A civil suit will get your neighbour's attention. Do a lot of documentation with photos, dates, etc.

I know the feeling! Some people are miserable and lazy, & I have no use for them!!! I HAD the same problem until I put patio blocks under my fence, tilted higher on my side to guide the water & keep it from flowing across my yard, then went to Home Depot and bought these drains. See the picture. Placed them under the fence where the water was flowing thru, and between the patio blocks. Connected them with PVC pipe to the PVC pipe that my downspouts are connected to, heading out to the road. Now when this jerk trys to drain his pool without putting his hose out to the road, it flows into my drains and can't be missed when it is coming out in the road. How I love calling his house and telling him about it!

{{gwi:319712}}

Don't know about TX per se but for a civil suit this is generally called an action for "nuisance" and maybe "trespass". If the neighbor is breaking some kind of law then you can drop a dime on him and maybe your local government will do the work for you. I caution, however, that neighbor disputes are ugly things so you may want to try and work it out and, if that fails, be ready to decide how hard you want to fight.

Is there anything I can plant or do near my fence to help break down the chemicals before it spreads into my yard?

I like RLG's idea of the drain. Looks like it would work really well.

Val

The little devil on my shoulder says to put in the drains but run them into a reservior with a pump hooked up to a sprinkler that will shoot the water back onto some dry area of the neighbor's yard so he can ruin his own grass. :-D Maybe with a timer at 3 am.

But that would be wrong. ;-]

Lovely situation.

I would start by calling the reason for the problem to the attention of the HOA again. Not sure it will help, but point it out. You might also ask the HOA to direct him to put in some sort of drainage system to prevent the problem, instead of you having to do it. You can sound pretty reasonable by saying that you're not objecting to the pool, jsut to the fact that it drains across your yard and creates weeds.

Barring that working, the drain is a good idea. Another possibility is a berm. Or a "french drain"--just dig a trough that carries out to the street and fill with some gravel. If nothing else the water will soak in rather than flow across the grass.

For a French drain, if you wrap the gravel in landsape fabric it will not clog up with fines as quickly. One web site listed the following plants as being somewhat resistant to chlorine: Arborvitae, begonia, ivy (Boston), day lily, eggplant, hemlock,
holly (Chinese), iris, lambÂs-quarters, maple (Japanese), oak (red), oxalis, pepper, pigweed, polygonum, Russian olive, soybean, and yew.

Do you think its the chlorine or the moisture that is the main problem.

The moisture would be easy to handle with either a french drain, a j drain, or change the planting from Augustine grass to a vegetated swale type planting (selected vegetation specifically suited to withstand extended periods of moisture and drought).

From a chlorine removal aspect I would consider carbon adsorption or sodium bisulfite. Lots of organic matter, like compost in the soil, has the potential to provide some chlorine adsorption.

Here is a link that might be useful: j drain

A properly maintained pool has about the same residual chlorine level as drinking water, so unless he's really nuking it with chlorine or bromine products, maybe it is just the moisture.

Thank you for all the good ideas. I love the forums here for general tips and advice, but this is the first time I've posted anything.

I think I'll start in approaching the new HOA board. They take over at the beginning of the year. One of the new members has a picture perfect lawn & garden. Hopefully she'll help. They had their house up for sale (we were very happy), but took it down with the real estate crash.

The above-ground pool is against our deed restrictions. I think they have a higher chlorine content than actual pools. You could smell the chlorine standing near the fence.

I think the issue is a mixture of both the chlorine and the extra water. Initially during hurricane season, the chlorine "burned" the grass in a very wide path down my backyard and all the way to the street. My trees showed the same "burn" pattern starting in the leaves of the lower branches then worked up to the top. My hibiscus looks scruffy now (it took two years for it to flourish). Even the sword fern that grows rampant took a hit from the run-over. Right now it stays soggy all the time (without much rain), but I don't smell the chlorine anymore.

Clovers helped with the grass some (and weed competition), but HOA calls them weeds. Compost helped with the China Doll; it perked up.

We've considered the French drain; we'd have to route about 70 feet to get to the street. I think a combo of french drain and water-loving plants may be the best bet.

And to toxcrusadr, my shoulder devil was thinking large willow tree or pollen excessive species beside the fence would make the pool not worth the upkeep (seeing as it's removable). I need a good-sized tree in the backyard anyway. But they would probably find a way to successfully sue me!

Have you tried confronting your neighbor with your property damage? Well not confronting him in a nasty way, but bringing it to his attention and showing him the damage? I'd go to the HOA only after talking to the person face to face and offering a reasonable solution. Such as him helping out with the cost of some sort of drainage system or similar remedy. If he's unreasonable and you don't mind having a neighbor that's PO'ed at you then I'd consider the HOA and if that produces nothing then some sort of civil suite over the property damage if applicable. You'd probably have to talk to a lawyer to see if you have grounds for a suite in your area. Having ignorant neighbors is a pain in the rear.

If you are thinking about the french drain, you may want to consider a j drain. Same function, just considerably easier to install...

Your neighbor must use too many chemicals. I have an above ground pool and the plants I have around it do not get burned ( and I have children in it all the time so water is always splashed out.)

If you dont want to go the HOA route try to explain to him that the water runoff in your yard is killing your grass and ask him to use the blue vinyl hose to route it away from your yard. The hose is about 8 dollars for 50 feet and roles up to the size of a grapfruit.

Carey

I would certainly echo jeremy's advice and I think others here would also. For my part, I assumed you already discussed this with your neighbor and did not get any satisfaction. That should always be the first step. And if you ever intend to move forward into legal action, documentation is essential. Pictures, notes, dates of conversations, expenses with receipts, etc.

The chlorine level must be pretty high to be killing trees!

If the chlorine level is high enough to kill trees you may have toxins in your soil that are harmful to you too. I suggest calling your local health department and ask them about it. Some health departments in Texas will test the soil for harmful toxins and can cite the neighbor who is putting toxic levels of chlorine into the ground. If you live in an area where they won't do that (some don't) take some soil samples to your county extension office for testing. And ask for a written report.

If an HOA won't enforce their own covenants I found that reminding them daily (in writing) of the covenant against pools (or excessive animals, or spotlights on neighbors' windows or vehicles on blocks in the yard) really gets their attention. Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Sometimes not. you might enclose a sample of the wet soil and before and after photos of your yard with your enquiry to them.

All of the suggestions here are good ones, except it seems grossly unreasonable that you should have to bear the expense of a drainage system that clearly is the responsibility of your neighbor. But, I'd bet dollars to donuts that if you ask your neighbor to install a drainage system for his pool he'll tell you where to stow your suggestion. I'd also bet that if your tree dies and falls onto his house, he'll sue your socks off for not having it removed.

Cheryl

With due respect to Cheryl, I don't think pool chlorine is going to be any more toxic than a diluted form of the chlorine bleach you put in your washing machine. It's not like you'll die from living on the site. Nor will it show up in a soil test. Unless it's really salt levels that are very high, or ammonia. If the pool is really stinky and nobody showers before they go in, the chlorinated amines will get out of hand. But I digress.

Documentation, I meant to say, is important even for the HOA. A clearly written letter describing when the problem started and its progress over time. This helps them take you seriously. The neighbor will likely have no similarly intelligent response, and you'll have him by the beach balls.

My husband has talked to them about the pool which may be why I don't smell as much chlorine anymore; but they are pretty much inconsiderate (dogs barking all night; teenagers with friends over until 2 am, yelling in the backyard; radios playing 24/7 -I wouldn't care about all that if it was during the daytime and not keeping me awake at night). They've kept quiet during the night lately, so I'm sure other people have complained; & there is a cop living directly across the street from them now.

I'd rather go the non-confrontational route, which means a drain, b/c it's pretty annoying already, and I'm sure it'll just get worse. Too much time, worry, hassle otherwise. And b/c my husband is stubborn. Past experience from other people's stories have me worried about doing anything direct; I don't want a neighbor battle, esp. from so close. And again b/c my husband is stubborn. I think putting in a drain would be better in the long run anyway because of our lot placement, even if the pool goes.

And this will show my inexperience at having my own yard... What is a j drain?

Ok, maybe this is too simplistic, but would it work to just build a small dirt berm to act like a dam? Plant some chlorine/water tolerant plants along it, and pretend it's just some landscaping you wanted to do??

Just a thought, FWIW.

I actually thought about doing that, but my husband said it wouldn't solve the problem; it would still drain the same way because of the slope of our lot. Plus, I have no idea what plants would tolerate it.