Petzold's on the right track; there is a legislative framework here. You are under no obligation to provide room and board for your neighbour's vegetation, nor to carry the workload of root or canopy pruning it, raking its debris, etc. Nor should you have to plant a line of defensive shrubs. I did some serious investigation of the legal issues involved last year as we had a neighbour who was refusing to cut down an enormous evergreen that was eating our house and totally using all the gardening space on our property. Fortunately they sold their house to some reasonable people who did the deed almost immediately upon taking possession. The bottom line is that you have a right to peaceful enjoyment of property (I think that is consistent from Canada to the US) and so, of course, do they. But you have a duty not to interfere with each other. So, they should keep their vegetation within bounds, and you cannot go onto their property and kill or change their tree. I should say that simply wanting your house to be visible is probably not a useful route to go, since they could probably park an RV on the spot as opposed to a tree; I don't think you have any recourse in that direction. You cannot seek to influence what they do ON their property. What you are legitimately concerned with is the impact on YOUR property. What you have some say over are issues such as trespass, nuisance, and damage to your property. Don't take this as legal advice, but this would include damage to your foundation or your car if it overhangs a driveway (or maybe in my case I should have considered suing for the cost of the many plants I lost to root competition and suffocation from tree debris!). The issue of nuisance would have addressed the many hours I spent basically servicing the tree; cleaning up its poop, trimming it on my side, cleaning our eaves, and so on, as well as the windy nights spent comforting our children, and losing sleep ourselves, for fear that the tree would fall on us. You should identify the issues explicitly, and pursue them from a legally rational point of view. Check just what your local ordinances require, but I think the right to peaceful enjoyment is an overarching one. In our case, it turned out that we had the right to cut both the roots and the canopy at the property line, and that we could have pursued its removal on the basis of danger. There is a huge body of legal cases on issues involving trees and neighbours. Every court or bylaw enforcement officer will expect you to have tried to work this out with your neighbour yourself before calling for enforcement. So you should inform the owner of exactly what bothers you about the tree, and ask to discuss possible routes of action - if you would like it removed, offer to pay for half the cost of removal or pruning, by all means. We did pay half, and consider it money well spent, since they don't technically have to remove but only manage the thing. If you have problems in the discussion, sometimes it is a good thing to have sent a registered letter. Email, of course, also leaves a paper trail. That may be more than you wanted to know, but it is to say that these issues can cause enormous rancour and stress if not dealt with with a clear head from the outset. KarinL

The cacti & succulents forum is probably more appropriate, not that this is the wrong forum, but it would be better to ask advice somewhere with lots of people that know cacti and succulents very well. Also, if you post there, ask about pruning it. I believe it is possible and would solve your "hanging over the side" thing. If it is possible maybe you can train it upright into tree form afterwards?

Can you get a photo?Some aloes develop a stalk and then later develop pups of the stem. Other aloes grow a trunk. That is what they do. Or it might mean that it needs more sun . I would not believe the hardiness rating that DG gived it . It says it is hardy to -45, a Zone 2 aloe. Now that's a laugh and a half. I have no experience with this aloe but this is not believable.

Well, one way or another we'll find out. Like i said i chopped up the whole mother and threw it aside. i kept the main root stub cause it was pushin a cute lil pup and i figured it was just as good a base as any for a plant (no signs of rot or stink that i could see). but i also have two other 7 or 8" starters from the same mother in separate pots as well. all nice and tender with fresh soil so . .. i haven't had contact with an aloe since i was a kid, and i never really knew anything beyond the sunburn/wound home remedy stuff anyhow. . . but neither myself nor my gf nor her mother think they should have a odor that strong. one way or another we'll find out =P I'll keep you posted =)