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My next door neighbor has HACKED three branches off my large crape myrtle tree. The cuts are well inside our side of the fence. A tree expert says the branches must be pruned back farther to save the tree from disease – making it lopsided. Yes, those branches had been a little bit over on his side of the fence, but ….
Dear Problem Lady,
My next door neighbor has allowed out-of-control growth in his back yard ever since he arrived 22 years ago. His vines top our fence. His tree cascades over into our garden. I finally hired someone to trim back the branches on our side of the fence. The workman sheared off a few inches over on his side….
Dear Problem Lady,
My next door neighbor’s bindweed – which he thinks is morning glory – never stops invading…
Dear Problem Lady,
My next door neighbor surrounded our shared dogwood tree with rubber mulch and killed it …
Dear Problem Lady,
Our neighbor’s weed whacker wakes us …
Dear Vigilantes and Greatly PO’ed people,
You are all in the right, and you have all been grievously harmed and wronged. What can the Problem Lady possibly add? Your branches were “a little bit over” a fence? Neighbor in theory has a perfect right to lop your branches at the property line. True, that is like hacking King Solomon’s baby in two – and branches so lopped must be pruned again, as you correctly observe.
Communication is the glue that keeps life civil. Ideally, this involves seeing the other person’s point of view. Your neighbor disagrees that his plantings are out of control, when you see clearly that they are. This is known as the Roshomon effect.
It is an act of terrible incivility to harm a neighbor’s plants, trees or property. Your neighbor is going to be there tomorrow and tomorrow. Try asking your neighbor nicely – or even try walking a mile in his gardening clogs. Heartfelt apologies often go further than lawsuits. A soft answer turneth away wrath. And if you’ve hurt your neighbor’s tree, be careful. He might come after you with an axe.
How does one remove the ring that forms inside a glass vase after the flowers and water are removed?
Wash with either a solution of baking soda in water (a base), or a solution of white vinegar in water (a mild acid). Either should remove the mineral deposits that comprise the ring.
Feeling beset by gardening problems? Send them to the Problem Lady c/o The Capitol Hill Garden Club at andrew@hillrag.com. Your problems might prove instructive to others, and help them feel superior to you. Complete anonymity is assured. |
