Neighbour tried to cut down my tree

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I awoke the other day to the sound of someone cutting down a tree. Nothing unusual, its a big neighbourhood, only the sound was really close by.

I looked out my bedroom window and my next door neighbour was cutting down a tree in MY YARD!

I yelled out to him -Roger are you cutting down my tree, he replied back yes its well overdo. I ran down to the outside porch and went outside in my pajamas to try to get him to stop. (I love the tree in question)

He said he disliked trees, the leaves blow into his eavestroughs and then he has to clean them each year. I said we've been neighbours for ten years with another larger 80 year old tree in the back and there has never been any problems. He retorted that both trees spread their branches into and above his yard, if he had it his way he'd cut off all of the branches at his property line.

I said if you do that both trees will be unbalanced and will topple with the first wind storm. He said so much the better.

I then offered him a solution; I'll pay you to ignore the tree branches over your yard. (He refused) He stopped cutting my tree and told me, I'll give you one week to trim you tree back, and if not I'll do it without your input.

So I bought a $70.00 ladder and a tree pruner tool at the hardware store and trimmed about a third of my (beloved) tree for the branches that were hanging into his yard. I left the larger branches that were higher up, (above 10 feet high), to ensure the tree is still balanced. I also trimmed part of the larger 80 year old tree as well.

He's still is not happy. I don't want to trim the trees further, and neither do I want him to cut them either. I could drag him into court, but I don't want to do this to someone who I see everyday and who lives right next door.

Can anyone suggest any solutions? (I love the trees)

Neighbors on both sides of me have cut branches off my trees. When the first neighbor did it, I didn't want to say anything, so I checked online. I don't know if the law varies from state to state (I'm in the U.S.), but from what I've read, people have a right to cut off any branches that go over their property. I don't think your neighbor would be able to cut down ALL the branches on his side, all the way up to the top, which is probably why he was cutting down the whole tree. And I don't think that cutting some branches off down the bottom on one side only would topple the tree. Though perhaps if you're trimming anyway, and you're worried about this, you could cut off some branches on your side to even things out with weight distribution?

He has no right at all to cut down your tree.

Tell him to stay off of your property. If he enters the property again, call the police on him for trespassing. Get a restraining order, too.

And if he kills the tree, file a lawsuit for the value of the tree. A large tree can be worth thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.

From http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/neighbor-tree-damage-46933.html:

One other thing -- this probably isn't the best time of the year to trim trees.

Repent, when I worked as a land surveyor, on several occasions I was called out to such disputes. I not only had to find the property line, but where the tree stood in relation to that property line, and then determine where the branches hung over that property line. Then a tree surgeon was there and cut off the limbs where I told him. While laws differ, I would almost certainly guess this fellow had NO right to cut down a tree growing on your property. If you wish, I'm guessing you would be well within your rights to seek legal recourse, since a destroyed tree is not easily replaced.

I have a similar problem with one of my neighbors. When I first bought my house, they immediately asked me to cut down the 60 foot maple on our fence line. The tree does overhang their property, but the trunk is all mine and the law here is that they have the right to remove anything above their property line.. When I told them I had no intention of cutting it down, as it is both beautiful and shades my place in the afternoon, and theirs in the morning during the hot months. They just said they hated the leaves (I offered to come sweep them up), it was too big and might fall on them (a remote possibility) and they hated shade as well...they preferred to have more sun. I then reminded them that the tree was there before they purchased their house, in fact, it was there before any of us were born...They claimed they would trim it themselves if they had to, even though I pointed out that it would probably kill the tree to remove that much foilage, they said they did not care and it needed to be removed.

I was incredibly upset, but found they are within their legal rights. They have since tried to get me to pay for the trimming (which has not happened) and I have refused...in fact I barely speak to them. Anyway, I decided that if they do destroy the tree, I will first erect a sign on what they leave, informing all my neighbors as to who did the cutting and that they did it under protest from me - I will leave the ugly remains in place....then, if the tree dies, I have decided to go ahead and pay to have a ROW of evergreen Giant Thujas planted along my fence line. They grow up to 70 feet tall in about a decade. These people will have absolutely no branches overhanging their line, no leaves on their property and they won't see the sun until noon any day of the year.

As to your neighbor coming INTO your yard and cutting on your tree...CALL THE COPS!! !! He has absolutely NO right to set foot in your yard. He can trim anything above his fence line on his own dime...do NOT let him intimidate you. If you see him on the property...call 911 and get out a camera...film him in the act and do not confront him. (especially if he has a sharp instrument in his hands...)

And if you want to annoy a neighbor, plant pampas grass along the property line.

This neighbour sounds like a total nob, and he shouldn't be on your property attacking your tree.

If it happened to me, then I'd be tempted to get a large bush, plant it well within their line of sight, and prune it to look like a giant middle finger aimed in the neighbour's general direction.

Oh, hey I would also write to the neighbour as soon as possible, by recorded delivery.

Write stating that you caught them trespassing on your property and damaging your tree without warning.
Point out that in writing that this is breaking the law. Quote whichever law it is specifically, if possible.

Rather than waiting until after the neighbour messes with your tree some more then trying to respond to that, explain in the letter the steps which will be taken if you catch him doing anything like that again. For example, "If I catch you in my yard trying to cut my tree down unjustifiably, then I will take you to court with full solicitor support".

I think the suggestions given already are excellent, concerning action you might want to take regarding this matter.

haha... planting Pampas grass would be really funny. I totally encourage you to do that.

I had to reply to this post. I have just been through something so similar and yet so much more aspie that I had to share. I live in a co-op and therefore it is the responsibility of the development to take care of the grass, the snow, fall leaves and TREES. Well, they hired these tree guys about a month ago to "trim" the trees. They never sent a notice telling us or anything. One morning I awoke to this very same sound. The tree guys were creating what I must describe as "broccoli" out of trees. I ran outside in my pajamas to save my one beloved tree that provides the only shade to my bedroom. I was yelling a trim is a haircut not a shave!! !! I was furious. So I went inside grabbed water, a book, sunblock, and my cell phone. I spent the next 2 days from 7am until 4pm sitting by my precious tree in proper sit-in style peaceful protest. Okay, there was some yelling and a few obscenities exchanged...so mostly peaceful. I am proud to say that my tree is untouched but now all of the maintenance people in the development call me the "tree girl" and I'm sure my neighbors think I am insane.

But as Forrest say..."Crazy is as crazy does"...and I still have my tree.

OP: I say...speak loudly AND carry a big stick!

Can only talk about my countrys laws: The part of the tree above your gound is yours. The part of the tree above your neighbors ground is his. Same goes for fruits and so on. So a neighbor is not allowed to cut parts of the tree, if there was danger, that the rest of the tree will fall because of that and endanger someone. But he can force you, to cut it safely on your own, if he wants "his" part of the tree gone, and he cant do be it, because of the danger for you. To avoid all kind of discussions, people normally care to plant the trees that way, that there only can be minor parts of the trees at their neighbors side.