I hate to say it but the best tree killer is battery acid. My sister owns a rental and when she bought it the bloke over the back thought it was the right time to try and kill this huge gum. He drilled a small hole into it and put in battery acid. He nearly died when the next morning the tree was totally brown. He told them in the end that it was him why I dont know LOL. They are friends now. Takes all sorts LOL. So if you want instant death give it a try. Jan

Yee Hah, thanx heaps, sounds like the right kind of stuff.
A pun is screaming to be said, but I can't, I'm too over the moon.

Ray and adamus - I've contacted the council a number of times (council, local councillor, energex, water dept etc) - they can't do anything because it is on private property. And I can't take legal action until AFTER it has dmamged pipes, foundations etc. Wonderful world, isn't it?

So I'm tossing up whether to get a lawyer to write to them with copies of letters from local nurseries identifying plant as ficus benjamina, and what the roots are capable of (and then wait 2-3 years, get plumber to put camera up pipes to get evidence before it gets to foundations etc, and then sue neighbour, and have to have 3m deep trench dug straight through middle of front yard to dig up and repair pipes) OR take matters into my own hands.

A half inch bit will leave a whopping great hole - at this point the tree has only been in the ground about 6-8 months, so the base of the drunk is probably only 4" in diameter. Even tosser neighbour might notice a hole that big!

Battery acid is a much "safer' option as it will kill the tree but breakdown quicker and into molecules found in nature
A smaller tree needs a smaller drill...you could try a syringe and just pop the acid under the bark in a ring around the tree
I cannot believe we are discussing the murdering of a plant on a gardenweb site
Sounds like your neighbour is a nice person too...just in the wrong place
If she like such big trees she needs to near the bush
If you do use a drill you could get some sawdust and fill the hole with it and leave a neat pile on the soil just under the drill hole....make it look like a grub did it
cheers
peter

I have pondered using my scientific training to develop a virus that wipes out palms in outer western Sydney. How far must you be from the coast before it dawns on you that it is not tropical in your backyard?
Danielle

The distance from the coast, and your ability to understand the weather patterns of your area, are proportionally dependant on the size of your brain, I think. So some people could live in the Little Desert, and still think it needed a few tropical trees.
It is a bit wierd discussing tree death on a gardening site, but it's not like it's trees that matter!!!!!!

I think the government needs to seriously consider forming a commando hit squad to tackle these irresponsible gardeners. Why do 90% of people plant large trees 1 meter or less from fences? My block and both my neighbours blocks are 1/2 acre. You wouldn't think large trees would be a problem. Wrong. First neighbour plants row of assorted gum trees 1 meter from dividing fence. To make it worse their position means they get no beneficial summer shade at all. They shade my solar hot water panels, their blossom blocks up my gutters and finds its way into my ceiling space evn though I have closed eaves and the roots are heading under my house already. The other chose to plant about a dozen Cape Lilacs / White Cedars. You guessed it, most are within 1 to 2 meters from the fence. At least these provide him with lots of summer shade and winter sun. However he doesn't prune them in winter and they are becoming quite big. Half in his yard and half in mine. Millions of berries drop into my yard every year and no summer shade for me. If such a hit squad existed I would quite happily dob the #*%@$'s in and watch in glee as their gardens were wiped out with napalm and the owners carted off to a detention camp for retraining. I have managed to kill one gum tree by keeping a small area wet for a period of time to encourage root growth and then soaking with once a year path weeder. Luckily it is at the side of the house where nothing grows. I intend to kill one every couple of months so that it doesn't look too obvious. Thought about talking to them but decided that if they said no I couldn't then kill them without suspicion. Does the battery acid really work? What quantities and would it work on roots.
Colin

Yeah, it gets to the point where you wonder if some people were slapped as children, round the head I mean. No forethought, none. Grrrrrr. It's battery acid for them all.

Grub's away playing with boats. I think we should just blame him.

If he was a good grub, he would eat all the nasty trees.

*nods in agreement with boulder boy*

can I get some of those application forms to dob my neighbour into your hit squad? I'm in the same boat as you - neighbour and I already aren't talking because of his retaining wall/fence, so if I go talk to him about the ficus, I know he'll just ignore it. And then it will be suspicious if it dies. I think I'm just better off poisoning it. The council planted two Golden Pendas on my front footpath - one of which is now dead because when tosser heighbour had his pool dug, his bobcat backed into my tree (2m tall it was). I also have a paw paw tree that is suspiciously dead in the backyard, near this neighbours fence. I think I'll just leave the 2 dead trees in the ground for the next 6 months, and see if I can poison his ficus. Then it wont look so suspicious, if I have dead trees too.

Might have to consider putting together a private squad. Tree killers for hire. Black balaclavas and those little wire saws. Leap the fence, fell offending tree, inject stump with battery acid and dissappear into the night.
I have two Tipuanas which are more rampant than I imagined (long story). I also decided to kill these one at a time to deflect suspicion. Not having much success though. Slashed lots of cuts into the bark and painted with Glyphosate one day and once a year weed killer the next. It's never looked better. Will definitely be trying the battery acid on these.

something has to be done. I know you can cut the bit on your side of the fence with impunity, this includes the roots, often it's enough to kill the offending tree. you can also cut the foliage over your side of the fence. A friend did this, and during the next storm it just fell over. legally possible, but the bad feelings have to be considered. I 'spose if you're not talking anyway, it won't damage the relationship at all.

Came home from night shift this morning and oops half a bottle of once a year spilled on the latest wet spot. Fingers crossed tree number two bites the dust.

will once a year have any effect if spilt around a ficus?

*oops, I'm very clumsy lately - must be all the stress*

TIMMMMMMBERRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

hey adamus... my neighbours ficus is looking very sickly. terrible shame, that.

how is your neighbours avocado going?

Yes and I would like to know what method of murder did one use. Was it a slow death or fast. was the tree tortured or did it die quick. LOL. Jan

Well done wishful. I'm not having as much luck with tree #2. 3 months now. New growth is showing yellow so might still work. What did you use?
Colin

I was told battery acid works a treat. That was from Derbytas I think?. The avocado has had a reprieve from the Guv'nah at the 11th hour. I'm moving North , so decided she can have her tree, if it's that important. I did use battery acid on a friend's unwanted citrus. It was dead in 4 days.

where does a single mother of 4 acquire battery acid? my mechanic has known me for 25 years, and knows I'm enept... he would wonder why I suddenly asked for an old battery!

jbrules, you must understand that I, personally, have no knowledge of what may or may not have happened to my neighbours tree. However, did I mention I am very concerned that all the stress of recent months (separated from husband, father in hospital, brother attempted suicide again) may be getting to me? I work shift work, and get home after midnight. I have, on the odd occasion, at about 2am, noticed that all of a sudden I have 'lost' 5 minutes - I just can't account for the missing time. Strange. Also strange is that, while I am a totally organic gardener, and have no pesticides, weedkillers etc - I don't even have fly spray for indoors because one of my children is allergic to it - BUT the other day I did find a spray bottle of Roundup in the back of the laundry cupboard. Very strange, because I'm sure I haven't bought anything like that in over 10 years.

Whatever, the ficus next door only has a few yellow brown leaves left. :)

wishfull you did make me laugh. Missing time aye I shall have to remember that. Battery acid does come under another name but I shall have to check with hubby what that name is, the memory isnt the best these days. I dont loose time I just loose now what was I trying to say again Oh yes I loose something now where did I put that. what was it again. LOL :) Jan

50% Sulphuric Acid. Very nasty stuff. Be careful when mixing Sulphuric acid with water as it generates a lot of heat. Sounds likes a full moon around your way recently. Then again those ficus have very invasive roots which travel great distances searching for water. Serves it right if it snuck into your shed and gulped some roundup.
Colin

hmmm, hypothetically, if someone had been spraying roundup on the leaves, it might not do much damage to the roots. but, if the tree just NEVER recovered, the neighbours might get sick of looking at bare branches, and plant something else.

of course, if they planted another ficus........

50% sulphuric acid and 50% water? does it have to be diluted?

Not sure about the 50/50. That apparently is the strength of battery acid. I wouldn't spray it onto the leaves as the result would be almost immediate and very noticeable. I think injection is the preferred method. This wouldn't really suit killing neighbours trees unless you were prepared to jump the fence.

sometimes one must resort to jumping the fence while all is quiet nothing stiring not even a mouse. Scrape away a little bark inject your venom ( 50/50 )(battery acid) and by the next morning you should have one dead tree. Just a word of warning DONT GET CAUGHT.

Sneeky way to kill ANY tree.dig down and find a root drinking straw to finger size-cut and place in to bottle with diesel fuel-tape to stop spilage then bury the bottle.tree will slowly turn up it"s toes-looks natural and no evidence.

deisel and sulphuric acid. The best thing about acid is that it breaks down into a harmless substance. I 'spose deisel does too, over time.

Thanks Paddy. I've got plenty of potential victims so will definitely give the diesel a go.
Colin

My evil twin has been enjoying this thread very much, and dutifully taking notes. We moved into our house just over a year ago, and have been stocking the yard with veges and a couple of fruit trees. Our neighbour on the north side had turned her block into a double occupancy and therefore has lots of concrete and little garden space. She is still very keen to grow fruit bearing trees though (and I can't blame her). The problem is, the only space she has is a metre wide strip bordering our property. She has already planted a lemon tree, pear tree, walnut tree and mulberry tree in this strip. We have pointed out to her that walnut and mulberry trees grow very, very big, and that we are concerned (being keen gardeners ourselves) that they will cast shade over our vege patch. Not to worry, says neighbour, the sun comes from that direction (pointing west). Oh dear. We have since had a conversation about a tree in our front yard (close to her fence) that she detests, as it makes a mess on her driveway. I let her know that we intend to remove it in the next couple of years, as we don't like it much either. She was much relieved, exclaiming "Honestly, what kind of people plant trees so close to the fence!". Oh dear.

I'm new on this forum and I am shocked to see so many "gardners" taking delight in how to kill off a neighbours fruit tree.
If the tree is really a problem - talk to the neighbour, don't kill his tree.

The neighbour has a few options to help you out - drastic pruning of the branches - will reduce how much water he needs to use plus pruning of the roots - - dig a trench on your side of the fence and cut all of the main roots ON YOUR SIDE and then line the trench with an impervious material - root inhibiting fabric is available from many nurseries.

OR

move your tomatoes.

We are all neighbours with someone and we have to live next door to them for quite a long time.

Don't start a neighbourhood war - communicate - you may even get a share of the crop of avacados.

Naaaaaaaanh.... Nuke it.....Just kidding. Yes "paradisi". Not real gardeners just a bunch of evil tomato freaks ......Just kidding......They're not evil:)

wow, a ressurected thread. I 'spose we do seem inhuman, but I live in a very small world, with very limited space. The neighbour was quite happy to have it removed, so it's all above board.

we live were a view is paramount and when a neighbour refuses to trim when asked nicely many times and now goes out of his way NOT to trim but to let the trees grow grow grow one is then tempted to do the unthinkable. Its either go over there and trim them myself as he is never there only using house for occasional weekends, or poison. What ever way he is bound to know who done it.

If you could see the size of Adam's and his neighbour's gardens, you would understand the threat an invasive tree like avocado poses. When working with a postage stamp sized garden, as most are in innercity Sydney, moving tomatoes is out of the question.
And as Adam has pointed out, the neighbour is quite okay with it all.

Iv've got a tiny yard too - about 400sqm- the neighbour down the back has about 80 fully grown rainforest trees and he's never there either.

I had to trim the roots as best I could - some are over 30cm thick and I had to move my tomatoes - I get too many problems from the plague grasshoppers breeding in the bush block.

The way the thread was going shocked me that gardners would consider poisoning a neighbours gaden just to benefit my own.

che sera

ciao

tony

In QLD there are quite a few problems for the victims of 'inappropriate' neighbours' trees-- 'Wishful' is correct in that you can do nothing here about trees on private property. My neighbour has tall storey gums and other inappropriate trees overplanted entirely along my north property line which overhang my fibro roof, and completely shade my entire property all winter-greatly limiting my gardening-. Their tall trunks (60ft trees) make it impossible to lop those overhanging branches without climbing them -- the neighbour can refuse entry and thereby prevent the victim trying to minimise menacing risk. -- We wanted to cut the roots, (they invade and overpower our plants) but was advised that if the trees then became unstable and fell causing damage, there could be a liability question regarding this action. Also, surreptitious knobbling is out of the question, because a dead tree could demolish either of our houses or damage his vehicles etc.and the trouble that would cause in an already bad situation would be the pits. The neighbour's position is 'if you dont like it, leave', which rules out 'communication' to solve problems. Even the dog can't find a sunny spot in the yard to sun itself in winter!The victim must bear any possible lopping costs etc unless actual damage has occurred; resulting in more legalities issues for the hapless victim.(all a bit late after your roof's crashed or your foundations are cracked). The worst insult is the 'act of God' defense,in the event of storm and tempest and not irresponsible planting.

g'day florial,

don't know you might have to dig a bit deeper but your neighbour has a duty of care to his neighbours, those tall gum trees are an ever present danger whether tampered with or not. and heavy lopping done badly could cause lots of new growth that will be even more unstable than the original. here in rural if a property owner has a tree that could cause damage to anyone on a public thoroughfare or on the their private property you have the responsibilty to remove that/those trees.

the safety margin for having those large particularly gum trees is 50% more than their maximum height, that is a 60 foot tree (just using the size mentioned) would have to be 90 foot away from buildings and over head utilities etc.,. and you can't tamper with the trees or you take the responsibility of any damage they could cause away from the current owner if tampering can be proved.

and as hard as what it can be mediation is the best way stay away from litigation or the legal fraternity.

len

mail len

lens garden page

me again

yes, I can understand paradisi being offended by me blithely killing my neighbours tree.

but - 3 notable nurseries in my area positively identified this tree as a ficus benjamina from photos and a 20cm twig I took in. They recommended that this tree not be planted within 20m of pipes, foundations etc. This tree was planted within 2m of my water and sewage pipes, and within 4m of my house (concrete slab).

As neighbour won't speak to me, it is unlikely that if I showed him written letters confirming above info, he would remove tree. I contacted Brisbane City Council, who came out and inspected the tree, confirmed it was a ficus benjamina and confirmed that it was not planted in a 'suitable' position..... but also said that as it was on private property, there was nothing they could do about it (until it had interferred with the sewage and water pipes laid under the footpath). I COULD have inserted a root barrier - but I would have had to dig down at least 3m, and the trench would have had to be at least 15m long - this would have required me hiring men and bobcats, and would have been totally outside my budget. The only action I could take was AFTER the tree roots had damaged my pipes and/or home. Which is stupid in the extreme.

So, no - I don't feel guilty about spraying roundup on my neighbours tree. The tree has been bare of leaves now for 4-5 months. They haven't removed/replaced it - yet. Now it is spring, I am carefully watching it to see if new leaf buds form (none yet!). I will have no hesitation in spraying roundup again if they do.

These neighbours are definitely a fly short of a dungheap - they have planted another 10 ficus benjamina's across the front of their house - atractively pruned into 2m high balls. I just hope that the roots damage THEIR foundations, pipes, and double concrete driveway, BEFORE they do any damage on my property.

I am sorry I have offended paradisi and others - and yes, I fully agree that my actions were not nice, not polite, and definitely not neighbourly. If I had any other options, I would have tried them But - I am not sorry about what I have done, and will do it again if the plant shows signs of green, or they replace it with another the same.

Yeah Wishful, I'm a bit the same really. This Avocado was rooly rooly big, and had already got into my pipes etc. I did consult with Anne, my neighbour. She could see the benefit of digging the bloody thing out, especially when i promised her all the vegies she could eat, including real Tommies. Graft and Corruption I know, but there it is. The tree's now growing back anyway, but I moved. Anne got her vegies, I got my place in the country, and we're still good friends. i think it would have been horrible if you couldn't talk to the offending party.

adamus - I give all my OTHER neighbours tomatoes, lettuce etc from my garden - I do know how to be a good neighbour!

But some people............arrgh! Not that it is a defence - but these people started it - there was a very long story involving retaining walls and fences from when we built - basically, these people put their retaining wall on MY property (because they moved the original survey pegs, and knew they were doing the wrong thing) and then, because they were too scabby to do it properly, they only built a 1m retaining wall, when they had made a 1.4m cut. Consequently, the 1.8m paling fence that sits on top of the retaining wall is retaining 40cm of my block. I got the council out to inspect it - they said it was illegal, and needed to be rebuilt - but because there were no survey pegs, they couldn't issue the order. So... neighbours are shitty that I refused to pay half the retaining wall AND fence - even though I had told them I couldn't and wouldn't agree to what they were doing, had my lawyer write to them to tell them they were not allowed to build retaining wall on my property, AND that I had no obligation for any retaining wall as it was their cut, not mine - I only had to pay half a fence - and half a fence that I agreed to, not half a fence that is part of a structure that is illegal, not well built (only has posts sunk 60cm deep, should be twice that, they used untreated pine as posts in the ground, posts are 2.4m apart, and for the eight of the structure should be about half that etc)

so - yeah, I haven't done the right thing - but in the greater scheme of what has happened along this boundary fence - I do still sleep well at night.

ACTUALLY - we were talking about this at work the other night. Someone else was having problems with their neighbour, and their husband had gone out with fertiliser and written "IDIOT" in metre high letters on their grass footpath in the middle of a rainstorm. So we had quite a deep and meaningful coffee break discussing the relative merit of fertiliser vs once a year path weeder to write appropriate character references on your neighbours front lawn ROFL!! At least the discussion served to vent some strong emotion - it never hurts to laugh!!!

Go wishful...That's the spirit:)

today we had very hi winds and i daren't venture into the yard with those giants swirling overhead.. Mediation would be more useful if it were mandatory; we did apply for mediation, but the tree-owner didnt respond to 2 formal requests (as is their right)or our informal requests. I would be very interested to read the source of the 'duty of care' to your neighbour in regard to this menace. Like wishful, my info source stated that only after an event does one have a case,(unless it's a dead tree) and negligence must be proven. It could be argued that our justice protects the perpetrator rather than the victim. I once lived in a rural situation, and if a tree fell over the fenceline it was expected that the tree owner fix and remove any damage; not just sit back and say it was an 'act of God' and tough luck! Unlike times past, 'rough justice' can't be dispensed where legal justice is either wanting or can't be accessed, generating social angst and tensions.

This is a disgrace, how can you consider killing an old Avocado tree someone had grow with all their care and love for 40 years for the sake of a couple of weedy little tomatoes!.

If I grew an Avocado for 40 years on my fenceline and my neighbour killed my tree I'd blow up his house :D but before I did that I'd plant 50 unkillable massive Ficus all along the fence and some pine trees to drop poison needles all over his vege garden :D. That's how it would go down if we were neighbours :). I might also grow a mountain ash out to 150 feet and hope for a big wind storm

Hey Jason, What if someone salted w*nker into your grass though? :). I have a number of trees around my yard but I still find enough room for a few weedy tomatoes:) in pots. Nobody has salted my grass..... cos I haven't got any:). I dug that weed up years ago to make more room for avocado and tomatoes:). I guess the biggest risk is being caught carrying out this act of vandalism. Don't get me wrong I DO understand where you are coming from on the tree issue, but if you get caught...... they may call the cops or worse, give you a hiding. At least then THEY will be in trouble with the law:)

Wishful's neighbour's are the unneighbourly inconsiderate ones: they are willfully planting something that is guaranteed to cause her problems, and guaranteed to interfere with her vegies which she had first - Go wishful!

As for the avocado tree - please read the whole thread before going off on a rant; the neighbour doesn't particularly want the tree, has previously had it routed out, and it hasn't produced anything anyway!

Personally, my answer to the whole problem is to move to the bush; 40 acres just waiting for us, as soon as our house sells. I've got an orchard already started, and can't wait to get to the vegies.

yeah, I moved, we're both happy now.
She wrote me to say the tree is doing fine.
But her new neighbour is whining about it. Tee Hee.

So guess who had the last laugh!!!!!!!

Well, it was worth the tingling tendons to read (just one more)thread and catch up.....now for a Sunday paper!

Hi middlejane, enjoy your acreage.