That is so awful. I would be very angry if it were my garden. I hope this gets resolved somehow.Do you have any aggressive (but not violent...just intimidating) friends that can "reason" with this person?

I've only had to get harsh a few times but the right attitude (aggressive) resolved the issue without having to go to court. One person had a kid that liked to throw rocks and the other had a vicious dog, so they didn't leave me with many peaceable choices. When they found out they were dealing with somoene who wasn't afraid and wouldn't back down the problems stopped. I can't imagine why some folks seem to like being rude and obnoxious. It doesn't make any sense.

Thanks for letting me vent. This neighbor would gladly pay if she felt cornered, just to get things the way she wants them. But hey, she'd deny it.

In the mean time I will happily enjoy my passies and keep a list of the city regulations at hand. Fortunately everyone else is FABULOUS around here.

Can you put anything down the property line, like signs on posts so the next crew will know they are trespassing if they cross that line? Is the hedge on the line?

what a great idea Marti! The hedge is big and wide and presumably on the property line. When we moved here, and before neighbor became a member of the gentry empowered by cash, she told me that she didn't know where the property line actually was, but that we would each take care of our sides of the hedge.

Eventually she took over the front very square very flat side of the wide hedge. I let her but drew the line when she got increasingly nasty and began to stop her crews when they went around to my side and several feet in. I missed once or twice. This is the 3rd time I've stopped this company. I know I'll need to do it again but fortunately they show up each Thursday at about the same time.

Back to Marti's suggestion. I thought I would go tell neighbor that I overheard her and that if she tries again that I'll get some really ugly flags and stand them in the middle of the hedge so there is no confusion.

My problem is I allowed her to take more and more control for overall peace and she has no problem taking more for what she considers attractive and let me and my cared for plants be darned.

my husband talked me out of the plan. Said it's better to leave her alone. Hopefully she'll crawl back into her hole if I don't poke her.

sigh

Not so, Cynthia, her kind NEVER crawl back into their holes.............she thinks she has you over a barrel, and will continue this as long as you let her. I really have no problem drawing the line in the sand. This is the only way to deal with unreasonable people.

Carrie is right. It only gets worse. Sorry.
I tried being nice for over 20 years. It got me no where.

It's certainly time to draw a line in the hedge. The ugly flags seem a bit like going down to her level at this point which is probably why you got talked out of that idea.

Mark the stake or a point in the property line with paint and let her know the vines are clearly on your property. She can't give anyone direction or permission to damage your property. If you think the money doesn't bother her, then make it about damaging your property. Keep the subject on the issue of property damage and not specifically about the vines which she apparently has some very personal issue with.

If she persists, let her know you will need to more clearly mark the property line and it will be uglier than the vines she can't seem to get over. If that doesn't work then bring out the flags, duct tape, or string and mark that line.

I would also tell her that you have a photographic record that is updated monthly of your hedge and if it is trimmed , you will take her to court. THen get a photographic record. Be there with a camera when her crew arrives. I would push back and hard.I would have your boundary marked clearly.

I gardened my neighbors land but it was with agreement.

A large row of potted cactus would make it very difficult for a crew of any kind to come over to your land. They need absolutly no care and will get big. Think growing barbed wire. A potted "hedge" of cactus would slow most folks down.

Y'all were so right about this

It's been a very stressful two weeks: one elder dog had major surgery, another had to be put down. Unrelated conditions...both a shock.

Last Thursday I was around and my passi lived. Today I had to dash off when the crew was working. This evening I found my side of the hedge cut bluntly to my fence about 3 feet from the curb. My passi was hanging...dead and dying and tossed onto my decorative fence.

Neighbor wouldn't answer her door.

now there is duct tape down the middle of the hedge. TOmorrow there will be barried tape with no tresspassing keep out in English and in Spanish stretched down the middle of the hedge and in stripes where my vine was growing.

I hate it when the voice of experience is so right on.

errrgh
c

I'm so sorry so much is going so wrong for you right now.

:(

Did you take pictures of your vine. Demand payment, enough to go buy a 10 gallon trestle passion flower. If not demand one of her potted plants, a large one in a nice pot..... or Take her to small claims court. Have the courts teach her manners.

I think I would move the vine and live in peace. I personally wouldn't want any kind of vine growing on a hedge, especially one that needed regular trimming that I was paying to have trimmed.

Her problem with the vine should have been discussed with you first and her methods sound a bit aggressive but this seems like a story that probably has two sides.

I have the opposite problem, a neighbor who doesn't care and lets anything come up and take over and we have to pay to trim their neglected trees hanging over and deal with fast growing vines on the property line. It can be maddening to be on the other side of a story like this too. What looks good to one person, looks messy to someone else. I can get pretty irritated trimming the stuff (including a rose) coming over from the neater neighbors yard to the east and downright hateful trimming away the crap coming from the slob to the west especially when I'm out there in the heat and mosquitos.

Just playing devil's advocate.

Oh Cynthia, I am so sorry to hear about your beloved dogs. What a difficult week this has been for you!

I know that you diligently maintain your yard and that neighbor seems to seek out ways to irritate you and destroy your charmingly beautiful cottage garden. It would be different if you were like cactus garden's neighbor and just let your plants go wild. On the other hand, she'd probably appreciate your garden more if the neighbor on the opposite side was like that! Mark the property lines girl and make her pay for the damage! Don't bother trying to confront her, cowards always strike when you are distracted and hide behind closed doors. Go for the civil suit.

((((Big hugs))))

Pam

I'm having similiar issues with a neighbor who also tried to get the HOA landscaping company to do her dirty work. I nipped that in the bud by going directly to the President of the company and informed him that she was not authorized to make decisions regarding my property. I also notified the police department and they contacted him to discuss the matter as well. Unfortunately, our spineless DA wouldn't pursue the matter, as "no crime was actually committed".

If I were in your shoes and fed up with harrassment that will only continue (trust me on that) I would file a suit in small claims court against the landscaping company, as they are the ones who did the actual damage, and you had previously informed them they were trespassing. If the same worker you had spoken with previously shows up again, you can contact the police department and tell them you wish to have him served with a criminal trespass warning, which will involve them coming over and informing him that if he ever comes across the property line again, they will arrest him.

Do this and you will be quickly reimbursed for your damages, and your neighbor will no longer be a client of this company.

Thanks again all
I am probaly a chicken. Last night I decided to talk to the crew next Thursday. Tell them that what they did was criminal trespassing and destruction. That if they do it again I will notify the police.

This morning I found some vine with buds that is still alive and strung it onto the west side of the hedge.

while I agree that vines are wild and crazy things. This neighbor has English ivy and aggressive vines in her beds that come through to my side. I've fought with them for 14 years...but I never dipped them in roundup to go through to her side.

The passi was up the West side and only about 6 inches over the top corner...not anyway near the middle where the property line probably is. For the record this is NOT passi incense but carulea which is more whispy and thin and has modest white, cobalt blue and black flowers.

I thought I was being more than fair when I told the crew they could cut to 80% of the hedge. My mistake.

There are people who will be upset no matter what. I think I will get a metal trellis. STand it in front of the hedge and drape my passi on it...but I'm getting tape that says no tresspassing or keep away and marking the hedge too.

errrrgh
c

Cynthia, I am so sorry about you beloved animals and the passi issue. I have had to deal with situations like this before, and nothing short of holding your ground will dissuade this type of person. I hope everything works out, but don't plan on it's being a "peaceful" solution.

Do you actually know where the property line is? You said she didn't know. Do you? It doesn't sound like it, because you say you presume it's the middle of the hedge. You need to know exactly. The hedge might be a foot into her yard. Or into yours.

If you know exactly where the line was surveyed, from which side does the hedge grow out of the ground? These "handshake" deals are fine until one goes bad. I suspect that if the hedge grows out of the ground on her side of the line, she can pretty much do as she pleases, and I don't think any authority is going to act to keep her or her agent from standing just inside your property to do as she pleases to the hedge, including cleaning a vine out of it. If it grows out of your side, she can likely trim on her side of it as she pleases and keep it out of her property if you don't. If she tears down your tape or signs or whatever and claims it's on her property, you have to be able to prove otherwise.

But even if someone were inclined to enforce your property line, they would demand proof of where it is. You cannot claim that the line is down the middle of the hedge just because you agreed to share the hedge or because you are guessing the hedge would have been planted squarely on the line.

Check the full legal description of your property, and look at the plat that is with the purchase paperwork. If it shows that there is a "pin" somewhere on that line, find it. Often, metal pin is driven into the ground near the street end of the line. You have to probe and hunt for it if it's been there a long time.

But everything you try with regard to this will be on shaky ground until you know exactly where your property begins. And when you locate the line, if ordinance allows, put up a fence. That's what they're for. (Or install giant plastic sunflowers and huge pink flamingos on your side. The gentry hate them, and she may become very reasonable after a few months of being stared at by flamingos.)

I still say move the vine. These neighbor disputes always just escalate when you return tit for tat. We have two neighbors at war for very similar reasons. White lines were painted around N #1's property. N #2 retaliates with "Private Property" sign facing N #1. Yelling match occurs, bringing everyone outside to watch. N#1 throws bottle caps, peach seeds and batteries etc into N #2's yard regularly. N #2 has a large can of these collected "as evidence" for a future date. N #1 turns in N #2 for barking dog violations and installs "U" shaped metal barriers around his yard. N #2 goes knocking door to door with a paper for us all to sign stating his dogs pose no problem to us. Etc etc etc

The point is this. They both look equally ridiculous and crazy to the rest of us. No one really cares who is right or wrong because its all pettiness. Unless it is something truly bad or dangerous going on, it isn't worth it.

In case I missed this somewhere, let me relay what I learned from Code Enforcement. What is on YOUR side of the property line, you can do whatever you wish. In my case, neighbor has planted a bunch of photinias right on the property line, and they all hang over into my driveway which results in constant trimming on my part. Same thing with the pecan tree one foot from the property line, which drops limbs, leaves, pecans, onto my vehicles. Unlikely I will be renting a cherry picker anytime soon, but once again, anything on YOUR side of the line is YOURS to deal with as you please. Same goes for your neighbor.

Cynthia - I am so sorry to hear about your dogs, it's such a tough thing to go through. Having a neighbor who intentionally does these things just makes everything worse.

As GeraldC points out, trespassing law is not a simple matter in a residential neighborhood. It's even more fluid when you are dealing with the property owner next door. Attempting to turn this into criminal trespass charges could end up making you look like the nutty one even though you have been quite reasonable throughout. See if you can find someone at the city who can let you know your options.

You can try to deal with the owner of the landscape company or send her a bill for the new plant and see what happens.

If you can get her to court it might just take care of the problem. We had a right-of-way dispute with neighbors at our last house. We managed to get the county to take them to court for allowing their dogs to run at large and bite three neighbors including DH and a 12 year old girl. Even though the charges were dismissed, the judge gave them a stern lecture and they were sufficiently upset by the summons to sell their house and move immediately.

Cam, I checked into this too because I am dealing with the same thing you are. If its on my side, I am legally allowed to trim it and get very tired of having to do it. Large Pin Oak planted about 4.5 ft from our driveway is a nightmare of messy maintenance on our part and we are constantly cleaning up all winter and the hundreds of nuts in the fall which stain everything when they get wet. We couldn't see to back out of the driveway onto the street and I finally trimmed the low hanging branches on our side which were nearly touching the ground, I had to duck to get into the car and I got slapped in the face more than once by a wet branch after rain just trying to get into the car. She came out very angry after I trimmed it and said she was going to look it up to see if I'd endangered the 40ft tall tree.

Nothing happened after than fortunately but these property line situations do have two sides to them and are common.

Cynthianovak,
It seems to me you -do- need to find out where the property line is. Pay for the surveying if at all possible Real Soon Now if the city of Arlington won't come out and mark it for you and your neighbor. If you don't know that, if that hedge and passiflora aren't actually on your property, then you may not have a leg to stand on, legally. Otherwise, document everything-- all communications, destructions, etc, as soon as possible, too. I'm not a lawyer, but pictures, dates, spoken and written words exchanged... Then see if you can find some no trespassing signs and post them at the property line. Don't know if it would be a good idea, legally or otherwise, to contact the owner of the lawn service and notify them that you and your neighbor are 'discussing' the location of the property line, and that his crews may have destroyed your property. That you believe the passiflora to have been on your side of the property line and are checking to make sure you are correct. Tell him/her that you are checking the location of the property line to make sure you are correct, and ask him/her to please work with both you and your neighbor on this if at all possible. Heavens, you may need to go straight to a lawyer and ask them if this series of steps is a good or bad idea, or will not get you in legal trouble later.

Sigh. You and that neighbor have completely different landscaping styles.

One other thing about turning the other cheek as suggested by others. I did this for ten years, always looking the other way and letting things go, not wanting to create waves, which only emboldened said neighbor over time to the point where she put out poison, and killed, my daughter's kitten. On Mother's Day this year, I found her in our driveway stealing flagstone from a pallet of rock we had for a poolside project. She called the police because I have a sports car in the driveway with an expired registration (which she found out while she was stealing rocks)... It was at this point I had the criminal trespass warning issued against her. Now she stays out of my driveway.
Point is, you have to stand firm, unless you like being pushed around.

Know that the City will NOT mark your property line for you. They will never take that responsibility or even claim to be able to do it. When they spot a property line for their own enforcement purposes, they do it casually and by guess and presumption, none of which you can depend upon. Only a surveyor can spot the line with any authority. You are absolutely flying blind and helpless until you know. It's the first question anyone is going to ask. It will not be cheap.

I think that before I paid, I'd dig up my original plat and legal description and try to measure from some reasonably well established corner, if there is one. Or, as I said, poke around for the corner pins, if any. If it looks clearly favorable to you, they you can spend the money for a survey. But the whole point of it will be to install a fence, because there are only two actual resolutions. One is if the neighbor accepts the survey and concedes that it's all on your property. The other is if you find you can physically fence in the property and you happen to have the hedge on your side. Of course, the third possibility is you find it's all on the other property. All notions of lawsuits and police enforcement are fantasy.

We had to dig out our corner pins a few months ago...they were 18 inches under the soil line! It was worth it to shut up the neighbor who complained about my gardens encroaching on her property though! We gained 12 inches and discovered that her fence is in our yard!

Thank you all so very much

One thing I have learned from all of you is that while this neighbor presumes too much...IMO...she is no where near what some of you have had to deal with.

I thought I'd be able to find the pin. The hedge is thick and wide and old. Under it are bricks used over decades to hold up the soil as this side of the street is on a slope.

I did find an ancient sprinkler head that looks like it went to my old system before she had a system. That's what I thought was the pin and it's about a foot or more into the hedge from my side. That's what I told the crew 2 weeks ago was the line. I may have more hedge for all I know.

Neighbor will not answer her door. I wanted to ask her if she knows where the pin is. I know that shebuilt a driveway and detached garage a few years back. I assume she had it surveyed because she couldn't put it on the side she likes.

I bought a 7 ft trellis to stand in front of the hedge on my side to string the few tendrils of passi onto. I may choose to decide that it's a good thing that she takes responsibility of the hedge and let it be. That may be cowardly or wise.

y'all are the very best ever. I've learned so much from both sides of this.

For the record when neighbor decided that a chain link fence was not enough because one of my dogs looked through it and growled. She sent a letter from a lawyer demanding the dog be tied on the far opposite side of the house. We put up a wood stocade fence and were happy not to see her.

She tells the same neighbors who thank us for the garden that it is disgusting. She built her driveway under another neighbor's pecan trees then was upset because the trees dropped nuts on her cement. She's complained that another brick house looked terrible because it wasn't painted, that they had too many visitors when their kids were teens, and on and on.

Her prolem is she bought it when she was poor as a HUD property. Back when she'd rake her leaves to the edge of the lawn and leave them or dump them in the street.

Now, she's got money. But the house won't get what she put in it and her daughter is happier with her 30 miles away so she is stuck with me and I with her. And some neighbor will be doing something wrong... .

I apologize for rambling but I'm folding.

sigh
c

I think I'd just invite the local bagpipe group to practice in your backyard twice a week. Or a kazoo band.

I'm just getting back to this thread. What I meant by a sign was a single sign on the property line at the end of the hedge where the landscape crew had to go around to get to your vine on your sign.

Good thing passi is a tough vine. Mine got nipped to the ground a couple of times but it keeps coming back.

Do you remember if flags were put out around the property when you bought it and had your survey done? That would be the place to look for the pins. And when you find them, stick a piece of pvc over them so they won't get covered up again. It's easier to find them with a metal detector if you or a friend has one.

Can you put a fence in your front yard? We're restricted against any in front, even down the sides past the house.

What a mess. I hope that just marking the property lines and talking to the crew or owner will end that particular problem, though it sounds like she will just find a new thing to argue about.

My neighbor (well, her ex) also planted photinias on the property line. There is a utility easement there too, 5' on her side and 5' on my side, with her chain link fence down the middle (or a foot inside her line). We have a double gate from the fence to our garage and that is our only access to drive into the yard, but we have to constantly cut back the photinias to be able to get a pickup through the gate. And we park in front of the gate.

I cut them back all the way to the property line too. It looks terrible on my side, but like someone else said, the limbs were always hitting us in the face if we left them hanging over.

Hi Again
Believe it or not, the old sprinkler head IS the property line marker on my deed.

The vine WAS on my side of the hedge.

The neighbor never answered her doorbell.

Now, there is a certifed letter waiting for my Husband at the PO or they will redeliver it if we prefer. [I say my hisband because it is his last name, not mine...I kept my maiden name.]

If history repeats itself, it will be on some attorney's letter head threatening legal action if we don't do something she wants. The last time we put up a fence so she couldn't see a dog.

I'm inclined to refuse the letter. I'm inclined to take neon spraypaint and mark the hedge and to tell the crew that I'll file some charge if they do it again. I'm also inclined to take hedge trimmer and carve the hedge back so my vine doesn't touch it.

I'm sorry to be a pain. I sincerely am trying to do the right thing without being run over. But maybe just letting her have the hedge is the right thing.

Would you accept the letter?

c

Its definitely gotten ugly. This is a whole new ball game now.

Um, the letter. I would probably get it just to see what's in it. Its not like being served or anything. I would want to see if she is threatening legal action.

I would make real sure you are not in any kind of petty violation on anything else that she could tack on. She seems to be after blood and revenge. Does the dog bark? She could try to pin you on that with just one yip.

Your situation is making me review mine in a new way. As I wrote, mine is always the reverse. especially with the slum lord next door and I have resisted calling the city for years now trying to avoid anything like this. I guess that makes me the Perp. If my only gripe was a petty thing like this woman is going crazy over, I would feel lucky and just ignore it as different taste in landscaping. He has a man-made pond which goes stagnant in summers when we get rain for example on top of the neglected growth. I go back and forth and try to be nice but it gets difficult. That is why I cannot believe this woman you are dealing with is this upset over a trifle.

She sounds crazy. I wouldn't paint the line. It just reminds me too much of that alcoholic crazy guy I was writing about in the other letter. Thats exactly what he would do and you would look bad doing that. You want to, at all costs, look like the mature, reasonable person in this situation and let her look like the crazy one.

You're going to have to deal with this situation with or without the letter so I would get the letter and see what it says. Her crew trimmed the vine and hedge on your side, so you didn't do anything she can claim as harm. It could be about the dog so she can deflect blame for this. Either way, you will need to respond with your own certified letter. You can do this without a lawyer, you have my email address so write and we'll help you compose a response offline.

Even if your dog barks, it requires a process for her to deal with it and takes a lot more than "just one yip" for you to be in trouble with the city. Check your city ordinance.

Are the stems/trunk of the hedge on your side or her side? This will be very important as the issue progresses. You can trim and cut back anything on your side of the property line so you're good there even if the base is on her side or shared. Taking the vine off the hedge is good because you want to try to appear reasonable. It's odd that the sprinkler head is on the property line since that's co-ownership. Instead of orange paint, run a string so you can see exactly where the line is for now. If the sprinkler head really is shared you don't want to do anything to it.

At this point there's no way you will be able to meet all her little requirements so don't bother trying. You need to go on offense since defense is definitely not working.

thank you both

I've been scratching my head about this. Arlington does not have a barking dog ordinance. I do have 2 fountains but they are OK. I do scoop the dog do in my back yard. There is nothing green between my greenhouse and the fence that we put up for her before, but I don't think that's a crime.

The only thing she might have is the asters that are on the top of the curb...guess I'll push them back. There are a load of catalpa leaves on my back driveway. But not on the street. I figured I'd just let them come down and hire someone. Maybe I'd better start bagging them.

My biggest sin is probably me enlisting the help of another neighbor to find the property line and telling him that I was going to file a criminal complaint if the crew ripped my vine off my part of the hedge again. She might see this as a threat. .... I'm just remembering that she saw the dog, now dead as a threat.

Walkers ask what happened to the passi aand I tell them that she had her crew rip it down. Guess that is stirring the pot. I don't believe it is illegal and she did not answer her door and I did want to get her attention. I'll stop that now.

The remaining dog is "charming" and that's not just me talking Plus, he can't see into her yard.

I did a search of her name and found that she was threatening to sue the city of Arlington because she was fined twice by the redlight cameras.

I believe I will trim back the hedge on my side a bit and I will NOT pain that sprinkler head. I will use some form of colored twine instead. That is an excellent idea.

I believe that if I was guilty of a code violation I would have gotten the violation by now. What I'm guilty of is having vines.

sigh
c

This whole story is really sad in that this lady is obviously unhappy about a lot of things and trying to take it out on everyone else.

I did see that Arlington doesn't have a barking dog ordinance and goes to mediation instead which is a good thing. They also have a "false claims" section in the code so she needs to be careful if she tries to make up stuff she'd be the one in trouble.

It's definitely not illegal to tell someone what happened if they ask. We'd all be in trouble for that.

Best not to go to her door anymore, wouldn't want to be accused of harassment. If you can talk to the crew on Thursday, tell them there is a dispute and they need to stay out of it by staying on her side of the hedge.

You aren't guilty of anything. You just have a miserable cruddy neighbor. We had to put up a very high fence between us and the alcoholic. He was telling someone he likes to peek in windows as a hobby. That did it, the fence went up the next week. That put him out of sight and out of mind for us but not the other guy living next door to him.

She sounds like she obsesses on things and is a control freak. Wouldn't it be awful to live in her head?

The vine is a victim. I feel sorry for the poor vine. A pretty one no less. I'm sorry your dealing with it, its awful to live next door with no escape from someone like that.

She can move in next to me and clean up that mess of a "yard" and you can have my trashy slob neighbor if you are willing to make a trade. Just kidding. Sometimes you just have to roll your eyeballs at people and laugh just to keep sane.

40 + years ago I had a neighbor that was a bit strange. One day my son came in a told me her daughter was picking my white roses. I went over to explain that if she wanted flowers, come to me and we would do it together. The moment I got to the front porch the mother came screeching and screaming out the door. I tried to explain my mission and she just kept on, so I went home. Several days later I was out there water and she was screaming and calling me names. I ignored her as long as I could, then I turned around and squirted her through her open window.
My then husband was federal officer. I went inside and told him the phone was going to ring. He looked at me like I was nuts. About that time it did ring and he answered it. He's saying ok, ok, ok, yeah here she is. The deputy was a friend of ours. I explained what was going on. He was laughing so hard you could here the springs in his chair squeeking.
He finally said, do me a favor and don't do that any more. Because I will have to listen to that crazy woman again.

Plantmaven, That is a hysterical story. I can see it now. A dead hit in an open screaming mouth. Well shut me up why dontchya. and you did!

I lived across the street from a dogs poop throwing clean freak. Any dog that shat must have been my dog. My dog never crossed the street but the neighbor around the block would always have his dog poop in the neighbors empty corner lot. The cross the street neighbor would carry it across the street and through it at my door. I would open it and say isn't it sunny out or . some inane comment like that. He was a sick puppy. Anyone who vacumes the eves of his house on a weekly basis and yells at the squirrels for throwing nuts at him is as nutty as that damn squirrel was. I remember my dog died and I watched him continue for 6 months. I walked out and told him my dog had been dead for a long time and I was wondering about when he would run out of my dog's Sh*t. He stopped but turned us in for sanding on furniture so we built a fence that he couldn't see across. My son was on dire orders never to trespass onto the only empty lot in the neighborhood. This guy is the kind that one day will go postal.

Good grief Cynthia, that woman is mental. About the certified letter, we consulted with an attorney about our neighbors and he said to send a certified letter AND a regular postal letter because they would probably ignore the certified and we need proof that we made the effort to notify them. Having the certified letter declined is also their proof in court, if it comes to that, so you might as well get it and see what it says.

Kathy, that's funny! Some people just ask for it and sometimes you have to take them up on it.

That's a really wild story too, wantonamara. There are some crazy neighbors out there.

We have the best neighbors ever right now and one is planning to move soon. It is a concern for us that you just never know who you'll get when a house sells.

I think we came to an agreement.

I picked up the letter. She said that the original owners made the property lines very clear when they build concrete beds along the property line. The youpon hedge is planted on her side and so it is her hedge. It went on and on about how I failed to remove my vine from her hedge and that she needed to have access to my property to maintain her hedge. cc to an attorney, the city of Arlington code enforcement and the local representative.

I had thought I should cut back the hedge to put some distance between us, but I believe there was divine intervention in this one.

I went to the door, letter in hand. She came out with her little yorkie [I've saved him many times when he got free...] It was all very civil.

I asked her to show me the marker. She couldn't...although her letter said she would. I showed her the sprinkler head. And simly noted that about 18 inches of hedge was on my side. She said well, we'll just cut the hedge out. I said that would be a good idea and suggested that she continue all the way back. I said they could do it from her side of the property and maintain it there. That way it would be clear.

She was obviously happy with this. I said that since the vine was already damaged that was great idea. I could plant something else with that are. She said that what I planted couldn't be on her hedge. I agreed.

Buuut, I reminded her that if her hedge came onto my property that it would then me my hedge and that I had every right to use it as a trellis. And that what she did was a crime when she tore it off, so this would be a great resolution.

As I said, I don't know how it will play out. I don't know if they'll be able to remove the hedge roots etc. But at least I won't have to deal with this any time again soon. And, while the thought of a garden hose to the kisser is amuzing, at least I don't have to maintain the hedge and might even have a few more feet of space for the azaleas to grow.

Let's see what happens when the crew comes tomorrow.

sigh
c

She is either very confused or doesn't want to understand basic property rights. I wonder if she really sent a copy to the city or her attorney.

Sounds like it may work out if she follows through, but someone who will remove a hedge to solve a problem like this is bound to make something else an issue sooner rather than later.

I wonder if the city called her and set her straight before you went over there. In any case, I'm glad she was willing to work with you.

I would get a fence up in a hurry because now you will be in her sightline and all sorts of issues about your different styles will arise.

Unfortunately, I agree with the need for a solid, sight-blocking fence between your two yards. Is the height of the decorative fence across the front of the yard the maximum height of the fences allowed in front in your area?

HI Again
I spoke to the crew leader Thursday. I showed him the property line and he put a brick perpendicular to the curb. Said he wasn't asked to cut the hedge back. I told him that when he is asked, that I have agreed. We shook hands.

I responded with MY certified letter detailing the situation in the sort of painful detail one needs if someone threatens you with an attorney. I need to send my letter along with a copy of hers to the city code office when I can talk to them and see where to send it. I hate to bug them, but it's what she said she did... .

Yes, I agreed to talk to her attorney and on and on.

I have no plans to put up a fence. This area is deep shade now. A solid fence will turn it into a no grow zone like my back yard along the fence we put up for her years ago.

I hope she cuts back the hedge to her property line and maintains it. I should get some new growth on the youpons and hopefully we will both be happy. I'll honor my word and not plant any vines next to the hedge. Once it's on her property it should be easy enough.

Honestly, I feel excited and suggested she get the cutting done in a timely manner... by the end of August was my suggestion.

We shall see.

y'all have been a great help. You anchored me when I wanted to fly off. But when she said my vine was infringeing on her hedge and she needs access to it for maintenance. That was a joy. She wants the hedge and I am happy to let her have it....smiles.

c

If I read your post right, you agree to give this nut access to your property. In writng!?! No way would I do that.

you did read me right. rock oak deer. But it is only once, with me present to talk to the crew. Nut job doesn't do physical labor herself. I may live to regret this, but I'm hoping for space between me and nasty without my doing the labor.

BTW neighbor across the street got cited for tree branch lower than 14 ft at the street. The code enforcer was on my street a few days ago...what a surprise! There are branches hanging down very low just one block north of here. I mean really low. Nasty neighbor is on a roll.

Trying to find a weaker chicken in the flock, is she?

Quote: "Trying to find a weaker chicken in the flock, is she?"

sounds like it. Can you say 'control freak' boys and girls?

Wow, this stories are out there! I've been blessed for the most part with my neighbors. I lived next door to a hoarder when I lived in a rough area. I called code for 4 years. I wouldn't have cared if it weren't for the roaches and rats living in a foot or so of trash across the entire back yard. I think I did him a favor. NOBODY should live like that ghetto or not!
The most pervasive problem I've had is folks with aggressive dogs that are too stupid or mean to control them. Fortunatly, I'm not afraid of dogs and I'm almost always armed with a big,folding utility/safety knife I use. After I whip out my knife or grab a gardening tool, "Fido" and his silly owner find out it's best to leave me be. Thankfully, I've never had any of this other stuff happen.