‘My entitled neighbour cut down my tree in garden for petty reason’ | US

‘My entitled neighbour cut down my tree in garden for petty reason’ | US | News

A man has slammed his entitled neighbour for cutting down his tree to improve the view from his living room window.

Speaking on his behalf, his daughter explained how her dad lives on a hill, with trees surrounding the house for privacy reasons.

But the neighbour hates the trees as he claims they “block the light” to his house, meaning there’s a shadow over his living room at certain hours of the day.

However, her dad claims the trees don’t cause lighting issues and believes the neighbour is being “dramatic.”

Taking to Reddit, she said: “My dad lives on a hill, and his uphill neighbour has already complained in the past about wanting a clearer view (even though my dad’s trees weren’t that tall and didn’t block much).

Fast forward to last week: my dad came home to find that his Jacaranda tree had been cut down.

He even saw the neighbour’s gardener walking away right afterward. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have any cameras there for proof.”

While some users sympathised with the neighbour, others believe they should have calmly come to an agreement over the trees rather than chopping them down entirely.

One user said: “Cutting your neighbour’s trees/bushes is illegal. You could sue your neighbour for damages.”

Another user added: “Hire a lawyer. Cutting down someone else’s trees can get you fined hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on the age and type of tree. Also, get the name of the company that cut it down and go after them criminally.”

A third user said: “I just went and looked that type of tree up. It’s absolutely beautiful – like, I am now pining for one in my yard. Contact an attorney ASAP.”

One more user added: “I believe you said your father saw the gardener walking away with a saw. That is all he needs to call the police. This neighbour won’t stop here. Good luck.”

Another user said: “I would put a big, wide sign where the tree was that says, ‘There was a Jacaranda tree here that was illegally cut down by a trespasser,’ facing the neighbour’s house.

I’d be real petty about it too – mount it on a metal post sunk in concrete and everything. And put an obvious camera on the house facing it, even if it’s just a fake camera.”

A final user said: “Send him an invoice for the cost of a fully mature tree – bought, hauled in, and transplanted. It will be more than pocket change. What the neighbour did has demonstrative value. Mature landscape trees are not cheap!”

According to the Royal Horticultural Society, you can cut off overhanging branches of trees, provided it’s done without trespassing onto another persons property. You can only trim up to the property boundary.

You must try to settle a dispute about a high hedge or tree informally before the council can intervene. You can ask your council for a complaint form if all if it’s all of these: