Lot line problem

5 years ago

Our neighbors house is about 12' from our lot line. He has planted crepe myrtle all along the lot line and they are ON the lot line. In our neighborhood crepe myrtle quickly become 8 to 10 feet across and 10 to 12' high.

What this means he has effectively taken control of a strip of my property half of the diameter of a crepe myrtle or about 4 to 5 feet of wide.

What is the best way to handle this situation. I have thought of talking to him but I am not sure of his understanding of English. I have thought of writing a letter, even a registered letter.

Any suggestion on how to proceed with this.

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Comments (4)

mtvhike
5 years ago
He shouldn't have planted them on the line without permission from you, but what were you planning for that space? Maybe a fence next to the lot line should have been put in. You should be able to remove all vegetation on your side of the line, which in this case means all the tree branches overhanging your property, but that would look ugly. How long ago did this occur?
krnuttle
Original Author
5 years ago
That is the point. they were planted less than a couple of weeks, They could be removed and planted elsewhere. It is frustrating as I have never had neighbor problems like this before. This neighbor has been a problem since he moved in. It is do something now or have big problems later.

Cutting the branches on my side was one solution, but your are right they would look ugly on my side.
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dchall_san_antonio
5 years ago
We just bought a house where our predecessor was the offending party. They planted crape myrtles on 3 sides of the perimeter of the back yard. They were very proud of them, but OMG. Yes, crape myrtles are nice in the right location, but a fence line is not the right location...for any tree. We became suddenly aware of the problem when my wife heard the rubbish collector hollering for the driver to slow down in the back alley. She looked up to see him getting flailed by our trees. We've taken care of that and are looking very hard at the remainder of those trees and at the rest of the border trees. None of them were ever pruned, so they are simply a mess.

On the other hand, regardless of your neighborhood, there are varieties of crape myrtle which only grow a few feet tall. Before assuming they will grow like the rest in your neighborhood, you should talk to your neighbor. Communication is usually the biggest problem with neighbors.
krnuttle
Original Author
5 years ago
OP talked to the neighbor today. We walked the lot line and I showed him the corners of our lots. Said he will move the plant and correct the problem. I believe he was surprised where the lot line was. I also pointed out the plants he was planting was way to large for the area he was planting them and pointed out examples in the surrounding houses.

We will see if he follows through and remove the plants.