grrrrr

[mamculuna]

I'm finding it very hard not to feel angry at our next door neighbor at the beach. Our house is surrounded by old live oaks, and they have grown a good bit lately, so that there were branches on our roof and also from one tree onto his. We thought about getting a local handyman to trim them back, but on the advice of other people with similar trees, instead got a professional arborist. He's not cheap, but he cut very wisely, to preserve the trees and to give them graceful lines that will encourage them to grow away from the house.

I told the neighbor that he was coming and that, since he'd be in the tree that is between our houses (our tree but with limbs on their roof) it would be much cheaper if he'd call and schedule the guy to do the ones on his house at the same time. No reply. Then about a week ago I saw the wife, repeated the story, and gave her the arborists' card. Well, a couple of days ago, the guys are here all trussed up in ropes and swinging around with chain saws--the neighbor came out and tried to get them just to get his tree while they were here. Obviously they told him that the arborist has to make the decisions, because the arborist showed up yesterday.

Late yesterday I heard chainsaws, and looked out to see the handyman on the neighbor's roof, butchering the tree between us and almost killing himself teetering on the slippery roof in the rain with a chainsaw and no ropes or harness, and no knowledge of what he's doing.

We've already had problems with these neighbors cutting down our bushes, and if they kill this beautiful old tree, or make it a hideous stump, I will really be unhappy. My sister isn't willing to try talking to him--he's never been at all willing to discuss things with us, so I guess she's right, that we just have to let him do what he wants with the part of the tree that's over the line. This guy has plenty of money for big cars and boats, but is too cheap to spend a few hundred dollars to preserve a beautiful old tree.

Comments

[usedtobeljs]

Oh, that's hard. :-( Good thoughts that the tree survives, and good thoughts for you. [hugs]

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I keep thinking I could have avoided this somehow.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's sickening.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

It really is. And the really sad part is that it's probably going to wind up costing him the same as a good job would have, because these guys don't know what they're doing. I just hope none of them gets hurt.

[ann1962]

I'd be angry too if I were you. I hate paying for trees to be trimmed, but the alternative is just a waste. I hope the guys don't get hurt either. Gravity + chainsaws = badness.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

The men from the arborist, who did ours, were amazing, though. They were completely at ease swinging around like somebody from Cirque du Soleil.

I understand trimming the trees, because they do tear up the roof, but doing it badly I don't understand.

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, if the tree is on their property, there is nothing you can do short of paying for it yourself.

Many people seem to think that any fool with a chainsaw can trim a tree. My neighbor had all of his topped which is horrifying in my view.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

The tree itself is on our property, and he's just cutting off the limbs that extend over his house. I'm fine with that--even urged him to do it--but wanted it done well, not by the fool with a chainsaw. I don't blame the guy doing the cutting--I can understand why you want to make money, but I can't understand not getting someone who knows what they're doing

If we'd know he would do this, we would have paid for it ourselves. Usually neighbors will communicate, but not this guy and his wife. They regularly go out and chop down anything they don't like, even on public property. I think they hate plants.

[atpo-onm.livejournal.com]

They regularly go out and chop down anything they don't like, even on public property. I think they hate plants.

You might feel you're being flippant in that thought, but I assure you that you aren't. I'm rather fond of trees and like to have them around, but there is a significant portion of the population that thinks the best possible thing you can do with a tree is to get the damned thing out of the way. They really see them like they are just a great big weed.

Back about 15 years ago a neighbor to the east of me on my street decided that she didn't care for this limb from the big white pine tree in my back yard that (supposedly) was scraping against the roof on her rear porch. So, I came home one day to find the limb in question-- or about 12 feet of it, smaller branches and all-- lying in my back yard.

Not wanting (or more likely, owning) ladders big enough to get up to where they could saw it off, they attached ropes to the part they could reach, and then pulled back until it snapped off. (I assume with the help of several additional people, since the limb was easily four inches around at the point it was broken off.)

When I confronted her about it, she, in this order:

1) Blamed me for allowing it to get so that it was "damaging her porch".

I pointed out that she had never once informed me that there was a problem.

2) Blamed me for "never being home" that she could tell me about it.

I pointed out that I was home pretty much every night after 8:00, when I got home from work and even if she did miss me on several occasions, why not just leave a note on my door?

3) Said that "it needed to be done and just couldn't wait any longer."

Uh-huh. And you felt the need to butcher it instead of hiring a professional to trim it properly? And then just throw the remains in my yard instead of getting it hauled away?

4) Said, laced with substantial profanity, that "She wasn't going to pay any (bleeping) money to cut my (bleeping) tree and the whole thing was my fault anyway and if I didn't like it that was just too (bleeping) bad and I could go (bleep) myself and various and other sundry comments.

I told her that if she ever did anything like that again, I would call the police and press charges for property damage, and then walked away. She, naturally, shouted that I could call the (bleeping) police for all she cares, (bleep) them, and me, and etc. etc etc.

Lovely person. I sure (don't) miss her since she moved out a year or so later, although she never did touch the tree again, for whatever that's worth.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

That is really, truly horrible--almost worse than these people. Legally she was wrong, but even moreso morally and whatever's the domain of simple decency. I have some wonderful neighbors who talk over every issue so that we can resolve things peacefully, and can't understand the ones like your horror show or these tree maimers.

And I wasn't being flippant--they have pretty much told us they don't like plants because they're afraid of snakes and rodents hiding in bushes. So why buy a piece of property with a salt marsh on one side and a nature conservance on another?

They have cut our bushes, bushes in the nature conservancy, and bushes in a common space in the middle of the road (circular drive). Maybe this is where your former neighbors moved to.

[charged-chaos.livejournal.com]

How much does trimming back a really big tree cost?

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Well, it depends on the company and the situation. We had about six or seven trees around our house that were really all over the roof, so it took all day and cost us $1400. But it looks really good--the live oaks have long sinuous limbs and the guys made cuts that revealed the lines and also encourage the trees to be healthy and grow away from the house. If the neighbors had gotten the limbs from the one tree cut at the same time, it would have cost them about $350 or less since the guys were already there and even up in that tree. I feel fairly sure they paid the handyman a good bit more, since it took him two days with two other guys, and it was very risky for them, since they didn't have ropes, harnesses, training, etc., and that roof is very steep--and they worked in the rain. And the tree looks awful, with big stubs sticking out, and will grow right back over the house.