Can you post a photo so we can see what exactly this offending plant is? It's possible it's not at fault, but if it is, I'd dig it out. No way can she be upset at you for not wanting to spray chemicals, but to keep peace, I'd remove it...IF it's the culprit. A good neighbor is more important than one plant. Well, I guess it depends on the neighbor...and the plant. :)))

Just use good old Hienz white cider vinegar instead of weed killer. It isn't toxic to the soil--just kills the vegetation. The next rain will wash it away, so weeds may fill in the area again after it dissipates. It's all I use other than Weed-b-gone for poison ivy which I apply directly to the PI vines when I see them.

I agree with anitamo. First, if you can post a picture, maybe someone here can identify the plant and see if it is the offender. Also, did you take a look at her weeds to see if they match what's under the trees? That seems to be the easiest way to decide if your clump is the culprit.

If it turns out that it is the offender, I too think I would dig it out for the sake of neighborly accord. Or use vinegar (I use that on some weeds). Or at the very least keep it weed-whacked down to keep from seeding. I would by the same token stand my ground on using any chemical weed-killers.

But first things first. Try to ID it and see if it is the culprit. Could be much ado about nothing...

Dee

Hire a hit man to take out your neighbor.

Just kidding (I think).

Do whatever is necessary to resolve the issue. Being at odds with a neighbor is not worth it. Those things have a way of getting way out of control FAST. Not fun at all.

Kevin

I don't get it, why didn't you just pull it out if you can't really see and not know what it is?lol?

Is it seed blowing over onto her property or are the roots creeping into her lawn, if either is the case I think it would be up to her to put in some kind of barrier/edging. Or she could cut them back on her side and put down something to smother them, lots of options there. If it's really bothering her that much I'd say she's the one that should be thinking of a way to deal with it.

Annette

In Colorado, law states you are responsible for your own yard/ landscaping.

A neighbor's dead tree falls on your house, it's just become your landscaping...and your issue.

I've been here so long, this Colorado idea has become my mindset.

As such, your neighbor needs to deal with her own "weeds", which is a plant out of place!!

Happy Gardening!

I would be worried that the neighbor's way of dealing with
"her side" would be to spray chemicals. So I'd rather deal with it myself and dig them out and keep the peace.

But I'm still saying figure out what you have first, and what her weeds are and even see if it's really an issue...

Dee

If my neighbor had weeds invading my yard, I would spray round up when they weren't looking. Lol.

I don't understand why you are comfortable having a patch of weeds in your yard. I would get rid of them permanently and I would use round up up but you should get rid of them in whatever way suits you best.
It is being neighborly but you will benefit from it too.

You're good at taking pictures...let's see the plant that is causing the problems!

Or just chop it down and keep chopping it down. Eventually it will die if it can't produce foliage. You just have to be persistent.

If a neighbor came to me and asked to spray one of the invasive plants in my yard, I couldn't say yes fast enough!!

I have a broader outlook on invasive plants that extends beyond the boundaries of my property. If you don't remove plants beyond your borders, the birds or wind will bring more seeds into your yard no matter how long you remove them. I regularly cut Oriental bittersweet across the street, behind my property, along the perimeter of the abutting school, and in the woodlands around here. I've also received permission from the next-door neighbor on one side to go over and cut and poison the bittersweet in his yard. Although my gardens are strictly organic, I use herbicide for some of the worst exotic invasive species - virtually a requirement for eradication.

ID the plant and if it's an exotic invasive, work with the neighbor to get it removed one way or another.

Weeds are not necessarily 'exotic invasives'. They are just plants that no one wants or desires, including a good many species that are native plants and will occur naturally in all sorts of conditions.

It is rather presumptuous to consider the OP some how neglegent by NOT removing these plants when they....and the GW readers.....have no idea what the plants in question are. Just because they were not intentionally planted does not guarantee them to be weeds :-)

Get the plant(s) correctly ID'd first, either here or locally if you prefer. Then you can make some decisions about how you want to proceed. It's great to be neighborly, but there is a limit what I'd be willing to do on my own property to accomoodate a neighbor and their maybe not so reasonable demands. And if chemicals or pesticides are not your choice, do not get guilted into using them by anyone!

put some roundup in a mustard bottle.. and just drip it down the green stems.. and they will die.. or snip and drip ...

didnt i show you my mustard bottle when you visited??? you should have tripped over it on the way down the steps .. lol ...

i can understand why you might not want to spray stuff around your yard... but specific application in minimal amounts will allow one person to take care of 5 acres.. if you know what i mean ... and its not a guilt issue ...

now.. quite a useless conversation.. until you actually ID the plant ... lol .. seriously ...

as to the neighbor ... are mine far enough away ... lol .... keep that in mind when you move out of town ...

though in Livonia .. i used to have idiot neighbors.. my best advice.. ignore her/him ...

the best answer is ALWAYS ... 'i will think about it' .... odds are .. you will not talk to her until next year again anyway .. lol ...

i cant tell you how well it works ...

as to your specific issue.. i will think about it.. lol

ken

"I don't understand why you are comfortable having a patch of weeds in your yard."

Like I mentioned, I have no idea what most of it is, the plant seems to be confined to under a stand of trees, I've never seen it anywhere around the yard or in the lawn beside under the trees - may very well be an understory plant of some sort. So, to me it's not a patch of "weeds", its a stand of plants under a tree, and frankly the scenario doesn't bother me.

Why should I get out the weed killers when a little labor will do the trick nicely? I went out there in the evening, spent about an hour pulling weeds (needed a little help from the shovel, but nothing major in terms of labor), got about 1/2 of the junk out of there. I asked DH if he would pull up the rest this week, and he said he would. So, problem solved for now without going all Chernobyl on the area. :0)

Gardengal, by "exotic invasive" I didn't mean "weeds", I meant plants that are not native to a region, that have determined to be invasive in that region to the degree that they are causing harm to the environment. In Massachusetts we have a prohibited plant list that is a good benchmark. Most exotic plants are not on this list, and aren't invasive at all, or if they naturalize a little they apparently aren't causing significant harm. The ones on this list most certainly are causing harm, and my guess is there are more plants that will be added to the list over time.

It's not really clear what to do in Mxk's situation, until the plant is id'd.

i am still 'thinking about it' ...

ken

i am still thinking about it..

but i am sure you dont need to hear this joke every day ..

but be reassured.. that i will be thinking about it for the next two years ... lol ...

ken

What are you thinking about?

*I'm* not really thinking about it anymore - DH finished the job yesterday, he's a good weed-puller :0)

seriously.. you missed the whole point ... ????

when a neighbor comes up with 'suggestions' for your garden..

you simply smile and say 'i will think about it' ...

perhaps.. 2 or 3 years later ... they will say ... well??? .. lol ... oops .. sorry .. i forgot about that .. lol ..

no need to argue.. or get upset ... just tell them.. 'i will think about it' ....

regardless.. you are a good neighbor to have hubby take care of it all ...

ken

In my situation, I have a neighbor who feeds the squirrels corn, or rather, puts out corn for the squirrels to plant all over my yard and in my flower beds. So if one or more of my plants decides to reseed in their yard, I won't give a rip, since I am always having to pull out corn. You are a good neighbor for pulling out those weeds. I hope they realize that.

Karen

Your lucky its squirrels, by dumb ss neighor feeds deer! I'm surrounding my lot with fishing line come fall, lol.

Oh wow. I'm sorry. I guess I'll be more thankful for just the squirrels. They do make me laugh, especially when one certain squirrel and I play peek-a-boo around a tree. They can be comical.

Karen

This won't help you, as I don't know what to say. I, like you, am against chemicals.
I've been internally frustruated lately as on one side I have the neighbors barberries they never prune and I'm eventually stuck with doing some pruning and being jagged as they've reached so far into my garden (plus the numerous seedlings everywhere in spring). The same has in different spot vicious thorny wild blackberries (or just jaggers) I finally had to cut back yesterday, again they just neglect and they were reaching 3 feet over into my side, over fence. Then there's the ivy, the weed shrubs with some disease, the "wild" Rose of sharon (common name) that reseeds everywhere that's now more on my side then theres, etc. General neglect of their side, and the weeds, 2-3 feet tall, full now of seedheads that blow. The neighbor behind me, never gardens. Has grasscutters once/month. The weeds are incredible. The ivy and whatnot strangling everything. The other side has the paranoid husbund with the woodpile, uncovered compost, (unknown critters) who complains, and complains. They just have the ivy, clover, weeds... and his eagle eyed view of what he may need to complain about. And their maple, which loves to clog all gutters. Their shrubs on other end they decided finaly to cut back on their side, but left mine (sounds so funny, "my side, "their side"..!!) untouched so now it looks... rough. He was venting on how all these animals are probably hiding in them, and how snakes are probably hiding in my garden (not possible), etc. He watches my rainbarrel, to be sure it's covered. Paranoid, military man.
I'm too timid to approach, but I retreat. Not a good approach, to avoid neighbors....No easy answer.