My neighbor got my Scotch-Irish up! - updated with pics

[buystoys]

Last summer, DH and I started working on killing off all the honeysuckle and weeds that were growing on/over the fences on the back third of our yard.  One of our neighbors, an older lady, stopped by our house one day to let us know that she wasn't happy about what we were doing.  According to her, the overgrowth was her "privacy" and removing it would leave the back of her house visible to the other neighbors.  DH and I told her that we were not interested in leaving our fence lines overgrown.  A week or so later, she stopped by again to apologize for her first visit and to let us know that she had purchased some plants for her yard.

So......  Today we are out in the back yard clearing away more overgrowth and lopping limbs off trees.  Our not-so-friendly neighbor comes up to the fence and asks again why we're clearing everything.  I told her (again) that we were not willing to look at dead honeysuckle vines, weeds, and trees growing into the fence.  She stated that she didn't like how we were taking away her privacy and that she would walk away before saying anything else. 

Now, my Scotch-Irish got up a bit over her attitude and remarks.  DH and I had been planning to hire someone to come in and take out the trees that are rooted in our yard, but leaning into hers.  There are quite a few of them and we had estimated about $600 for the project.  Now, we're thinking maybe we should just go ahead and have the guys take out EVERYTHING.    I'm guestimating that would run us about $1800 or so.  The money isn't an issue, and I don't really think we're going to be besties with this particular neighbor.

What say you, the sages of YM?  Stay with the original plan or give in to a little orneriness? 

[lexxy703]

I'd probably stick to the original plan.  I can think of a whole lot better ways to spend $1,200 than removing trees just to spite the neighbor.

[buystoys]

Well, all the trees have to be removed.  We had just planned to do some of the work ourselves.  If we paid to have it all done, we could probably be putting our final landscaping in by 2017 instead of looking at 2018 or 2019.    So, there is an additional motive to just getting it all done NOW.  It just wasn't the original plan to do it that way.

[Green Eyed Lady]

Oh dear. If a statement from an elderly lady (even an unfair or unwelcome one) one can get you so angry that you think about some sort of retaliation, it may be that being "Scotch-Irish" isn't the real issue.

That being said.....it's your property. Do what you want. If you wanted everything taken out in the first place, do it. If you are willing to spend an extra $1200.00 to give a "gotcha" to an old lady.....guess it's your property and your prerogative. If it were me, I'd go ahead as I had initially planned and have no further contact with her.  If the most awful thing this older lady is doing is telling me she's not happy...I could deal with it.

[mmhmm]

I had to laugh when I saw the title of this thread! Late DH and I were married for nearly 40 years. He was pretty temperamental and blew up easily. I, on the other hand, don't have much of a temper and it takes a lot to get me angry. When, on occasion, he did manage to get my dander up I'd just tell him:  "Brace yourself. My Italian side has something to say!"  He usually cracked up and that ended the fight right there!

If I were you, I'd go right ahead with my plans. It's your property, not the neighbor's. If she wants privacy she needs to plant HER yard accordingly. At least, that's my view of it. I consider it quite presumptuous for her to try to tell you how to landscape YOUR property!

[lexxy703]

Jul 21, 2015 15:02:28 GMT -5 buystoys said:

Well, all the trees have to be removed.  We had just planned to do some of the work ourselves.  If we paid to have it all done, we could probably be putting our final landscaping in by 2017 instead of looking at 2018 or 2019.    So, there is an additional motive to just getting it all done NOW.  It just wasn't the original plan to do it that way.

Oh well in that case just get it done & over with so you can complete your project sooner.

[bookkeeper]

Next time the neighbor approaches you, you can ask her what she is doing that she needs all this privacy!

You can do what you want in your yard.

Seriously, we just bought a house and have hauled 12 loads of tree limbs and trunks to the .  Did some privacy get lost?  Yes, but these trees were growing in the fence line weakening the privacy fence and causing damage to other structures.  We asked our neighbors if we could cut the trees on their side of our fence as well, since they were all volunteer trees and the birds picked their location.  They agreed and hopefully we can put up a new privacy fence next year.

The yard does look different than before, but now we can work on getting a hot tub back there.

[973beachbum]

Was I the only one who read the title and saw Scotch and thought this would be about booze?

[Value Buy]

Hot tub?
You might be the ones needing the privacy!

[andi9899]

Ha! I'm going to have a talk with my neighbors when I get home. Thing 2 went out to get the mail and the neighbor's dog was in our yard barking at her. I swear that we're going to have a big problem if someone gets bit because they can't control their dogs.

[Abby Normal]

I would just do it if it's something you were going to do anyway.  If she complains, just say- "it's our property and we have plans for it. But your welcome to put up your own in your yard."

But I'm dealing with crappy neighbors who put a bunch of large trees right up against the fence. Keeps me from seeing their crappy yard.  But they drop all kinds of crap into our yard.  So DH has been pruning the branches back to the fence line.  Which pisses the neighbors off. Duh- don't plant a tree where 45% of hangs into someone else's yard.
DS has started picking up the cherries and tossing them over the fence and back into their yard so the dogs don't eat them. 

[buystoys]

Jul 21, 2015 15:36:41 GMT -5 bookkeeper said:

Next time the neighbor approaches you, you can ask her what she is doing that she needs all this privacy!

You can do what you want in your yard.

Seriously, we just bought a house and have hauled 12 loads of tree limbs and trunks to the .  Did some privacy get lost?  Yes, but these trees were growing in the fence line weakening the privacy fence and causing damage to other structures.  We asked our neighbors if we could cut the trees on their side of our fence as well, since they were all volunteer trees and the birds picked their location.  They agreed and hopefully we can put up a new privacy fence next year.

The yard does look different than before, but now we can work on getting a hot tub back there.

This is exactly what we're dealing with.  Oh!  And we REMOVED a non-working hot tub the sellers left for us.    It was hidden behind the barn and overgrown with.....  Wait for it!  Honeysuckle and weeds!  We've also removed an old pool liner, lots and lots of broken tile from when the sellers re-did the kitchen, beer cans, old paint cans, etc.  Today, while clearing one section of the fence, we took out a big chunk of chain link that volunteer trees had grown through, a post with cement on it, chicken wire, and old rusty barbed wire. 

I really don't appreciate looking at someone else's garbage in my own yard.  It's 20+ years of deferred maintenance we're cleaning up in order to create landscaping we can manage and control.  I'm surprised the fence is still standing based on how badly some of the trees are leaning. 

[buystoys]

Jul 21, 2015 15:45:15 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

I would just do it if it's something you were going to do anyway.  If she complains, just say- "it's our property and we have plans for it. But your welcome to put up your own in your yard."

But I'm dealing with crappy neighbors who put a bunch of large trees right up against the fence. Keeps me from seeing their crappy yard.  But they drop all kinds of crap into our yard.  So DH has been pruning the branches back to the fence line.  Which pisses the neighbors off. Duh- don't plant a tree where 45% of hangs into someone else's yard.
DS has started picking up the cherries and tossing them over the fence and back into their yard so the dogs don't eat them. 

Yeah, that was our response last year and again today.  It was funny, actually, that one of her next door neighbors came over about an hour later to compliment us on how much better the yard looked! 

I think I'd have gotten less wound up if I hadn't already been working in the heat for over two hours clearing out garbage our sellers so kindly left for us.  This whole project has been just one frustration after another.  I keep telling DH that once it's done though, it's done.  Then we can plant trees far enough away from the fence to be able to mow and weed whack and keep it nice.

[Tiny]

I'd just continue with your project as you've planned.  I'm not sure I'd recommend doing anything out of spite... cause odds are the neighbor will get over this issue fairly quickly once it's all done. 

I suspect the neighbor is just suffering an adverse reaction to "Change".    No one likes change and you guys are changing the view from the older neighbor's house.  If she's uncomfortable with the neighbor's seeing more of her house - odds are she'll be able to SEE more of their property too.  

I can totally see why the neighbor might say something... you are dramatically (for her) changing her environment. BUT, I strongly suspect that after a few weeks with the new view - she'll have gotten use to the change.   

Now, if the neighbor has a patio or something that YOUR tree line, YOUR weeds and YOUR fence were screening... then it's up to her to install some sort of a new screen. 

FWIW:  my neighbors put a deck on the back of their house that has a clear line of sight into my kitchen dining area AND  the window over the kitchen sink.      The seating on the deck is at the same height as the seating in my kitchen.  The deck is less than 30 feet from my house.    It's alittle awkward because I can sit in my kitchen while they are on their deck and we can chat thru the open window - we're on the same level.   I did let some of my lilac bushes/trees and a couple of other flowering shrubberies get really tall to help act as a screen - but I still wound up putting some "frosted" window film on the window that overlooks their deck.   

I like my neighbors.  Just not enough to have to see/acknowledge them everytime I'm in my kitchen. 

[buystoys]

Jul 21, 2015 15:58:48 GMT -5 Tiny said:

I'd just continue with your project as you've planned.  I'm not sure I'd recommend doing anything out of spite... cause odds are the neighbor will get over this issue fairly quickly once it's all done. 

I suspect the neighbor is just suffering an adverse reaction to "Change".    No one likes change and you guys are changing the view from the older neighbor's house.  If she's uncomfortable with the neighbor's seeing more of her house - odds are she'll be able to SEE more of their property too.  

I can totally see why the neighbor might say something... you are dramatically (for her) changing her environment. BUT, I strongly suspect that after a few weeks with the new view - she'll have gotten use to the change.   

Now, if the neighbor has a patio or something that YOUR tree line, YOUR weeds and YOUR fence were screening... then it's up to her to install some sort of a new screen. 

FWIW:  my neighbors put a deck on the back of their house that has a clear line of sight into my kitchen dining area AND  the window over the kitchen sink.      The seating on the deck is at the same height as the seating in my kitchen.  The deck is less than 30 feet from my house.    It's alittle awkward because I can sit in my kitchen while they are on their deck and we can chat thru the open window - we're on the same level.   I did let some of my lilac bushes/trees and a couple of other flowering shrubberies get really tall to help act as a screen - but I still wound up putting some "frosted" window film on the window that overlooks their deck.   

I like my neighbors.  Just not enough to have to see/acknowledge them everytime I'm in my kitchen. 

Yeah, DH and I were just talking about this with my sister.  I told her that, while I kicked the idea out there to just have everything down to the ground quickly so I wouldn't have to listen to years of complaints, there's also the fact that doing it quickly means we get our own landscaping done and have nice trees growing sooner.  Since DH has had some significant decline in his health since we moved here, just throwing some money at this project really may be the better way to go.

For those of you who were part of the goaty group, this is one of the projects I was referencing.  We could take our time and do more of it on our own, but then who knows if DH will have time to enjoy it being done?  He's flying back to NY this weekend for the Irish send off for his best friend, so time and quality of life are pretty big issues for us right now.  This project was originally planned for a few years from now, but I realized that it's really back breaking work to try to mow and weed whack that fence with the mess in the way.  Clearing it out means we can set the tree line far enough away from the fence to get the mower through and then just weed whack as needed.  Much easier for DH to manage.

[Deleted]

I am really, really good friends with most of my neighbors BUT my perspective is that I paid and pay (1) the cost of purchasing my property (2) the electric bill (3) the tax bill (4) the yard crew and, yes, I paid for 100% of the damned fence on all three sides.  So guess what?  I will add or subtract or trim any plants or hardscape on my property as I see fit.  I have two neighbors with security lights from hell but it's their right to put them on their property and my right to keep my blinds closed if I don't want to be awakened by 500 watts of brilliance when they let the dog out to pee at 4 a.m.  It's also my right to call the cops when they forget to let the dog back in and he barks for two hours 

[Deleted]

Oh, and around here it's called "getting your Mexican on".  I'm only 1/2 Mexican so maybe I'm only 1/2 a biotch 

[buystoys]

Jul 21, 2015 17:49:42 GMT -5 @donethat said:

Oh, and around here it's called "getting your Mexican on".  I'm only 1/2 Mexican so maybe I'm only 1/2 a biotch 

I'm only 5/8 Scotch-Irish.  Good thing, hunh?!?

[tskeeter]

Jul 21, 2015 15:39:34 GMT -5 973beachbum said:

Was I the only one who read the title and saw Scotch and thought this would be about booze?

Scotch and Irish, it's about whiskey!

[Deleted]

My neighbors have some overgrown weed bushes (is that you all call "volunteers"?) growing through the fences into my yard. Most of them aren't intruding in my yard enough to bother me. I'm sure that's not good for the fences, but the root of the problems are in the yards of the people that own the fences, so not much for me to do about it other than keep my side of the fences neat. There are some in the corners that I'm going to have cut back though because they're taking over the corners of my yard.

[Anne_in_VA]

Our property has a bunch of trees that are right on the property line and we don't really know which property they are on, ours or theirs.  We bought our house just before our neighbors bought theirs and a survey wasn't done, nor can we find any markers showing delineating where our property begins and theirs ends.

we want to cut some of the trees down, but will have to get a survey done first.  I've got a feeling most of the trees are on our property and we're going to have to cut them down.  Some of them are really tall so it's going to cost a fortune.  Ugh!

[andi9899]

Jul 21, 2015 17:49:42 GMT -5 @donethat said:

Oh, and around here it's called "getting your Mexican on".  I'm only 1/2 Mexican so maybe I'm only 1/2 a biotch 

That explains a lot in my case. I did go to the neighbor's as soon as I got home and tell him to keep his Damn dogs away from my property and he might find one missing if it bites one of my kids. He's been warned.

[buystoys]

We kinda sorta came to a decision this morning.

DH is flying to NY this weekend and then we are taking a 2-3 week road trip to San Diego next weekend.  When we get back, DH will call the tree guys and get an estimate for taking everything out.  In the meantime, whatever we can take out on our own will come down.  If the estimate is $2K or less, we'll just have everything removed so we can start planting this spring.  DH is finally starting to be enthusiastic about this project with the time line moved up! 

I've mentally prepared myself to listen to the nasty comments across the fence.  If she shows up at the house to complain again, though, DH is likely going to tell her to just leave and not come back.  Another neighbor told us that once she gets upset about something, she doesn't let it go.  Might as well just get her upset over and done with at once rather than dragging it out for a couple of years.

[CarolinaKat]

Jul 22, 2015 9:28:09 GMT -5 buystoys said:

We kinda sorta came to a decision this morning.

DH is flying to NY this weekend and then we are taking a 2-3 week road trip to San Diego next weekend.  When we get back, DH will call the tree guys and get an estimate for taking everything out.  In the meantime, whatever we can take out on our own will come down.  If the estimate is $2K or less, we'll just have everything removed so we can start planting this spring.  DH is finally starting to be enthusiastic about this project with the time line moved up! 

I've mentally prepared myself to listen to the nasty comments across the fence.  If she shows up at the house to complain again, though, DH is likely going to tell her to just leave and not come back.  Another neighbor told us that once she gets upset about something, she doesn't let it go.  Might as well just get her upset over and done with at once rather than dragging it out for a couple of years.

That's a good point. She'll only have one thing to bitch about

[Robert not Bobby]

I'm half Irish and half Italian...now that is an explosive combination. Fortunately, I have put it to good use (I think)?

Plants, meh.

Take them to court, if you have the stomach for it.

[Miss Tequila]

Wow, that lady has a brass set. Of  course she doesn't like that she is losing her privacy but too damn bad. If she wants privacy she can install a fence

[tskeeter]

I suppose the politically correct thing to do the next time the neighbor complains would be to tell them somethng like "Gee, I'm sorry to hear you feel that way.  However, I don't think it is my obligation to provide you with the level of privacy that you desire.  If you want more privacy, you might want to consider doing something in your yard to provide the privacy you want." 

[Wisconsin Beth]

Maybe she's fond of the assorted wildlife that lives in your yard?    That's all I got.  It's your yard, go ahead and do what you and your DH want to do. 

[buystoys]

Jul 22, 2015 13:46:30 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

I suppose the politically correct thing to do the next time the neighbor complains would be to tell them somethng like "Gee, I'm sorry to hear you feel that way.  However, I don't think it is my obligation to provide you with the level of privacy that you desire.  If you want more privacy, you might want to consider doing something in your yard to provide the privacy you want." 

Yeah, the PC response doesn't seem to be making her happy since we said that last year and again the other day.  She did plant some bushes last fall that were doing well until recently I guess.  She hasn't watered them and we've had no rain for a few weeks.  You know.....  Typical Texas weather!  LOL

DH and I plan to work on the fence line tomorrow morning, so I'm just preparing myself to ignore what she says.  Hopefully she's working tomorrow and we don't see her at all. 

[CarolinaKat]

Jul 22, 2015 17:26:46 GMT -5 buystoys said:

Jul 22, 2015 13:46:30 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

I suppose the politically correct thing to do the next time the neighbor complains would be to tell them somethng like "Gee, I'm sorry to hear you feel that way.  However, I don't think it is my obligation to provide you with the level of privacy that you desire.  If you want more privacy, you might want to consider doing something in your yard to provide the privacy you want." 

Yeah, the PC response doesn't seem to be making her happy since we said that last year and again the other day.  She did plant some bushes last fall that were doing well until recently I guess.  She hasn't watered them and we've had no rain for a few weeks.  You know.....  Typical Texas weather!  LOL

DH and I plan to work on the fence line tomorrow morning, so I'm just preparing myself to ignore what she says.  Hopefully she's working tomorrow and we don't see her at all. 

Keep us posted! (We also like landscaping pictures)