Back to your oak, cd: It appears to be a fine specimen. You and neighbor get along so no reason to mess that up. I'd offer to do some "raising up" style trimming, simply removing whole branches some way up the trunk, in that area, and all around the tree so as to provide for a balanced crown. But as whaas and possibly others have said, don't do it now during the growing season if oak wilt is in your area. The insect vectors of this serious oak pathogen are attracted to fresh pruning cuts. Do the pruning in the fall or winter and do it correctly or have a competent arborist perform the work. A judiciously raised up crown is nothing to be afraid of. BTW, I too doubt that this alone will do all that much to help the hedge. But that's not your goal. Your goal is to appear to be cooperative so as to prevent this fellow from exercising his legal right to lop off branches at the point where they cross the imaginary line separating your properties, which when done usually leaves bad branch stubs in locations on the tree where proper wound closure won't happen. +oM

I have a Northern Gold forsythia that I've had for over 10 years. It doesn't bloom much - "flowery ankles" on good years, most years about 10 flowers. But it is sitting out in the open, tangled up with an old honeysuckle and a rose that suckered into the middle of the clump, and it rarely has any winterkill. There used to be a farm shop there, and it was tucked against the east wall. I occasionally got flowers then. I wouldn't call it a pretty bush - its strongest good point is that it's green! Connie

I live in a rural area that has no cat bylaws. I wrote my neighbor a very respectful letter outlining the damage her cats are doing in my yard . This is the second time I have asked her nicely . Her cats have sprayed all over my porch, defecated in my garden and dug up new lawn to use as a litterbox. I have had to reach my garden soil with gravel and pull out plants. The cats are now digging and defecating along the side of my house. I have tried to use humane deterrents to no avail . I agree on the trespassing but where I live you would have no chance of prosecution. I would have to go civilly and that costs a fortune. On top of all this, the person has dogs that are holding the neighborhood hostage . We contemplated selling our dream retirement home. My wife is in tears and she's my sweetie. We have been together 62 years.No one messes with my sweetie. I thought about the 1 plus 1 rule. Where the person violates one rule ...there must be other violations. I used to be in law enforcement ...its been a long time. I felt like that Clint Eastwood in Grand Torino....good movie . I am game for Fluffy's owner doing 15 to 20 in the slammer for 3 strikes, but I think civil liberties might have something to say about that. So am utilizing every bylaw and law to take this neighbor to task . So far , they will have to rip out fence they erected in greenbelt, rip down at least 4 encroaching buildings and redo the fencing.This neighbor is facing penalties for other issues that are going to cost them thousands of dollars. Bylaws is all over the dog situation and other neighbors are now fed up and on board with the whole operation . Oh yes, I should mention there is about to be a stop work order on a bunch of expensive renos this neighbor has done which should amount to thousands too. Do you feel lucky.....damn, I think that was Dirty Harry. I digress. There should be laws that require cat owners to keep them indoors or confined to their yard ( I don't really give a hoot how they accomplish this ...check out Pintrest or something) . I also think they should have mandatory licensing and rabies vaccines for cats...just like dogs. Maybe people also....too far? This neighbor also gets multiple cats of both genders and fails to spay or neuter them. This is reprehensible. Outdoor cats have a short lifepan here because of the wildlife , but this neighbor just gets new cats ( or they are being manufactured....who the heck knows) . It seems they are disposable. Disgusting because its just plain wrong . Did I mention that animal welfare is involved?I have no idea who called them ...my Motorola brick phone was on the fritz last week. I should really get one of those new fangled flip phones . Then I could post on Space Page...or is that Face Page ..or Face book....I am too old for this.. None of this is the animals' fault. This is about a totally irresponsible pet owner. Such people claim to be animal lovers . If they cared a whit about Fluffy, they would not let him out to get eaten by coyotes, pick up parasites or get run over by a car. Nope , these people are animal collectors ....big difference . They own the animal much like they own a Ford pickup or an instant pot or maybe a Grand Torino . So there you have it. For these neighbors, life is about to become very expensive . Fluffy and Fido are going to be very expensive . I can now clean up Fluffy's crap, pee and other bodily fluids with a sense of satisfaction.My sweetie feels a bit better now and she's back to making me those morning glory muffins with my coffee. Recipe is on Pintrest folks ...just reduce the cinnamon a tad. It gives me gas. This whole Fluffy and Fido thing ...this too shall pass. Just like the muffins . My grandson says I should just chill. I told him I just put on a sweater because my circulation bad.

That's a beautiful picture, sdogwood. I think your problem is one that will be repeated a lot. People are cutting down a lot of trees in fear of hurricane damage, and I guess I don't blame them, but I sure don't want to part with mine. An arbor would be a good idea, and plant some smaller trees if you have room. I'm thinking a cost/benefit analysis would be a good idea; we've saved I have no idea how many hundreds of dollars on air conditioning because of trees we planted, and one formerly small live oak we left. I guess a smart thing to have done would have been to estimate the money we saved and put it in a savings account to pay damage! Better than the way some insurance companies seem to be paying off. And it seems to me that if global warming is a fact, and I believe it is, the more trees and other plants we plant the more possible it would be to keep it from tipping over to really terrifying potentials. So plant! (As if we needed an excuse!)