Dear Agony Uncle,
Our next-door neighbour has large trees whose branches hang over our fence and into our yard. They frequently drop leaves, which I have to rake up every week. I spoke to our (unfriendly) neighbours and asked if they could cut the branches back and they told us to mind our own business. What should I do?
Branching Out, Thornbury, VIC
Dear Branching Out,
Nobody likes a nosy neighbour but no one likes one who is particularly negligent. The occasional loud music or leaving the blinds open when they’re naked can be forgiven, but when they refuse outright to correct a situation of their doing, it’s just rude.
Imagine if you were to jettison the entire contents of your recycling bin over their fence on bin night instead of putting it where it’s supposed to go—out the front of your house—they would be suitably upset. Of course, I imagine this is what happens on bin night—I pay someone to put mine out.
Or worse—what if it were you hanging over their fence, watching their every move, screaming to be fed when they’re in the kitchen and heckling their prowess in the bedroom. What an offensive and constant reminder of those who live on the other side of the threshold.
Your request was a fairly simple one, and as most local council bylaws will state, once something is hanging over a fence-line, it is your prerogative to do to it as you will. Asking your neighbours to prune their offending trees is not only polite, it’s superfluous to your legal obligation. Ask your neighbours again and if the response isn’t the one you desire, do as my mother (your Agony Great-Aunt) does when she has a similar problem with her belligerent neighbours and their trees.
Make a trip to your local hardware store to buy liquid copper sulphate, followed by a trip to the pharmacy (or your local needle exchange) to purchase a syringe. While both items might around suspicion from the anti-terrorism bodies and family members/child protection respectively, by injecting an amount of the liquid directly into the tree’s trunk, it will die slowly from what appears to be natural causes. Drastic? Yes. Evil genius? More so.
Brooke
10 months ago
I do believe that you are quite within your legal rights also to chop the branches encroaching on your fence line & to simply toss the greenery back over the fence into your neighbours yard, should you not wish to take the life of the trees all together… advise checking with your council first to be sure…