Help with exposed Leylands

20 years ago

I am involved in a rather ugly neighbor situation that began with my opposing their petition the zoning board of appeals and has ended with this angry alcoholic abutter using heavy equipment to dig a spiteful trench a few feet deep two inches from the property line along a row of fifteen Leyland Cyprus that I planted and are now twelve to fourteen feet tall. My concern is that they will topple over or the exposed roots will kill the entire tree. Is there anything I can do for the treeÂs now I have no snow cover and donÂt expect to have any through out the winter should I add more mulch? I live in a windy area so I am planning on tying and staking them all but I wonder if that will help or hinder? Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Katy

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Comments (3)

Embothrium
20 years ago
If you have some method for staking specimens that tall from your side you can try that to keep them from toppling over onto his side. But then there is the problem of not being able to stake against winds coming from his side...

If he's trying to kill the hedge and it is growing partly on his side of the line I'm not sure there's much you can do to stop him, unless your community has a law that can be brought into play (to your benefit).
shrubs_n_bulbs
20 years ago
How far are the trees from the trench? That will determine how successful you might be in protecting the trees from earthworks on the other side of the boundary.

Without being a Massachusetts lawyer, I am fairly confident that you have legal recourse against damage caused to the trees by your neighbour, and certainly against malicious damage. Neighbours generally have the right (known as self-help in MA) to remove portions of the tree that overhang the property line, including roots, but not in such a way that the tree is killed or seriously damaged.
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runktrun
Original Author
19 years ago
Thought it would be interesting to share the out come of my post one year later. For clarification I should state that I planted these Leylands on the property line (a mistake I will never repeat). My neighbor dug his spite tench 2-2 1/5 feet deep inches from the property line and left the trench and roots (what remained) exposed for the entire winter/spring of 06. I hired my tree guy to come and advise and he couldn't offer more than a wait and see and lots of water approach. I did learn that in my state there is a law in my favor that permits anyone from intentionally causing damage to plants on a property line. Well as spring came to an end and I saw little or no effects to the trees I thought the worst was over...wrong again on a hot humid early summer day my neanderthal of a neighbor sheared to the trunk his side of this row of fifteen Leylands that are now 14-16 feet tall. Believing this was all these poor trees could take I started designing a new border, but low and behold they seem to be doing fine. Honestly they are a bit thin and lack the beauty of depth but what survivors. kt