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Neighbor's Garden
ThrillaGorilla
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I need some advice on how to deal with a neighbor who is being difficult. Sorry for the wall of text.
I bought my first house last summer. It's an 8 year old home, whose age is definitely showing on the fences. Two of the three wood fences in my back yard have been reinforced until I want to replace them, and the one bright spot was my back fence. It has metal posts so it wasn't leaning..."wasn't" being the key phrase here.
Now on my back fence I share fence space with three different entities: two neighbors and the city in the form of a small, concrete drainage basin. This drainage basin is connected to four backyards, but fenced off completely since it is public land. Last summer one of the neighbors behind me decided to rip out some boards from his fence and create a small garden using the drainage basin. This in itself is not a big deal, because it does not clog the basin and therefore does not affect me. Well that has all changed since the neighbor decided to grow some sort of ivy all over the fences in this basin area.
Problem #1 was the fact that this stuff grows fast, it took a matter of a few weeks for it to take over my fence. I don't want ivy on my fence, so now once a week I have to get out there and prune this stuff and then either bag it or just mulch it with my lawn mower. Once this became annoying I finally went and spoke with the home owner. He flat out denied that he had anything to do with the garden despite me being able to see him in there while he works. Since he "has nothing to do with it" he refused to do anything. So I sucked it up and just took care of the extra yardwork while I was mowing my lawn. Five extra minutes of work doesn't kill me so ok.
Problem #2 is now starting to show it's ugly head. Because this ivy is so thick on his side of the fence, and non-existent on my side it is literally tearing the fence down. Two of the lateral boards have become detatched from the main post and it is leaning more and more each day. For reference the posts are on my side of the backyard and the boards/ivy are on the drainage basin side. This is infuriating because it could mean my fence collapses and the "public area" behind me is not going to go halves on replacing it.
So what I have done so far is call the city public works department. I explained that the drainage basin behind my home is getting clogged (lie) due to an overgrowth in the area. They are supposed to come out tomorrow or the next day to take a look at the inlet and hopefully clear out all of this out. I plan on going home tonight and taking pictures to document what is back there. I want to have some proof in case something does happen and they try to remove everything before I can do anything. The other thing I plan on doing is getting some roundup and makin it rain on that garden. I will also be cutting any supporting strings that are connected to my fence since this can not be good for it either.
What do you guys think? Am I going about this the right way? I didn't want to be passive-aggressive but I can't force my neighbor to take responsibility for his actions. What I am trying to do is gather proof in case the fence collapses and use the proper channels to get results before breaking down and leaving a flaming bag of poop on his front porch.
UPDATE: The city came by and because the drain is not being obstructed they will not do anything. This is now entirely my problem.
I bought my first house last summer. It's an 8 year old home, whose age is definitely showing on the fences. Two of the three wood fences in my back yard have been reinforced until I want to replace them, and the one bright spot was my back fence. It has metal posts so it wasn't leaning..."wasn't" being the key phrase here.
Now on my back fence I share fence space with three different entities: two neighbors and the city in the form of a small, concrete drainage basin. This drainage basin is connected to four backyards, but fenced off completely since it is public land. Last summer one of the neighbors behind me decided to rip out some boards from his fence and create a small garden using the drainage basin. This in itself is not a big deal, because it does not clog the basin and therefore does not affect me. Well that has all changed since the neighbor decided to grow some sort of ivy all over the fences in this basin area.
Problem #1 was the fact that this stuff grows fast, it took a matter of a few weeks for it to take over my fence. I don't want ivy on my fence, so now once a week I have to get out there and prune this stuff and then either bag it or just mulch it with my lawn mower. Once this became annoying I finally went and spoke with the home owner. He flat out denied that he had anything to do with the garden despite me being able to see him in there while he works. Since he "has nothing to do with it" he refused to do anything. So I sucked it up and just took care of the extra yardwork while I was mowing my lawn. Five extra minutes of work doesn't kill me so ok.
Problem #2 is now starting to show it's ugly head. Because this ivy is so thick on his side of the fence, and non-existent on my side it is literally tearing the fence down. Two of the lateral boards have become detatched from the main post and it is leaning more and more each day. For reference the posts are on my side of the backyard and the boards/ivy are on the drainage basin side. This is infuriating because it could mean my fence collapses and the "public area" behind me is not going to go halves on replacing it.
So what I have done so far is call the city public works department. I explained that the drainage basin behind my home is getting clogged (lie) due to an overgrowth in the area. They are supposed to come out tomorrow or the next day to take a look at the inlet and hopefully clear out all of this out. I plan on going home tonight and taking pictures to document what is back there. I want to have some proof in case something does happen and they try to remove everything before I can do anything. The other thing I plan on doing is getting some roundup and makin it rain on that garden. I will also be cutting any supporting strings that are connected to my fence since this can not be good for it either.
What do you guys think? Am I going about this the right way? I didn't want to be passive-aggressive but I can't force my neighbor to take responsibility for his actions. What I am trying to do is gather proof in case the fence collapses and use the proper channels to get results before breaking down and leaving a flaming bag of poop on his front porch.
UPDATE: The city came by and because the drain is not being obstructed they will not do anything. This is now entirely my problem.
ThrillaGorilla on
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If plants growing on public land are destroying your fence I would go back there and physically remove and destroy anything on or close to your fence.
Of course I wouldnt be a dick about it, just rip the ones that affect your fence.
Let the adults have the conversation here.
If you want to go the non - passive aggressive route, go and talk to him. Explain that these plants, which are on public land, are destroying your fence and that if no one claims ownership, and thus responsibility, for them, then you're going to destroy them and somehow sterilize (salt) the soil. If he doesn't take responsibility, then he's made his choice. He's a grown up, he should act like one.
EDIT: I'm sure he could put in some trellises or something, that will support these things. There's a suggestion. I think he should also know that you don't want them encroaching on your yard either. It sounds like, if this neighbor will own up and put in some supports for the plants (which is customary for a lot of climbers) instead of just piggybacking on your fence, the problem will probably be fine. Especially since you have said you're ok with a 5 mins of work keeping the things out of your yard.
While the lying part is not really a great idea, the first part is golden.
Go talk to the owner once more and ask if he is sure none of the plants on your fence or in that basin are his. If he still denies it, just say, "Good. I just wanted to make sure, because I'm going to be tearing it all out and sterilizing the land on which my fence sits. The plants are currently tearing it down, and I don't want to have to replace it."
He will either say, "Ok, good luck with your gardening." or "Oh wait, yes it's mine. Don't kill it."
In that case, you have a bit of space there to talk to him about it, like having him go in there and clean it up properly and making sure nothing goes on your fence. After all, he just admitting his unkempt garden is destroying your property.
Killing the garden will solve the problem even if the problem right now is just ivy. He is not maintaining the garden. Get rid of it if he claims no ownership.
Yes, because ruining someone else's garden because of ivy is sure to engender their goodwill and they won't at all try to re-grow their garden or retaliate at something of the neighbors out of spite.
If you don't need to kill the entire garden to get at the ivy I wouldn't, but I also wouldn't be overly worried about it.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
But why? The garden is not being properly maintained and it borders other properties. Even if right now the only problem is some unruly ivy, soon there will be bigger issues. The guy is planting shit on public land and then letting it grow out of hand becuase he has no idea how to do it properly. If the OP says, "I'm just asking around to make sure I don't piss anyone off before I get rid of it," and the guy still denies it's his, then he has no reason to be upset.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Figgy, is your point that because this guy is planting stuff on public land and denying it to his neighbor, the OP has the right to go uproot everything? Sure. Certainly everything that's damaging his fence. But this isn't debate and discourse. I wasn't telling him he'd be immoral. I was telling him it would be stupid to do that, for the reasons I mentioned - messing with someone else's stuff is a sure-fire way to engender ill will and start a feud that can make his life really unpleasant as long as he has this neighbor. Even if this is a pain, acting in a provocative way will only make things much worse in the long run.
It's not about spite. It's about making sure it stays gone. If dude won't own up to owning the garden, he might just replant it when it's gone.
Also, it's not even supposed to be a place where he can have a garden. It's shared, public land that has a specific purpose. Even if he's not blocking drainage right now, his out-of-control horticulture might eventually cause problems and more damage to OP's yard.
Plus, destroying people's dreams and work is about as much fun as you can have.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Hell I'd document everything, ask if it was his stuff ruining my property and if he said no I'd tear it up. If he said yes I'd present him with a bill to fix my fence and ask him to remove the plants or for permission to do so or else he could see me in court. No one has the right to damage someone else's property and ignoring it for the sake of neighborhood unity is just a terrible idea.
I'm all for bending backward to make peace. I don't see this as one of those situations.
If OP goes in and tears stuff up, it will likely annoy the neighbor so much he'll do something else and more annoying to get back at OP.
No.
Is your point that it's okay to do whatever you like with total disregard for the property of others? This "garden" sounds like a ticking time bomb that will end up a source of weeds, pests, and other problems that leak onto the neighbouring properties. The OP's fucking fence is already falling down, but he should be worried about some douchebag neighbour being upset when he tears up all his weeds and ivy with fair warning?
"Is this your weeds and ivy here? It's growing onto my property and damaging my fence."
"Nope, not mine.
"Alright. I'm going to tear it all up, just so you know. I don't want to have to replace my fence. Let me know if you find out who is planting this stuff, because I have a bill for them."
Hell, even better: go out there the next time you see him maintaining it and hand him a bill for the fence. You can even take photos of him working on the garden if he wants to continue to deny it is his.
Then the neighbour is a childish prick. There's nothing you can do about that, unless you're suggesting that the OP cut the vines, fix his own fence, and smile as the neighbour continues to grow weeds onto his property.
Like I said, what you've proposed are well within OP's rights. And he certainly needs to pursue the issue. But listening to Darkwolfe is a bad idea. Your suggestion to document him working on the garden is probably the first good piece of advice in the thread. I've just seen plenty of long-running petty and vbicious disputes between neighbors that ultimately lawyered up to the tune of thousands of dollars pointlessly expended on quibbling over zoning or code violations or nuisance law to encourage someone else down the same path.
If that outcome produces less stress for the OP in the long-run than what I outlined in my just-prior post,then yes,that's what i'm recommending, because that produces the least-stress outcome for OP. It isn't just a question of managing ivy on a fence, it's a question of managing a neighbor who is inconsiderate or a "childish prick", and someone with whom OP will have many more interactions with in the future. I know you like the idea of asserting your rights and standing up to someone, but pragmatism may well dictate another course of action.
The correct approach is to notify him that you plan to deal with the thing damaging your property, and then deal with it. You don't need to go on some scorched earth campaign across the entire plot/basin, but you should remove everything that threatens your fence.
You are well within your rights to do this whether he claims ownership or not, but it's much easier if he continues to deny it.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Which is what I said last page, Get everyone to confirm their non-ownership, Then go rip the plants out that specificly threaten your fence.
Don't cut them, rip them up and get the roots.
That way you get what you want, without being a prick.
The point of photographing him in the garden is to have proof that it is his, so when the OP goes to small claims to have his fence paid for, the guy can't deny planting that shit.
"I'm really sorry, but the ivy is damaging my fence and I'm going to have to do something about it. I know you have put some effort into making the area look nice and I'd like to avoid upsetting you if possible, so I thought I'd check and see if there was anything you'd like me to be especially careful of before I start."
Then i'd take up the ivy.
As an update I took a few pictures of my fence and the drainage area for documenting purposes, and I'm really not sure what this guy is doing back there. The area is right in the middle of four back yards, completely closed off to everyone by our fences. He has basically set up a rope webbing between all of the fences and has created a canopy of ivy that runs all over the fences and this webbing. Under it is a chair and besides that there are one or two empty pots. There is no actual garden like I assumed, it's just a big nest of ivy....really strange.
Thanks again for the advice everyone. I'll update the thread later in case anyone wants to follow up.
This is the best thing. It solves the problem with the ivy, leaves no room for real argument, and engenders anger. Explaining the situation, your own grievances, and not allowing the opposing party to have room for righetous vengeance is the best way to handle this.
Yes, the man's garden may prove to be a problem, and when that happens if the subby and the other neighbors bordering the drain find fault with it, they can bring it before the neighbor or the city.
Keep the tone positive and apologetic and you might just find the neighbor helping you keep it off your fence for the sake of keeping his garden growing.
I don't think that word means what you think it does...
OP: can we see some of the pictures? Sounds pretty weird, I'm curious.
Pass the salt, sir.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Hmmm... maybe he's trying to grow some contraband in those pots, and is hoping the ivy will hide what he is doing? Seems awfully strange.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Who the fuck cares about his attitude? Sounds like he owes the OP a fence, which is significant. Being as you've already approached him about the issue (a couple of times?) I would contact a lawyer and have him send a letter to your neighbor about the whole situation and potential for legal action due to the fence being destroyed. Usually when people get scary letters from lawyers they take action, which is really all you should be concerned about.
And then salt the ground. As a homeowner who lives in a rowhouse, there's numerous things that grow in bad spots. The pretty ones stay (although are often trimmed back) and the ugly ones are killed in a way so that it's at least temporarily permanent.
Woah. I have no clue why I picked that word. o.0
Cut the ivy down, then get a little yappy-ass chihuahua and chain it right next to that corner of your fence!