# Property line crossing issue



## Aaron Berk

I was headed out to a job yesterday afternoon and my neighbor came running and flagged me down.

She said shes hiring someone to come trim down my fence line bushes

I've got a fence (my fence) and red tips growing on MY side, they hang over the fence and are about 10 ft tall. 

I told her she could trim anything hanging onto her property, but don't touch the height of my red tips. She pushed the issue more, got a little wordy, but I just smiled and told her no.

If she does hire in a landscaper I don't want to bust his chops about my bushes, do you guys think a hired hand would be ballsy enough to cut bushes on my side of the fence?

And what paperwork could I slap my neighbor with if she crosses the line? I don't know if she will keep pushing the issue or not, I've already told her HANDS OFF MY RED TIPS


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## festerized

In my town you must submit a permit to trim trees, shrubs ETC. if overhanging your property.
Of course I never do but it’s my understanding that if it overhangs into your property you can trim it, unless it will cause the demise of the tree or shrub. Hence why the code enforcer needs to inspect.
Same deal goes along with your trees that overhang into the street & power lines


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## Leo G

Put up a no trespassing sign. Then you have legal precedence if he does come on your property.


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## Tinstaafl

Tough thing is, once they're butchered the damage is done. Offer to trim them yourself.

Or tie a hungry Doberman to each one.


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## Cole82

Here there is a vertical line straight above the property line. Anything that over hangs that line can be cut or trimmed. You just can't pass that property line no matter how high up in the air you go. I had the building department write a letter to my nieghbor as I went through this a couple years ago when I installed my fence. My neighbor payed some one to dig up her bushes and move them over 2'. They were planted on the property line some 10 years before.

Cole


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## Aaron Berk

You know I kinda like the no trespassing signs. I could put them on the neighbors side of my fence.:shifty: It would look pretty tacky from her back yard, but no one else would ever see it.


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## J.C.

I can see this issue from both sides. I'd be upset if someone came onto my property and cut down my trees/bushes but at the same time I'd be pissed if some neighbor decided to plant trees/bushes and the things started growing into my property. They're your trees/bushes so why am I the one responsible to trim them? Trim your own bushes, I don't want them on my property and I'm not your gardener.


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## A. Spruce

Cole82 said:


> Here there is a vertical line straight above the property line. Anything that over hangs that line can be cut or trimmed. You just can't pass that property line no matter how high up in the air you go.


It's the same thing here.

My recommendation would be for you to go trim the bushes yourself, at or behind the fence just a little. If the neighbor touches them after that, she is trespassing, though I doubt there is much you can do unless you're willing to hire an attorney or go to small claims court.

As always, take pictures with a date stamp before you trim, after you trim and IF she does anything from her side. As for posting signs on her side, technically, it's her side of the fence, so you can't do that, even if you're the one that paid for and installed the fence, it's still a "good neighbor" fence and it's her side.


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## dolphin444

*Property line bush triming*

Check with your city ordinace.
But in most cases only the branches, leaves, etc. that hang over onto the neighbors property are they allowed to cut.
Any trees or bushes on your side cannot be touched without your permission.
The tops of any trees or bushes that imped upon a house with solar panels are the only exceptions.
Your neighbor may be asking for a lawsuit if she or the landscaper cut anything on your side.


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## Jaf

Take before pictures, Mr. Hatfield. Can't count on Mrs. McCoy being honest in court.


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## MikeGC

I see unnecessary trouble coming that can be largely unfixable.

Why wouldnt you diffuse the situation by politely dealing with your bushes on her property yourself ? 

Is there "history" with her you resent?

Would you put up with your neighbors bushes on your prop IF you didnt want them there. 

Sounds like she is being territorial and with all due respect, it is her perogative on her own property isnt it? 

An alternate approach to digging in your heals or waiting until the hired hand effs up your bushes would be to man up and do the right thing even if it is a little bit of a bother.


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## Tom Struble

yea that would be the smart way to handle it but....what the hell is a red tip anyway?


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## Aaron Berk

More info is needed...

Ok, red tips http://www.soonerplantfarm.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.printDetail&plant_id=176

Mine are huge though, been there for yrs. Where there before I bought the place, and then 2yrs later my current neighbor moved in next door.

Saturday when she flagged me down, she "informed" me that she was hiring someone to come and cut everything. Key word is informed, not asked me, not "lets discuss this" she basically tried to "push" her decision onto me.

I politely told her no, that can't happen. She got all weird, huffed and puffed, and walked away.

As I continued to drive away, and around the corner, I could see through her back yard to mine, and the bushes in question.

Well she had a ladder out there and a good HEFTY pile of branches already cut from my bushes! :furious:

I'm a nice guy, I would have done anything she needed had she only ASKED 

What throttled me so much was her pushy tone, and the fact that she had already reached over my fence and THINNED out MY bushes. I no longer have my privacy hedge on my side of my picket fence


So that's my predicament.


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## Rob PA

well if she started cutting without permission on your side i can see how your pissed

communication is always the best way


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## thom

Of course, had you been responsible for your own bushes your neighbor would not be in this situation. I see you as being the problem and the responsibility for solving this is on you. Your neighbor never should have been put into the position of dealing with your bushes. 

You blame the problem on a previous owner of your property. That would work if you bought the place last week but it appears you have owned it for some time yet you have not dealt with bushes on your property that infringe on your neighbors property. 

When the neighbor bought their house is of no concern here. They have the right to full enjoyment of all of their property. If they don't want your bushes, so be it.


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## 808Hammah

I do agree with thom. after all, your neighbor is?? "hiring" paying out of "their" pocket for.."your" red tips. I feel that the red tips are yours an you need to maintain them to some extent. If I was paying someone to cut your tree in my yard, at my expense... i will do it my way...


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## lucky644

My question is why did you let your bushes get overgrown? If they're on her side, why didn't you offer to prune them yourself and apologize for letting them grow out.

Would have made a friend of your neighbour...

However, since she already trespassed on your side, I can understand being upset.


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## Aaron Berk

*You guys raise some excelent points*

I'm not a lawn care kind of guy, and I don't look in my neighbors yard. I didn't really notice that the bushes were encroaching her space. Had she knocked on my door and said hey a-hole cut your bushes, I would have:thumbsup: Had she done ANYTHING other than get pushy with me from the get go, I'd have bent over backwards, it's the way I am. I'm a ppl pleaser.

If she came over tonight, or tomorrow or when ever, and told me to take care of em I would. I just don't like ppl trying to man handle me. I'm only 30, but don't you dare treat me like a kid, I've got 6 of my own, 2 businesses, my own home, & 3 paid off vehicles. I might look young, but I can't stand ppl thinking they can get pushy with me just cause their older than I am.


Any way, this is getting more like a general discussion thread.

Thanks for all your helpful input guys. I really enjoy all the resources available here on CT


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## Aaron Berk

thom said:


> Of course, had you been responsible for your own bushes your neighbor would not be in this situation. I see you as being the problem and the responsibility for solving this is on you. Your neighbor never should have been put into the position of dealing with your bushes.
> 
> You blame the problem on a previous owner of your property. That would work if you bought the place last week but it appears you have owned it for some time yet you have not dealt with bushes on your property that infringe on your neighbors property.
> 
> When the neighbor bought their house is of no concern here. They have the right to full enjoyment of all of their property. If they don't want your bushes, so be it.



Good points Thom, I see the logic.
I wasn't really trying to blame the bushes on a previous owner, just laying background. The bushes are 1 1/2ft from the property line, on my side. And I have trimmed them several times, even going into the neighbors yard on 1 occasion to do a through job.

I would have done so again, had my neighbor just mentioned it. I don't pay much attention to her side, which I guess could be considered the root of the problem.

I'm willing to take care of all this, I'm just not ok with ppl TELLING ME what THEY will be doing with MY property.

I could start my political ranting now as well


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## MikeGC

Aaron, the best move is to deal with it. All that man handle stuff sounds like you got an issue you ought to work on. In the mean time, go cut the friggen bushes for crissakes. Love ya bro but WTH


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## greg24k

They can cut anything they want that overhangs onto theirs property, they cannot touch anything beyond the property line. 

After all that said, you should maintain your property and if your neighbor wants to do a little trim job because everything is overgrowing and looks like s^*t and probably brings her property value down, you should be thankful she is doing that at her expense and not breaking your ball$ to do it... 
If you think about it and no matter how you look about is and whether you like it or not... its your responsibility because the bush belongs to you.

So the right thing to do when the guy is there _trimming the bush_, tell him to do a nice job at the top while he at it and tell your neighbor sorry for being a jerk and thank her for it :thumbsup::laughing:


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## MSLiechty

do you have before pictures? if she cuts them it would be nice to have something showing what they looked like before she butchered them?

ML


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## tccoggs

Of love neighbors that "Tell" you to either do stuff or that they are doing stuff. Why don't you try asking me???

About a year after I moved in to my house, my neighbor told me that I wasn't allowed to park my car in the street with any part of it sticking past the property line. Mind you this is a public street. Best part was he woke me up at 6:45am on Saturday to tell me this. I responded with "If your telling me I can't park there, I'm going to have every single person I know park there as its a public street and I pay my taxes just like you do, if your asking me not to park there then I won't, so which one is it??""

I think he was a little taken back by the response but realized where I was coming from, at which point I said "Now I'm not asking, but telling you, don't ever come onto my property and pound on my front door at 6AM with some ridiculous BS like this"

Funny thing was we actually got along since that and never had another issue.


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## thom

Well, you added a new twist to a very old thread. 

Parking is generally a zoning issue so check with local zoning. In Albuquerque you may not park so that your are blocking a sidewalk nor may you park in a public street overnight. 

Zoning will enforce these things if/when notified. Parking over a sidewalk means, if a kid injures himself riding his bike or toy into your car, it's on you. 

The streets and sidewalks are public property. That means the government that controls them gets to make up the rules for their use.


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## Live_oak

Photina fraseri is a large fast growing shrub that should never have been planted only 1 1/2' from a property line. They can be 10' wide when they are healthy. However, they usually aren't very healthy. They are susceptible to a lot of diseases beyond just the Entomosporium leaf spot that's so well known. In wet years, they have been known to die from them. If yours are diseased, they may not bounce back from a severe pruning. They're kind of a problem shrub, sold by box stores, and overplanted by landscape newbs. 

I'd suggest you try to mend some fences here and talk to the neighbor about the shrubs. Apologize for planting them too close to the property line. You should really think about choosing something else as a screening planting and go ahead and plant it now, WELL on your own property with enough room for their horizontal growth as well as their vertical growth. Once your secondary shrubs get some size, cut down the photinas. Talk with your local Agricultural Extension Agent for suggestions for a good screening plant that will be happy in your locale.

Edit: Didn't notice the date of the original zombie thread. Still good info though for anyone else.


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