That's bad enough I think I'd try to block them legally.

When you sell, the woods & gardens will/would enhance your property value.

I wish you the best.

You might want to try your local news media. Approach them from the angle that with global warming we're going to need all the trees we can get. They might surprise you.

tj

I am just stunned at this. we dont have HOA's over here so this would never happen, but I do have an annoying neighbour on the other side of the street who keeps yelling and flailing her arms at me to cut down a beautiful huge eucalyptus because some leaves blow onto her pristine lawn. when are people going to get over their obsession with the perfect lawn?

If it were me I would fight it in any way I can treeinj, it is so wrong on so many levels what your neighbour is trying to do. It also amazes me when people have this attitude that everyone else should fit in with their wishes, as if their right to a lawn is more important than your right to those trees.

I am so glad we dont have those HOAs I read about at these forums, what a huge PITA they must be

Well there's goes my solution to your secret compost pile. I was going to suggest that you paint a trompe l'oi forest on your bin, but now I see that that wouldn't work.

I live in the country here, on a lake, and a neighbor once commented on my unmown lawn and unkempt yard. I told him that he missed a crucial distinction between his yard and my yard---that being that what took place in my yard was none of his business. I don't think I'd do well with a homeowners association.

It kills me to hear my other lake dwelling neighbors praise that neighbor's pristine lawn and I always feel like telling them to go down and put their feet into the muck around his dock and consider why he has 8" of scum in front of his camp and I don't. I made up a t-shirt once that reads "Lawn Fertilizer" on the front and "Pond Scum" on the back, but I'm too embarrassed to wear it.

Anyway, I feel your pain and hope you prevail. I agree with those who think you need to go to the mat with this issue.

Gotta love HOA's. I bought my house with one stipulation. not HOA's they are total crap for the most part. I argee with the underlying principal of them to keep the hood nice but most take it to the extreme.

My FIL lives in one. After his new fence was approved. They came out and measured it. It was 6 ft 2 in some places. It only supposed to be 6 ft high. What an ordeal he went through.

Not for me. I moved to the country.

Good luck with your situation.

Maybe I'm a nut-bar but I have this crazy idea that if you enjoy the benefits of an HOA then you shouldn't have a problem following the rules of the HOA.
I couldn't and wouldn't live like that so I've chosen not to purchase a home that is part of an HOA.
I'll stop my lunatic babbling now.

this insanity is EXACTLY why i would not live in any HOA. if you want to control how others lawns look, move into an apartment complex tha thas rules set forth and that THEY maintain the lawn.

never had an HOA, and NEVER will.

as if their right to a lawn is more important than your right to those trees.

Actually on their property, it is. She has just as much right to enjoy her lawn without your leaves as you do to have your tree.

Legally (in CA at least) if your trees shed leaves onto someone elses lawn (pool, whatever) they can sue you for the costs to clean it up.

Same with roots, if they encroach on someone elses property and cause a problem, the tree owner is liable.

Been here. Done this one.

I can't even bear to read the entire post, I can already feel my blood pressure rising because of it. Apparently, in my old age the little bit of irish in my blood has decided to surface and my normally cool, calm demeanor has been replaced with the uncontrollable urge to punch someone in the face hard enough to break the back of their skull.

OK, I'm exaggerating to the 'th degree but I sure as hell would be stomping around in a fit of frustration over something like that.

The only advice I could offer - from my father-in-lawn, legal guru and professional troublemaker - would be to threaten to sue the HOA if they attempted to remove any of the trees that were legally on your property. You may have signed away and waived your right to modify your property however you see fit but most times, under most HOA contracts, you do *not* forfeit your right to refuse to modify your existing property in a way that suits them.

IOW, they may control which color your paint your house when you choose to paint your house but they do not control when you paint your house should they decided everyone in the neighborhood is going to paint their house a different color.

Of course, your backyard may look a little retarded with the only copse of trees standing out an extra 30' than everyone elses but that's the nature of my father-in-law's advice... vindictive but not always practical. ;-p

I agree with Squonnk. if you don't want a HOA telling what to do, don't buy a home that has one.

Squonnk & whip1 - I am of like mind - I am very big into personal responsibility - which makes me a very odd attorney - & probably the reason why I don't do personal injury work. I knew when I signed up that there would be rules - and I do enjoy many many benefits of a HOA - which has a little to do w/snow removal & the pool & stuff, and more to do w/close-by great neighbors who are always watching out for each other's homes, etc. So, I am completely ok w/being responsible for my decision to buy into a HOA & for the negatives that go with it.

My posting was really more of a vent than a "blame game" sort of thing.

And, I usually need to vent a little before I come up w/my desired solution - which was to calmly tell my neighbor - the HOA Pres - which I did today - that if it were up to me, I would keep the trees & I would solve his "grass" problem by - installing a retaining wall to level the grade, keep the mega lawn mower off that small area to stop the compaction, and plant shade-friendly stuff.

He said his wife agreed w/me :)

I felt sooo much better after I talked to him - but I'm also glad I didn't talk to him right away b/c the litigator in me would have ripped his head off.

He then told me that the HOA committee is in such a confused state that they can't even decide whether to spend $600 in annuals for the front area - sooo, that left me feeling that it was unlikely that they would get their act together any time soon to make a major tree removal, wall installation, and extensive shrubbery installation decision.

BTW, when I noted all of the reasons why to do it my way, he said that one reason he wanted the extra 2 hrs of sunlight (4 - 6 pm) was to "dry out" the grass that IS backc there b/c it gets so waterlogged everytime it rains.

First, it would be good if they turned off the automatic sprinklers back there.

Second, he completely doesn't understand what I now know THANKS TO THE SOIL FORUM - that poor drainage has nothing to do with the sun and EVERYTHING to do with the SOIL.

I feel so blessed to have been introduced to you guys! Thanks!

All the Best,
Tree

"Actually on their property, it is. She has just as much right to enjoy her lawn without your leaves as you do to have your tree."

she can enjoy her lawn, that's what rakes are for ;)
I'm not telling her to remove her lawn, just as she has no right to demand I remove the tree.

trees do more than shed leaves. this particular tree is about 60 years old and is one of the few trees around tall enough for the endangered black cockatoos to make use of for food and as a resting site. It also provides my other neighbour directly across the street with much needed shade on our hot summer afternoons. why should I lose the tree, my other neighbour lose that shade and the black cockatoos lose that needed tree just so she doesnt have to rake. we're not talking a lot of leaves here, this is not a deciduous tree.

anyone who sues someone for leaves blowing on their lawn has completely lost the plot IMO.

Sounds like your problem has been resolved in part. (Yaaa!) You also sound a bit like me.--When I'm frustrated/miffed, I tend to speak from emotion rather than let myself cool down first.

I respect the right for someone to choose a neighborhood with an active HOA. I also realize HOA's were set up primarily to ensure neighborhood property values are not impacted by one or two "bad" homeowners, but the amount of freedom one must give up is too much for me.

My officemate lives in an HOA, and she likes it. I'm okay with that. However, when I've casually discussed being happy in my non-HOA neighborhood with yet another co-worker who feels the same as I do, the HOA officemate was royally offended. It wasn't okay for us to say we didn't like HOA's. It wasn't okay for us to say that while we probably wouldn't be thrilled to have one of our neighbors paint their home purple, we would still defend their right to do it or for them to have a non-burmuda grass lawn or to fly their flag.

What I'm trying to say is that, at least for my HOA co-worker, it's a control issue. When she isn't in control, she's not happy. Since I'm pretty laid back, it's not an issue for me.

Despite no HOA, the property values in my neighborhood remain high and few people move because most of us like and know each other...I'm also proud to say our neighborhood association president has a compost pile at the side of her FRONT yard, and it looks pretty good surrounded by an ornate 3 ft iron fence. You wouldn't have any idea it even was a compost pile unless you get within two feet of it.