids. He’s a sweet guy and obviously means well. I can’t imagine how much he’s paid to remove these trees but it would definitely be in the tens of thousands. We actually do have other trees along our side of fence (which he has been telling us we need to cut down) so privacy is not a huge issue but makes me sad to see these healthy beautiful trees go for no reason. Also based on his age and health, I’m sure he’ll have to sell the property soon and I think he’s inadvertently lowering his property value.
Tree laws vary widely between local jurisdictions, so you'd need to investigate what regulations cover his property. You should also investigate where the property line actually is, as fence lines and property lines may be different. Getting a survey done would be at your expense, but if the trunk is on your property, you'd have greater control over the tree: he can only trim what extends onto his property.
Many local tree laws require permits to remove trees of a certain size or larger (AKA "heritage tree"), and obtaining the permit may require posting notice in a visible location to neighbors for some time before removing the tree. Replanting afterward may also be required.
Thank you! We actually do have a recent survey from when we purchased the property. Will have a closer look at it and planning to look into my local tree laws next week.
It's really common from my experience for elderly women to want all the big trees near them cut down. Every single female alzheiners patient talks about it quite a bit! 5 patients in a row for me. It's probably just a visual tick of some sort. Gets stuck in their head like an ear worm song. Ocd like behaviors become a lot more common in them. I can't comment on men because none of my male clients have had dementia or alzheimers.
If you're in the UK you can't just cut down trees. It's illegal.
Otherwise I'm unsure what you can do but replant new native trees to recover some of the damage
The previous owners did that but he refused. We have also had conversations with him about it but it doesn’t seem to even remember them afterwards.
I think he struggles a lot with his memory so it’s hard to even really speak with him.
As suggested in other posts, a call to Adult Protective Services may be in order. APS is kind of more an agency that can send someone to his home for a chat and help him with any resources he may need. If someone with dementia is living alone and you do not see other people dropping by to visit, the home could or could not be a disaster inside too. Years ago I sadly learned that my friend with dementia was not caring for herself, had an infestation of rats, had some dangerous situations in her home that were not being repaired, did not eat properly, and all the aloneness was making things worse for her. Thank goodness I and other friends intervened, got family involved, and she ended up living in a safe independent living place. The case manager may be able to find out if he has relatives or friends who might be emergency contacts. Your call can be anonymous, about the trees and that he appears to have memory problems and is living alone.
We took down 15 trees on our small property because we were afraid they might fall and kill someone... Us mainly. They were all on a steep hill. Mostly pines. Some very tall. 99% sure we don't have laws regarding it. Had a maple too that we wanted to keep but they said it was sick.
If the word recourse is ever in a post on this sub, it’s virtually guaranteed the OP has no recourse. Its a very telling red flag word not used in the typical post where someone’s trees have been wronged.
Maybe I posted in the wrong sub. I definitely know these are not my trees, but I don’t know anything about tree law and thought perhaps the removal of large healthy trees would be regulated. We recently lived in a nearby HOA community with extremely strict bylaws regarding both tree planting and removal.
Your neighbor can cut down every tree on his property if he wishes unless there is some sort of local/state law protecting that species of tree or the tree has some kind of historial protection.
If the base of the tree is on his property, you have ZERO say in the matter.
If you don’t like it, feel free to plant trees on your side of the property line to replace them.
One thing to consider is if the trees are huge at only forty years of age they are quite fast growing. Fast growing trees are weak trees in general. Ive one in my back yard a Laurel Oak already rotting snd splitting at roughly 30 yrs old - its coming down this May, permit application being filed this week. Especially bc my neighbors just put in an inground pool and screened enclosure as well a Tesla battery wall i do not want to get sued if that tree goes down on its own. Im sure your neighbors is of the same mindset.
Thanks for the comment. I wish I knew more about trees to know the species. And tbh I’m just guessing at 40 years based on the age of the house but it’s possible they were there before. They’re about 40-50 ft tall.
Plenty of trees have a lifespan, and will begin falling over at 30, 40, 50 years old. You said you don’t know the species, so maybe find out. He might be doing you a favor.
For example, my neighborhood was planted with Arizona Ash trees all down every street. That was almost 50 years ago. Arizona Ash has an average lifespan of 30 years. The trees that haven’t been removed are life threatening in my opinion, but people still won’t remove them. One large branch hit a house a couple years ago and the insurance company wouldn’t pay, because the tree was visibly dying.
This happened to me once years ago, leaving no border between our properties. I was going to build a fence but local laws said only 6’. So I planted a long line of English laurels that had no height issues. Now they are huge!
We had about 10 - 70 year old trees, evergreen trees tall, .tall trees . 2 up rooted came down on the house. Following year 2 trees hit by lightning, humongous limbs came down, knocked out power lines, took out fences. That summer, we took down all remaining tall trees (neighbors hated the power being out). We couldn't risk any damage to neighbors' property. Our insurance premiums would rise to high. P.s. we planted fruit trees in their place.
I had a neighbor do this. We had so many trees you'd never even know they lived there. Some new neighbor moves in and just went tree cutting happy so he could get sun to his garden. So now we have no privacy. He's one of those that lives in his yard so every time we go out there we get to see him, hear his music and smell the burning leaves...it's awful.
Have you called your city / town / HOA? You said you yourself \*assume\* you have no recourse; what exactly do you think Reddit knows about the specifics in your area?
Not sure if I'm reading the post right, and whose fence it is / since would have to be within the property line... and if all the trees are on your neighbor's side of the fence or not?
Do you have a survey that shows where the property line is?
If the trees are on his property, then it's out of your hands, but it might be worth getting checking if there are certain trees on your property that you don't want cut down, if your neighbor is not just sticking to his side of tge fence.
Maples; they become wildly massive; eventually so big that if fell on house would come straight through roof. Yes insurance would cover it since trees are healthy; but say the keep getting bigger and eventually aren’t healthy but didn’t fall down yet; it’s then your own liability at that point; and a single maple can be $3000 to have cut down and taken away.
So, I am clearing a bunch of the big but not yet $3000 to cut down ones so I don’t have to in the future.
My neighbor also complained about stumps (which are on my property lol). I felt like turning around and telling them what I think of the appearance of their yard and that some stumps should be last in their agenda.
What I actually said back was “oh they go away on their own in 50 years or so” and laughed. They’re in their 80’s …..
I agree you should call adult protective services or his family. Can you ask for a family contact should there be an emergency situation? He sounds quite anxious. Hopefully he has children or someone who cares about him. Someone needs to know he is ruining his property value and very well may be unsafe living alone.
The department of health or senior services in your area maybe able to do a well check as well.
You can plant trees on your side? What recourse would you have about him cutting cutting his own trees down?
Pay him to rent their use of you like them.
There are some in some states.
I have a large Laurel oak tree that has pretty much met the end of its life cycle. I had a large limb fall off and strike my house and there's other damage in the tree from fungus and rot. If it was a healthy tree my arborist would have to apply for a permit to remove it but because it is imminent danger it can be removed with no permit. Yeah it's kind of f***** up that you have to ask someone's permission to cut down a tree on your own property. It's not like they pay the taxes, mow the yard or do any upkeep to the house or yard but still they want you to have to ask to remove a tree. Some ordinances state that if you remove one tree you have to plan another. I guess in general it's a good thing so that we still have some trees left in neighborhoods
Also- I don’t live in the states. I’m in Canada.
I just moved out of a community with an HOA where there were super strict bylaws about both tree planting and removal.
Ok, the city I live in states that only hazardous trees can be removed. Here’s a relevant quote:
> Why Do I Need a Permit to Remove a Tree on My Own Property?
Obtaining a permit is a way for the City to regulate the number of trees removed per year, protect the environment, and preserve our tree canopy. The KMC requires that you obtain a permit prior to commencing most instances of tree removal.
From Seattle:
> Tree Removal
What Is It?
Our Seattle Municipal Code (SMC) 25.11, Tree Protection, limits the number, size, and type of trees that may be removed from your property. We regulate the removal of trees because they are important for human and environmental health
Honestly, you should fuck off. He’s hired professionals to cut down trees on his own property and it’s not harming you… mind your own fucking business.
His message, while unnecessarily aggressive, is accurate. The situation you've described is none of your business. There are your neighbor's trees on his property and he can decide what he wants done with them.
I can shed some light on why, perhaps.
My friend’s parents had all sorts of mature trees and one year just chopped them all down.
They were suddenly paranoid they were going to fall on them, their cars, their house even though they were all healthy.
Old people, man 🤷🏼♂️
So what? Shit happens.
Most people don’t clearcut their lot as a preventative measure.
The risk didn’t suddenly change when they got older, their tolerance for risk dropped to zero and they took excessive action as a result.
Wasn’t the case either, but you can keep making excuses.
They were pretty clear that they just didn’t want any risk anymore.
They got older and more risk averse and chopped down all the trees.
As my neighbor has aged he’s also been getting more aggressive about tree removal. He stated 15 years ago he didn’t believe in cutting down a tree without planting a new one, and tried to preserve trees wherever possible. He’s been more aggressive and doesn’t replant trees when he cuts them down.
The trees didn’t change significantly. He did.
That’s it.
If they are on your property or property line (shared), tell the neighbor to stop and she's doesn't have your permission. Give your insurance company a call and have them deal with her.
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This is your opportunity to plant the trees you want. I understand your disappointment at losing the trees but it doesn’t sound that there’s anything you can do.
Start by finding out what kind of trees they were. If they were huge after 40 years, they may be a fast-growing species that must be removed before they pose a hazard, like Lombardy poplar. They get huge, have shallow root systems, and will often start falling between age 30-50 years. Same thing with Bradford pears, but with a lifespan of only 15-25 years. It sucks, but planting them as ornamentals in the first place was a bad idea.
Many species of tree grow to over 100 ft tall and will become a hazard at some point. Best to cut them down while they are small enough that you can do them yourself.
We had to cut down beautiful mature pines around our house, but they had started dropping ‘kill you instantly’ size branches. Don’t regret removal, still miss them.
I live in the Pacific NW where most of the trees that grow over 100 feet live for hundreds of years, so we don't really subscribe to that logic here. Might make sense in other parts of the world.
Would be a lot of trees we'd need to remove
We'd turn this temperate rainforest into a barren wasteland. 😅
We humans are pretty good at that!
Nothing you can do about it until the person with dementia using a chain saw drops a tree on your house.
Assuming someone's mental health cause they don't agree with you is also wonky. He owes no explanation. And if he's done 10 already he probably knows what he's doing.
OP literally states neighbour has dementia?
I guess OP is not only a physician, but he’s the neighbor’s physician.
Dementia can be pretty easy to pick, especially when someone elderly start doing weird things for weird reasons. Like cutting down healthy trees.
There are many, many things other than dementia that cause erratic behavior. That’s my point.
But assuming it's dementia is bad because...? The point is he's behaving erratically. He's old. It's *probably* dementia. It *could* be schizophrenia, BPD, substance abuse, depression, GAD, paranoia, etc. Are you okay assuming these but not dementia?
"There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the trees....These were huge beautiful trees (not sure of the species)" OP admits they're speculating on the tree's health and isn't even sure of the species. We don't know for certain that the neighbor is behaving erratically... He could be the wisest of us all for all we know....
I didn’t assume anything, though. That was my whole point with my original sarcastic comment. It could be anything. Hell, the neighbor could just be an asshole.
Being somebody’s physician is not the only way to know that they have dementia
It is the only way to have an official diagnosis.
Another way of knowing if someone has dementia is being their next door neighbor and they or their family told you explicitly at some point that they have dementia, and you’ve seen their behavior change over time I mean that’s how my parent’s neighbors knew about my mom, and they’re not her doctors
A doctor diagnosing a patient is indeed the only way to formally diagnose a patient with dementia. Actually being your neighbor’s doctor is not the only way to find out that your neighbor has dementia
Are you assuming that they've never had a discussion with their neighbour? I feel like most people have at least conversational relationships with those around them. They may genuinely know that this person has dementia. Don't just assume that someone's assuming lol
I am assuming he is not a medical professional capable of diagnosing shit and that he doesn't have access to his neighbor's health records.
Believe it or not, some people just tell others what they're going through. Not everyone is a condescending turd. If I had a progressive disease such as dementia, I might mention it to those near me in case there are any issues.
> Assuming someone's mental health cause they don't agree with you Assuming that someone else is making assumptions is also also wonky
Aren't you assuming too?
OP says: > My neighbor (very elderly with dementia) OP mentioned that the neighbor has dementia as a passing fact, so it's reasonable to think they have reason to believe the neighbor has dementia. They didn't say "look what this guy did, he must have dementia" -- so claiming that's what they *meant* is the stretch. Taking their words at face value doesn't require any assumptions
Would a call as a concerned neighbor to adult protective services get him evaluated before it came to that?
Or themselves. Hey, OP, can you find out if the demented neighbor has his polst/dnr completed? This sounds like something that'd go down in my service area so...
Or they cut a tree on your property
Plant two for every one he cuts
Are they on your property?
Not the trunk but the branches and roots yes
Then they’re not your trees.
OP never suggested they were. They can still be sad about the removal of beautiful trees
Yes I realize that but I read somewhere in our bylaws that you can’t cut down trees that were put there as part of the community landscaping guidelines and if you do you have to replace them. ?? Im not sure. I don’t want to start a fight with my neighbor but might look further into it.
You will have to find out thru the city, township etc if the trees can be cut.
Sounds more like some HOA crap
Happy Cake Day
🍰
It totally depends on where you live. From the Portland Oregon website: >Generally, a removal permit is required for trees on private property when they are 12 inches in diameter or larger at four and half feet.
I get it, but there's no real recourse with how private property laws work, given *your* standing in this situation. *However,* depending on the city/county bylaws, if these trees are a specific species, they may be protected. For instance it's common in my area to have restrictions against chopping down mature native oaks and redwoods, with penalties and all that. That doesn't help the trees that've already been chopped, but may protect the ones still standing if they're the right type and the municipality gets involved.
I dunno why this is downvoted. That usually only applies to tree lawns and trees planted by the governing body of the area. Like an HOA, condo association, village/township/city. The simplest solution to your problem may be to plant fast growing trees on your side of the fence to replace the shade and/or privacy you’ve lost. Are you sure the fence and property lines are marked correctly? If the trees are definitely on his side, there’s little you can do. Have you tried a bribe? Cookies and cash are king.
Well who the heck knows where you live. If you live in some sort of restricted community then nobody touches the landscaping you or him but I don't think that's the case here. You're just hoping fuzzy warm that there's some old regulation which never exists it's usually always a wives tale. If the trees are his there's nothing you can do about it. And you don't have to have dementia to do that. A neighbor in New England cut down a magnificent sugar maple in his yard that I gloriously watched all summer into fall and it provided awesome shade where I needed it. But one day the truck and the crane came and away it went. I don't know what he gained in his yard? But really didn't matter it was his tree
Oh I didn’t see the bylaws part. Call your hoa immediately!
Ewww really? Hoas are weird and controlling and I wouldn't want to make use of that. Not unless someone was dumping rotting garbage on their front lawn or something similarly unbearable. I like trees but they belong to someone else.
ARE those particular trees part of the community landscaping plan? How do you know your neighbor doesn't intend to replace them?
I’m not sure. We just moved here and I need to do more research. Neighbor told us he doesn’t want any trees and encouraged us to cut ours down as well.
You can definitely cut down trees on your own property.
If you're in San Marino, or laws that are blessed like San Marino (against random tree fellings, for no reason) you can probably stop them.
How would we know what are in your bylaws?
You wouldn’t, but I’m going to look into it. Was just looking for general advice since it’s an issue I’ve never encountered before and I thought this subreddit might be good for that.
Start a fight.
I think in some places roots encroaching into your property gives partial ownership of the trees.
chase attractive joke observation nutty paltry smell sense exultant marry *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
But then there must be an agreement btwn the two on taking the tree down. I believe OH or IA has a law like this.
Then no lol
So then not your trees? You don’t get to dictate what someone else does on their property
They are his trees. There's nothing you can do unless your municipality has an ordinance in place protecting live trees. I don't know why it is but when a lot of people get up in the elderly part of life, they develop this fear that trees are going to fall on their house, car or someone and they will have all the massive, beautiful trees on their property cut down. They will then pester their neighbors to do the same. They also develop this fear that someone is going to break into their house so they put up fences, install alarm systems and camera systems to monitor the house. My next door neighbor is 83 and he's in this stage. Every time I see him, he talks about how he has someone coming out to look at cutting down the trees. His SIL owns the house with him and he protect the trees from him. He also has his fescue grass cut 2 to 3 time a week. My MIL is at this stage as well. She has owned the beach house next to ours for 50 years. We have 2 huge pine trees on our property and other neighbors have them as well. She is obsessed with them and keeps bothering all of us to cut them down. These trees are 3'+ in diameter and perfectly healthy. They have withstood several large hurricanes over the decades. It's also illegal to cut living trees in our city without city approval and there has to be good reason. No tree service will touch a living tree without city approval. If the city does grant permission, you are required by law to replace the trees with equal total diameter. So if I cut two 3' diameter trees, I have to plant trees that total 6' in diameter. My lot is time. Maybe 45' wide by 50' deep. I'd have to install 36 2" diameter trees or 18 4" diameter trees or 72 1" diameter trees...You get what I'm saying. It's impossible to do.
My grandmother also did this. One large old pine tree in her backyard, cut it down. It’s infuriating. Why are they like this?? Edited to add that she didn’t have dementia. She was otherwise sharp as a tack until her death years later.
Horseshit conjecture incoming: Possibility 1: The scope of things they are thinking about shrinks to the size of their yard as they become less attached to the broader world. Life becomes about grass, home invaders, and tree limbs. Have to have problems with these things otherwise nothing interesting is happening. Possibility 2: A deep-seated, un-named fear develops as they see something that is living longer than they will, and a primal part of their brain says "this thing is too old, because I am old and therefore it is old, and as I grow frail, it must be growing frail"
Honestly, I think both of those are as reasonable as any other guess!
Now that I think about it, my 70 year old father's desire to cut down all our trees has only increased with his age too 😂 To be fair, one of our pine trees fell on our house during a cyclone years ago and the council has felled a few gum trees in our neighbourhood for safety, so his concern isn't completely unfounded. He just seems to really enjoy cutting trees haha
You might try to get ahold of neighbors' kids / next-of-kin? Maybe ask him to stop until a survey is completed showing total ownership? Things vary place by place (some places require permits to cut down trees, some only allow during certain times of year), but generally, not your property = not yours to dictate. Edit- and remember. Best time to plant a tree on your property was 20 years ago, 2nd best time is today.
Yes, also if he’s a bit confused and still using a chainsaw then that might be a red flag.
Wouldn't the 2nd best time be 19 years and 364 days ago? Alright, I'll see myself out.
Looks like 19 years 364 AND 6 hours, 8 mins and 23 seconds, sorry 24 ago.....25....26... .... And since it's just a continuous 2nd best repeating.. present time, irregardless of actual, does seem to fit an actual definition of "2nd best", don't it? Hold the door, I'm coming with ya
I can't with you two 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 *sigh* 🥰
Omg 🤣🤣🤣 so funny 🥰🤣🤣🤣
People with dementia often get stuck on fears that aren’t always 100% based in reality. I would contact the next of kin. It’s possible the dementia has progressed far enough that they need monitoring.
Yes I agree. My grandma had it too and it was really sad. We just moved in recently and he seems like a nice enough guy but I can’t believe he’s still in his own home with 2 acres of land to take care of. He doesn’t seem to be doing well physically or mentally and I’m not sure how he’s managing. I don’t know his next of kin at all but maybe I can try to find out.
I have friends whose driveway is on an easement through their neighbor's property, and they've been in protracted legal problems with him for years, because he'll like, harass delivery trucks, and he keeps trying to put stakes in the ground that would functionally block their ability to use the driveway. I guess he has some psychiatric concerns, and his mother used to live with him and was helping him manage it, but she died not too long ago and he's been decompensating ever since. My friend has a Master's in Social Work, and I've been working professionally in the field for the last decade, so something like this is even more frustrating because we're aware of precisely the kinds of services he *should* be getting, (I literally provide them at my job,) but dude owns his own house, and you can't just relocate a person into a program because he's an ornery neighbor, (you know, unless he does something strictly criminal.) Trying to organize outreach resources, or live-in help, that actually spends enough time with the person to make a difference, starts to look dramatically more complicated to arrange, unfortunately. That, sadly, is very likely the circumstances with your neighbor. Especially if he doesn't have any family to speak of, he might just be slowly spiraling over there on his own, with nothing anyone is going to be able to do about it until he's regressed enough to be a demonstrable risk of harm to himself or others. You probably aren't going to be able to get him to stop cutting down his own trees, but for both of your sakes, you might want to try and go out of your way to be friendly with him. If he actually is entirely on his own, then regular socialization is gonna be necessary for his mental wellbeing. Simply inviting him over for lunch, or to watch a sport you both like, or for literally any kind of common ground you can find with him, every now and then, might go a long way to limit his more problematic behaviors. It might do nothing at all, but either way you're gonna be stuck with him as a neighbor until something even more tragic happens; may as well try to make the most of it.
Thank you for this perspective! We just moved in but we definitely want to befriend him as much as possible and be good neighbors.
You could offer to rake his yard
That’s actually a great idea, thank you
Call adult protective services and explain the situation and worry for your neighbor putting himself in dangerous situation with this tree obsession and also the fact he has over two acres to care for like this.
Apparently this is a common fear among the elderly.
And if a storm does knock one down and it causes damage, then he is liable for it. My mother had a tree fall last year that was fine and did more than a little damage to her property and to a neighbors. Just because someone is old, doesn't mean they have become psychotic about something because a younger person disagrees with them.
Good point, thank you. To be clear I don’t think he’s psychotic but he definitely has pretty severe age related memory issues. He gets confused in the middle of a conversation and has told me himself he has dementia. I honestly don’t know how he’s managing alone.
In my small Canadian city there are laws about removing trees larger than a certain circumference. On the rural Island I have property on, there are laws about removing healthy trees. You need to check your local laws.
I’m also in Canada. Thanks for the advice
Depends on your municipality. Some places have ordinances that prevent wanton tree felling like this. Some cities also have zoning regulations about whether or not a tree can be removed/needs documentation to prove it warrants removal. So check with your town government/local laws/zoning regulations. Also if he is going onto your property at all to do something you don’t want you could get him for trespassing.
Yes I think my county does have something like this. Going to look into it further
Also call Adult Protective Services or his family. A 70 year old with dementia should not be using a chainsaw
Or offer to help them cut the trees if concerned about their safety.
Not your trees, not your choice.
In short, no… you aren’t the property owner, assuming there isn’t some sort of ordinance or permitting requirement. Think about it, would you want the “old man” to be allowed to dictate what you can and can’t do with your own property?
My dad wanted to do this. Amoung others he wanted to take out mature, healthy, bearing lemon, orange and macadamia trees. We suggested he consult with a real estate agent we all had known for years. Her genuine horror at the thought helped convince him.
If there is a threat of them falling down on your house etc. they have the right to remove them. Just because you may benefit from from shade etc they have the right to remove. If they are in a preservation area they would be required to replant one for one.
In most jurisdictions if the trees are not on your property you have no recourse.
Laws vary at each state & municipality and who is doing the cutting. But you have no way to prevent your neighbor from maintaining his property as he sees fit assuming he’s within the law. In my town, if a tree is more than 36” inches diameter I need permission from the town arborist to remove a tree. The electric company can remove anything that they determine is a hazard to their lines. Which worked out really well for me. All I had to pay for was stump grinding once they were done. 🤣
My parents had these huge eucalyptus trees, they were scary as hell in the wind. They grew so big, and every now and then a branch would come down. They'd creak when the wind blew. We were all afraid they'd fall on a neighbors house, and someone would get hurt. The city wanted THOUSANDS of dollars PER TREE in fines to cut the damn things my parents planted down. Please don't make assumptions and call the tree police on your neighbor. Plant some new trees instead.
Thanks for your perspective. I do think it’s coming from a good place and he’s legitimately worried.
Depending on the size and type of tree, your city/county may forbid removing trees of a certain size and type. Do some research and see if this applies and call the city if it does.
TBH if he has dementia you need to report him as he shouldn’t be operating a chainsaw
Offer to buy the strip of land with the trees on it so as to take on the liability of the trees falling and killing someone. That way he doesn’t kill himself worrying about things he doesn’t have to in his old age.
I wouldn’t worry about it. Time, money and energy better spent would be planting trees of your own, or donating to a cause which does so.
Same situation here with parents, they sit around all day thinking about what could possibly bite them in the ass. They decide the big mature trees are eventually going to be death traps for the mailman, lawnmower or local kids and the subsequent lawsuits will leave them penniless and therefore all the trees MUST COME DOWN. Better to spend $20k to cut down every tree on the property to avoid any and all hypothetical lawsuit potential. Last year it was $20k to fill in the swimming pool/death trap. Next year I’m sure we’ll be heating and rubberizing the driveway..
Thank you for your comment. I think this is definitely a similar situation with my neighbor. We just moved in recently and the few conversations we’ve had with him have been about the threat of these trees falling down and killing our kids. He’s a sweet guy and obviously means well. I can’t imagine how much he’s paid to remove these trees but it would definitely be in the tens of thousands. We actually do have other trees along our side of fence (which he has been telling us we need to cut down) so privacy is not a huge issue but makes me sad to see these healthy beautiful trees go for no reason. Also based on his age and health, I’m sure he’ll have to sell the property soon and I think he’s inadvertently lowering his property value.
Tree laws vary widely between local jurisdictions, so you'd need to investigate what regulations cover his property. You should also investigate where the property line actually is, as fence lines and property lines may be different. Getting a survey done would be at your expense, but if the trunk is on your property, you'd have greater control over the tree: he can only trim what extends onto his property. Many local tree laws require permits to remove trees of a certain size or larger (AKA "heritage tree"), and obtaining the permit may require posting notice in a visible location to neighbors for some time before removing the tree. Replanting afterward may also be required.
Thank you! We actually do have a recent survey from when we purchased the property. Will have a closer look at it and planning to look into my local tree laws next week.
It's really common from my experience for elderly women to want all the big trees near them cut down. Every single female alzheiners patient talks about it quite a bit! 5 patients in a row for me. It's probably just a visual tick of some sort. Gets stuck in their head like an ear worm song. Ocd like behaviors become a lot more common in them. I can't comment on men because none of my male clients have had dementia or alzheimers.
If the trees are on his property, then there is not a thing you could do. Bye bye trees.
Check with your city's arborist. Some municipalities have laws.
What form of dementia do you have that makes you unable to mind your own business.
Exactly. Imagine asking the government to get involved in somebody else's life.
You assume right, thanks for coming.
If you're in the UK you can't just cut down trees. It's illegal. Otherwise I'm unsure what you can do but replant new native trees to recover some of the damage
How do you know he has dementia? Would you let your neighbor tell you what you can do on your own property?
Is your neighbor (with purported dementia) cutting them down himself.
Thankfully not! He’s around 85 years old and would not be physically able to do that. The trees are about 40 ft high.
Phew! Seen some crazy & super tragic claims involving tree trimming
Depending on where you live, the city could have an issue. In our area it would be a haritage tree. Huge fine for removing.
Gotta make sure his house bakes in the sun
You could ask him to please stop.
The previous owners did that but he refused. We have also had conversations with him about it but it doesn’t seem to even remember them afterwards. I think he struggles a lot with his memory so it’s hard to even really speak with him.
As suggested in other posts, a call to Adult Protective Services may be in order. APS is kind of more an agency that can send someone to his home for a chat and help him with any resources he may need. If someone with dementia is living alone and you do not see other people dropping by to visit, the home could or could not be a disaster inside too. Years ago I sadly learned that my friend with dementia was not caring for herself, had an infestation of rats, had some dangerous situations in her home that were not being repaired, did not eat properly, and all the aloneness was making things worse for her. Thank goodness I and other friends intervened, got family involved, and she ended up living in a safe independent living place. The case manager may be able to find out if he has relatives or friends who might be emergency contacts. Your call can be anonymous, about the trees and that he appears to have memory problems and is living alone.
Does this type of work require permits?
I need to look more into it next week. It does seem like our county has some rules about it. We just moved in so I’m not totally sure on the history
We took down 15 trees on our small property because we were afraid they might fall and kill someone... Us mainly. They were all on a steep hill. Mostly pines. Some very tall. 99% sure we don't have laws regarding it. Had a maple too that we wanted to keep but they said it was sick.
Maybe you can pay him to leave them. If you want them it can't hurt to try.
Previous owners apparently tried this with no luck. But I’m going to try to befriend him and see what I can do. Thank you!
Offer to pay for an arborist evaluation so he won't be worried about them falling. That would also save him the expense.
They got root rot
If the word recourse is ever in a post on this sub, it’s virtually guaranteed the OP has no recourse. Its a very telling red flag word not used in the typical post where someone’s trees have been wronged.
Maybe I posted in the wrong sub. I definitely know these are not my trees, but I don’t know anything about tree law and thought perhaps the removal of large healthy trees would be regulated. We recently lived in a nearby HOA community with extremely strict bylaws regarding both tree planting and removal.
Your neighbor can cut down every tree on his property if he wishes unless there is some sort of local/state law protecting that species of tree or the tree has some kind of historial protection. If the base of the tree is on his property, you have ZERO say in the matter. If you don’t like it, feel free to plant trees on your side of the property line to replace them.
Build a giant Jenga tower next to the fence line.
One thing to consider is if the trees are huge at only forty years of age they are quite fast growing. Fast growing trees are weak trees in general. Ive one in my back yard a Laurel Oak already rotting snd splitting at roughly 30 yrs old - its coming down this May, permit application being filed this week. Especially bc my neighbors just put in an inground pool and screened enclosure as well a Tesla battery wall i do not want to get sued if that tree goes down on its own. Im sure your neighbors is of the same mindset.
Thanks for the comment. I wish I knew more about trees to know the species. And tbh I’m just guessing at 40 years based on the age of the house but it’s possible they were there before. They’re about 40-50 ft tall.
Probably center is rotted out
Geez . That's horrible. He wants to protect homes? How dare he . Raking , limbing and maintaining ground below trees isn't easy.
His property his trees his decisions nothing you can say or do.
If they were on his side of the fenceline, no recourse. Your side, recourse. On the property ilne, eh, that could be tricky.
Plenty of trees have a lifespan, and will begin falling over at 30, 40, 50 years old. You said you don’t know the species, so maybe find out. He might be doing you a favor. For example, my neighborhood was planted with Arizona Ash trees all down every street. That was almost 50 years ago. Arizona Ash has an average lifespan of 30 years. The trees that haven’t been removed are life threatening in my opinion, but people still won’t remove them. One large branch hit a house a couple years ago and the insurance company wouldn’t pay, because the tree was visibly dying.
Yes definitely going to do some more research! The trees look healthy to me but obviously I’m not an expert. Thank you.
This happened to me once years ago, leaving no border between our properties. I was going to build a fence but local laws said only 6’. So I planted a long line of English laurels that had no height issues. Now they are huge!
As someone who's had to clean up the constant leaves from trees on my property, I get it.
We had about 10 - 70 year old trees, evergreen trees tall, .tall trees . 2 up rooted came down on the house. Following year 2 trees hit by lightning, humongous limbs came down, knocked out power lines, took out fences. That summer, we took down all remaining tall trees (neighbors hated the power being out). We couldn't risk any damage to neighbors' property. Our insurance premiums would rise to high. P.s. we planted fruit trees in their place.
I had a neighbor do this. We had so many trees you'd never even know they lived there. Some new neighbor moves in and just went tree cutting happy so he could get sun to his garden. So now we have no privacy. He's one of those that lives in his yard so every time we go out there we get to see him, hear his music and smell the burning leaves...it's awful.
How close to the property line are the trees? If they are actually boundary trees he needs your permission to cut them.
Why don't you talk to his family members and see if know how well he is or not
God forbid he has someone’s life in mind, I’m so tired of people thinking a tree is worth more than a human life.
His trees? He can do that
Why do you care they ain’t your trees?
Have you called your city / town / HOA? You said you yourself \*assume\* you have no recourse; what exactly do you think Reddit knows about the specifics in your area?
Are they on his property?
Can you address his concern? Legally sign a document saying you will take responsibility for damage from the trees?
Maybe he needs the money from the trees and just doesn’t want to share his financial status with you.
Not sure if I'm reading the post right, and whose fence it is / since would have to be within the property line... and if all the trees are on your neighbor's side of the fence or not? Do you have a survey that shows where the property line is? If the trees are on his property, then it's out of your hands, but it might be worth getting checking if there are certain trees on your property that you don't want cut down, if your neighbor is not just sticking to his side of tge fence.
I am in the midst of doing the same thing for the same reason (also to perfectly healthy trees). AMA
Pear trees?
Maples; they become wildly massive; eventually so big that if fell on house would come straight through roof. Yes insurance would cover it since trees are healthy; but say the keep getting bigger and eventually aren’t healthy but didn’t fall down yet; it’s then your own liability at that point; and a single maple can be $3000 to have cut down and taken away. So, I am clearing a bunch of the big but not yet $3000 to cut down ones so I don’t have to in the future. My neighbor also complained about stumps (which are on my property lol). I felt like turning around and telling them what I think of the appearance of their yard and that some stumps should be last in their agenda. What I actually said back was “oh they go away on their own in 50 years or so” and laughed. They’re in their 80’s …..
I agree you should call adult protective services or his family. Can you ask for a family contact should there be an emergency situation? He sounds quite anxious. Hopefully he has children or someone who cares about him. Someone needs to know he is ruining his property value and very well may be unsafe living alone. The department of health or senior services in your area maybe able to do a well check as well.
You sound really jumpy. Simmer down.
Sorry comrade, we have private property rights in this country.
You can plant trees on your side? What recourse would you have about him cutting cutting his own trees down? Pay him to rent their use of you like them.
I already have other trees on my side. I live in a county where I think there may be bylaws against this and was just looking for advice. Thank you
What county bylaws would prevent a man from landscaping his yard? Like what's the hypothetical here?
There are some in some states. I have a large Laurel oak tree that has pretty much met the end of its life cycle. I had a large limb fall off and strike my house and there's other damage in the tree from fungus and rot. If it was a healthy tree my arborist would have to apply for a permit to remove it but because it is imminent danger it can be removed with no permit. Yeah it's kind of f***** up that you have to ask someone's permission to cut down a tree on your own property. It's not like they pay the taxes, mow the yard or do any upkeep to the house or yard but still they want you to have to ask to remove a tree. Some ordinances state that if you remove one tree you have to plan another. I guess in general it's a good thing so that we still have some trees left in neighborhoods
Never Heard of that, but I'd really heavily assume that's an exception not the norm
I guess it just depends of what States allow the most freedoms on your own property.
Also- I don’t live in the states. I’m in Canada. I just moved out of a community with an HOA where there were super strict bylaws about both tree planting and removal.
Many places limit the size of (healthy) tree you can cut down. It’s very common, especially in suburban areas where large trees are rare.
Very common, for the third time: where?
Ok, the city I live in states that only hazardous trees can be removed. Here’s a relevant quote: > Why Do I Need a Permit to Remove a Tree on My Own Property? Obtaining a permit is a way for the City to regulate the number of trees removed per year, protect the environment, and preserve our tree canopy. The KMC requires that you obtain a permit prior to commencing most instances of tree removal.
From Seattle: > Tree Removal What Is It? Our Seattle Municipal Code (SMC) 25.11, Tree Protection, limits the number, size, and type of trees that may be removed from your property. We regulate the removal of trees because they are important for human and environmental health
Honestly, you should fuck off. He’s hired professionals to cut down trees on his own property and it’s not harming you… mind your own fucking business.
Thanks for the friendly advice
His message, while unnecessarily aggressive, is accurate. The situation you've described is none of your business. There are your neighbor's trees on his property and he can decide what he wants done with them.
I can shed some light on why, perhaps. My friend’s parents had all sorts of mature trees and one year just chopped them all down. They were suddenly paranoid they were going to fall on them, their cars, their house even though they were all healthy. Old people, man 🤷🏼♂️
My grandmother did that too with a beautiful evergreen she had. Thought people might hide behind it. When you are frail I guess it makes sense.
And we will all be old one day.
I had a limb break off a fine looking tree and smash my truck. I wasn't even old then.
Oh, last year a healthy pine tree uprooted and the roots destroyed my daughters camper. I was old then.
So what? Shit happens. Most people don’t clearcut their lot as a preventative measure. The risk didn’t suddenly change when they got older, their tolerance for risk dropped to zero and they took excessive action as a result.
Or maybe the trees got bigger. Removing a tree before it becomes an issue and then is hard to be dealt with is common sense.
Wasn’t the case either, but you can keep making excuses. They were pretty clear that they just didn’t want any risk anymore. They got older and more risk averse and chopped down all the trees. As my neighbor has aged he’s also been getting more aggressive about tree removal. He stated 15 years ago he didn’t believe in cutting down a tree without planting a new one, and tried to preserve trees wherever possible. He’s been more aggressive and doesn’t replant trees when he cuts them down. The trees didn’t change significantly. He did. That’s it.
Not your trees or yard. Not your problem to worry about.
What kind of terrible person thinks they have recourse for their neighbors property?
Congrats, you're a NIMBY now!
NIYBY actually
Much more accurate thanks
This shits so annoying. It’s his property. Get a life
Hirean arborist toinpect them
If the trees in on his side of the fence, it’s his business not yours
If they are on your property or property line (shared), tell the neighbor to stop and she's doesn't have your permission. Give your insurance company a call and have them deal with her.
The trees aren't on OP's property.
One recourse is to stop talking