I strongly suspect that we're not getting 100% accuracy here. It is highly unlikely the DOT would cut down a tree that wan't on THEIR property. Also, it's unlikely that they would do it unless there's some negative issue about the tree. They typically don't go around frivolously wasting manpower resources like that. Not saying it's impossible. I'm just saying that it's not normal and that makes it look like something else it up here.

On the second issue, Richfield, did you install the tree originally? If you did, was it upon consideration of all the relevant issues, or was is the that-place-looks-good-enough approach? I'm all for a person doing what they want and makes sense on their own property. But it sounds literally mentally unhealthy and possibly dangerous, to do an action with the purposeful intent of provoking someone else, especially when you have to live in their vicinity for a lengthy period of time. A good neighbor would see if there's a way they can have the benefits of their tree and allow their neighbor the opportunity to have the lake view, if it doesn't compromise one's own good, solid, well thought through plans. I would reconsider your intent and see if there isn't away you can help yourself without wantonly disregarding the neighbor. When people ask the question, "Can't we all just get along...?" it seems you are demonstrating why some of us won't.

"Vengeance is mine," saith YHVH! I'd let this one go unless you thrive on continual chaos and want to poke at the inconsiderate neighbor, whom you should love as you do yourself, warts and all!

Ok, yes, the DOT did actually cut down the tree without verifyin, to which the foreman asked us not to report because they would get in trouble for not following procedure.

The tree was Over 50 years old; my father remembered planting it in the late 1950s. Here’s the tree before it was cut down. Those are their barels marking the property line. That shrub line is on our side of the property, used to come all the way over to where the barrels are and used to come to the tree. The neighbors have removed all of that from our property without permission

Over the last year they also cut down 3 of the trees for the neighbor on the other side of their property, without asking. That other neighboring property is a camp with the people hardly ever there. They hired a landscaping company told the company they had the landowners permission then proceeds to cut down the trees, hedges and regrade the property line. When the property owners came to open up the camp, they had no idea what happened and the police told them the same thing, there wasn’t much that could be done unless they wanted to press charges against the landscaping company

So Th problem is that we have let it go, as have the other neighbors and these people just keep taking more. We just want the property restored to how we had it, which provides us with privacy from the road.

After the police said they couldn’t do anything about the tree, the told us to call the department of environmental conservation (DEC) because they handled this. The DEC officer came, in his uniform, in his marked car to speak with the neighbor. She started screaming at him then called the state police on the DEC officper for trespassing. Shes so far out there, turning the other cheek doesn’t work because she just keeps going farther and farther and farther.

this is about the view from their front porch, including the tree that is no longer there.

Street trees, which are always limbed up in order to keep the right-of-way passable, are not the device to use for gaining privacy from the road. For that, you'd want large shrubs, and they would need to be on one's property, not in the R-O-W.

The subject tree, if one is honest, is without question long past its prime and in decline. If it were a human it would surely be in its 90s, with death around the corner no matter how you look at it. If what you want is a decent tree, then the DOT did you a big favor by getting this cat-scratched one out of your way. You have the right to plant a tree on your property, but your front property line is some distance from the road. The subject tree looks too close by today's standards. There is not enough room there to pull a vehicle completely off of the road without getting their car scratched (no one is maintaining the tree) or hitting it. I'm surprised the DOT is not getting on someone about all the undergrowth that seems much too close to the road.

wow I have a neighbor like that. you cannot win with someone like that. they're just plain crazy.

are the survey markers visible?

Check at the courthouse for any road or utility "right of way" . If your tree was growing in a "right of way", planting another in the same place will yield the same result. Know where you can replant without risking having the trees cut again.

IF local building codes permit, consider adding a fence or even a row of treated posts with a cable -- whatever you can use to define your property line before planting trees.

Plant your fast growing trees in a raised bed atop a spot where you've dug a deep hole and filled it in with rich fertilized soil to encourage the tap root of your tree to grow quickly and the trees you plant will usually grow taller more quickly.

If you plant two rows of your faster growing trees -- three in one row and either two or five in the other, staggering them so on row blocks the view between the others, you will have a more dense green privacy fence.

Behind the two rows of quick growing trees, plant whatever slower growing trees you might actually prefer.. That way you have quicker shade and green privacy fence that you can either keep or cut later when the slower growing trees behind it reach a larger size.

https://www.google.com/search?q=fastest+growing+trees+Zone+5&client=firefox-b-1-d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiq84230NToAhUvTd8KHeDwDa8Q_AUoAnoECBEQBA&biw=1366&bih=654

Some hedges will grow tall quickly in some locations (such as a wall of china hedge) so also consider shrubs for the outer green privacy wall.

https://www.google.com/search?q=wall+of+china+hedge+zone+5&client=firefox-b-1-d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwifg5D80tToAhWoVN8KHUXPAdwQ_AUoAnoECA8QBA&biw=1366&bih=654

Our property is 120’ wide, we access it on the other side of the tree. The property on either side of the path are “wetlands” so they are natural.

There used to be trees on the left the same height as those on the right aalong the left shrub line, but clearly on our property. Neighbors cut those down without our permission as well. Basically Im trying to put back what they took without our permission, and yes I’m being petty with the big tree but I’m just so irritated that we have to not only pay to replace the trees but we have to deal with the stumps too.

We don’t really have codes when it comes to fencing, as long as it’s on your property, you can do pretty much anything you want. It’s a small town, my high school graduating class had 44 people.

My plan is to plant the new trees a little further back than the origina, but

Theres also no enforcement of trees/brush being too close to the road, or needing to have enough space to pull a car off the road. (Although you could have easily driven a vehicle between our tree and the shoulder of the road.) This was a dirt single lane road when many of these camps were built. Here’s a few miles down the road :)

Go to the county courthouse and ask the clerk for help in locating any surveys of your property and your greedy neighbor's property -- the property line -- and/or have your property surveyed and file the survey on record with the county records. Locate the "pins" -- ask the surveyor to show them to you. Once you have a survey showing the property lines, clearly mark and begin fencing your property with at least a green fence -- a wall of china hedge if nothing else..

In some states at least, undisputed use of property is a claim of ownership so you could literally lose your property.. Even if you cannot erect a full fence, unless there is some specific law or rule or regulation or ordinance against it, you could put up fence posts and connect them with a couple of wire cables -- perhaps coated with red plastic such as is used for dog runs. Even if there is a lot of space between the posts, mark your turf.

https://www.google.com/search?q=the+red+plastic+coated+wire+for+pets&tbm=isch&source=univ&client=firefox-b-1-d&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjs6o_vltXoAhVmUN8KHTFxAEwQ7Al6BAgHEBk&biw=1366&bih=654

If all else is outside your budget, dig a ditch and/or lay landscaping posts along your property line -- find some way to identify it. Be sure you are in the right and then let it be up to your neighbors to do the objecting.

Around here cutting down a tree that is not yours brings a huge fine. People who do timbering are extremely careful to know exactly where the property lines are.

IMO you are just doing this to p--s someone off what a crappy reason for planting trees.

Amen on that.

I have no idea about the legalities or impetus behind this situation but just wanted to point out that the statement above to plant any new tree in "a spot where you've dug a deep hole and filled it in with rich fertilized soil " is incorrect. Backfill the hole with native soil. Do not amend the planting hole.

I went out for a drive today, and when I came back today there were 2 state police cars and a DEC vehicle in the neigbor lady’s driveway. The cops were talking to one of her other neighbors. I texted the other neighbor to see what the deal was. Neighbor lady called the cops because he was cutting down trees and stacking it where she could see it. 20ft+ from the property line (The telephone pole by the house is their property line) this guy was Doing nothing wrong, they issued him no tickets or warnings. He said this was the 4th time she’s called the police on him in the last week. He said that he had put metal stakes near the property line every 5ft or so to make sure he didn’t go over and she came out in the middle of the night and bent over 15-20 stakes.

My grandparents bought the lake property in 1942, it’s always been wooded. So how do I return the property to the way it we had it without being petty? We’re not asking them to pay to remove the stump or replace anything But we do like having trees the path looks like a tunnel through the trees. We don’t want a hedge or bushes that require much maintenance. We have no house here, just a clearing by the water, a boat house and a dock.

And how do you deal with a neighbor like this lady where the more you let things go, the more emboldened they become to go even farther?

Well for strarters you ignore her as best as possible and since you don’t live there go about your business launch your boat and enjoy your day. If the time comes when you want to live there then deal with reforesting the property why make yourself crazy .

Could you build a house that blocks her view? I, too, would be extremely annoyed. Maybe if all the neighbors continue to push back, she'll decide to sell.

It might be worth it to hire a surveyor with current technology to mark the line. One of our neighbors used steel pipe, pounded into the ground, with the tops of the pipe painted red.

You need to get security cameras installed on your property to document what’s going on with your neighbor. Every time she trespasses into your property is then recorded and you can show that to the proper authorities!

Agree with the suggestion that you should install camera(s), perhaps on the fascia of your boathouse. As I understand it, there are solar powered and motion sensor kinds available.

A row of trees that will give you privacy where you want it and block the view of your property from the road -- that your neighbor cannot see through, such as cedar trees -- will be the opposite of what your neighbor that cut your tree would like. Just be sure you don't plant trees in a right of way -- road or utility -- or they'll be chopped back (not a good look) or chopped down. Know your property lines and know any easements on /across your property.

Don't plant anything you will later find to be "in the way" for your intended uses of the property.

Unless it is against some building code or whatever, do put a fence on the two sides of your property and start a green fence to your liking inside that -- perhaps shrubs that bloom and/or keep their leaves year round. Then keep your property mowed/maintained so no neighbor will have anything resembling a good reason to trespass.

The sharp leaves of a holly bush or holly tree can discourage trespassers but can also stick your own family members.

A locked gate or even just a pair of metal posts with a metal cable (locked) across your driveway to prevent vehicles from entering could discourage trespassers and make it less likely your neighbor could successfully hire someone to enter on your property to do any "landscaping". If your land could be entered with a vehicle from any point alongside the road other than your driveway, posts and cable there would be worth considering.

Again, do get a copy of any survey on record for your property showing its boundaries and easements from the county courthouse. Find out what the road right of way is for your community. Have a survey of the property prepared if there isn't one. This is a reasonable expense to protect your family's investment. Once you can document your property lines, seriously consider talking with a lawyer about sending the offending neighbor a cease and desist letter to stop the trespassing.

Your neighbor sounds like one of those people that, " if you give them an inch, they'll take a mile" so you do want to take steps to define and take back control of you land; otherwise, any work you do to restore the wooded lot or to make it what you want it to be could well be wasted.

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK I'm certainly not a pro on the subject of growing things but I do know that after the neighbor's goats destroyed my rose bushes, each of which had been planted above a 2' deep hole of well fertilized top soil, the oak tree that came up where one of the rose bushes had been that we let grow actually grew twice as fast as another volunteer about a dozen feet away in native soil ... in large part Georgia red clay with a not very deep layer of top soil over it. With that head start, it is still the larger of the two oaks trees.

I think you should look at the money you saved to remove that tree; it was going to have to be dealt with eventually, and it is very costly to remove one. If I didn't actually live there, I would simply try my best to enjoy my boathouse and the lake. Neighborhoods change and people like her can be the catalist for the changes that happen. Let's hope she doesn't decide your boathouse is in the way of her view.

That tree was a potential hazard to the road - of course the DOT is going to cut it down.

I'm being completey judgemental and on purpose as details are missing but you all seem to be bad neighbors. Who wants to block someone's lake view with a ratty dieing tree claming it creates privacy from the road? Who conspires to take down plants on someone else's property? Who stacks an excessive amount of firewood in the front yard near the lot line? No one will ever be happy as everyone is contributing to the problem .

Notice no one made a recommendation for a tree?

I would say a nice grouping of a large growing shrubs would be a nice bet. Bottlebrush buckeye is one of my favorites - its not fast growing per se but extremely attractive.

Shrubs won't grow big enough to block her view. How about arborvitae?

Amending of planting hole backfill when planting woody plants was being seen to be counterproductive during organized, university level experiments by the late 1960s. Comparing one oak with one other oak is not a meaningful trial, with enough test subjects present to prevent variables like differences in inherent vigor between individual specimens to affect results.

Just my humble opinion but we have native Cottonwoods at our lakehome and I love them. They grow super fast, provide lots of nice shade, are just a huge and majestic tree. Just don't get the hybrid "Siouxland" variety. They only live about 20 years. Good luck!

Forget the trees. How about putting up a shop or barn? I know, expense $$, but make it something you'd love, wood siding, shake roof, something that looks nice. Not for spite ; but for good use and increase your property value.

Regarding getting legal help I've had problems here with 3 different sets of entitled neighbors doing things. When asked my lawyer - a real estate law specialist - said he needed video of them in the act before he could proceed.

Northern red oak

Shrubs won't grow big enough to block her view. How about arborvitae?

Of course there are shrubs/broadleaf evergreens that can do so. Unless we’re talking about blocking the road view from a second story.