A Redditor received an outpouring of support and advice after posting images of the damage their neighbor caused to a pair of 50-year-old trees on their property.
In the r/treelaw subreddit, the original poster explained their predicament, titling their post, "I'm livid and scared."
"Neighbor lady who owns the two houses touching my property tore down one of the houses as well as destroyed at least two 50-year-old trees that were seemingly on my property," the OP wrote.
"She's the appraiser of my home and a prominent rental manager in the area," they continued. "All that [is to say] she's got money to fight this. What do I do?"
Fellow Redditors rushed to the comments to voice their frustration and to urge the OP to fight back.
"She's also got money to pay," said one commenter.
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"Yep," agreed another. "Make her open the pursestrings. Get surveys. Get everything documented."
The situation highlighted the tension that can arise between neighbors. Sometimes, that hinders efforts to establish or maintain a greener, more environmentally friendly yard.
In the OP's case, the trees likely provided natural cooling with their leafy canopies, giving shade that could have helped to keep temperatures inside the home more moderate. This would have reduced the need to blast the air conditioning, saving money on electricity while reducing planet-heating pollution.
Plus, green spaces, including in one's own yard, are associated with improved mood and mental health.
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Mowing the lawn 🏡 Unfortunately, the OP was not the first and likely will not be the last homeowner to have to deal with an overzealous neighbor taking it upon themselves to damage or trim plants that do not belong to them.
One homeowner sought solace and advice from Redditors after a neighbor trimmed their "forsythia bushes to spindly sticks." One commenter responded, "I heard of trimming the hedges, but they scorched the earth."
Another Redditor shared how their mom kept a flower garden in her front yard, but some neighborhood kids repeatedly vandalized it. When the Redditor's mom confronted the children's parents about their behavior, the parents were less than helpful.
In addition to providing natural beauty and, in some instances, heat-reducing shade, backyard trees and plants can benefit local wildlife, offering food and shelter for birds, small mammals, and pollinators.
As for the OP, they appeared to have heeded the advice of their fellow Redditors.
"I have a surveyor coming out tomorrow," they wrote in the comments.
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