Who's responsible for this?

17 years ago

Hi,

I'm not sure where to post this. I hope someone here can offer advice. But if not here, please recommend a better forum.

Long story short..

A few years ago, I planted a hedge down the property line, with our neighbor's permission. We had a good relationship and I have always maintained the hedge. But now there is a new owner/absentee landlord that rents the property to several tenants. I have not met the new owner. And because of trouble with the tenants, I will no longer go on their side for maintenance.

Am I still responsible for the hedge?

Or does the new owner make his own arrangements?

What about clippings that fall on their property when I trim the top?

How do I handle this situation before it becomes a problem?

I wish I could afford to remove the hedge and put up a big fence but I can't. Any advice is appreciated.

Mrs. C.

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Comments (4)

mrsc
Original Author
17 years ago
ps. Correction, I didn't mean a "better" forum. But rather a more appropriate forum, if this is not the correct place to post this.
lazy_gardens
17 years ago
If it's truly on the property line, you do your side, he does his.

Contact the new owner ASAP and let him know the hedge needs to be maintained, and that his tenants are giving you problems.
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cnvh
17 years ago
Not sure if this counts as 'advice' or a potential word of warning... we bought a 100-year old house almost 2 years ago; right next door is a 4-unit apartment building owned and maintained by an older couple. Their building and our house are maybe 15-20 feet apart, and between us is a 10-foot tall mature hedgerow which acts as a great privacy fence. We haven't had the property surveyed, but we assume the hedgerow is 'on the line,' so we maintain our side, and they maintain theirs.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, we noticed a section of the hedges drooping over into our yard. Upon closer inspection, we discovered that the opposite side of the hedgerow had been CHAINSAWED, leaving little tree stumps 3 inches in diameter, three feet off the ground!!! (An old wire fence is on their side of the hedgerow, so they cut level with the top of the fence.)

Our side is 'intact' in a loose manner of speaking, but the support is now gone, and whenever it rains, the hedges droop very low over our lawn. I suspect as soon as we get a decent snowfall, the hedges may well be laid flat on the ground, probably killing them, unless we can figure out some way to prop them up.

Needless to say, we are infuriated that our natural 'privacy fence' is now practically destroyed. I should also mention that we get along very well with the tenants in the building, and whenever we saw the landlords come by, we always exchanged routine pleasantries, so we have no reason to suspect that they did it to be spiteful. I suspect they got sick of trimming and figured they could just cut down the hedges on 'their side,' but they realized what the consequences were and stopped before they chainsawed the whole hedgerow.

I suppose if there's a moral to my story, it is this: whether you get along with them or not, have a conversation with your neighbor about maintenance and/or make it very clear to them who the hedges belong to, or else you might find that your hedges disappear.
mrsc
Original Author
17 years ago
I'm sorry about your hedge and hope it grows back.

I figured that would happen here too. We almost a fight over it today. The hedge is not important but the stressful environment is. I took a chance and called next door. Surprisingly, the wife was very nice. We had a good talk and cleared the air. I hope this is a step towards peace. I will also to speak to the new owner & try to make an agreement. Even if we have to continue the maintainence or install a fence. We used to be friends, I hope we can again.