Shade is something that is nice to shelter from the hot sun, and it can offer privacy, but it can also ruin your garden by preventing access to sunlight which is vital to your plant’s survival.
In this episode I will explain your options to handling shade coming from a neighbor’s tree, and what you can and can’t do. Hope this helps!
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30 Comments
Love your gardening content and advice but … and no offense here everyone's tastes are different … your yard while practical and efficient for growing vegetables is not very scenic … if I was the neighbor I'd want a bit of a hedge/ screening plants too. I was also surprised how close the neighbors house was to the fence.
I do get the point of trimming what suckers and branches are growing through the fence … I'd do that too because it won't negatively impact the neighbor either – in fact because of the growth and where it was I doubt they'll notice unless they saw you do it.
This also seemed a bit of a I'm p.o.'d that my neighbor is not doing what I want video.
This very issue arose back in late September. For fifteen years, there were a couple serviceberry trees growing on my neighbors' side of the fence. They moved in after the trees were already maturing. A few years ago one of them, which was planted about four feet from the fence, began growing over the fence and shading my salvia flowers midday. As long as the flowers get sun to midday they bloom fine. However, I did not want any additional extension over my garden, so I began pruning a few branches (not all). Then, two years ago, the worst storm in Iowa history destroyed their trees. The one I trimmed got blown through the fence. Now, two years later, the neighbor bought a new serviceberry tree to go in the same area. I don't mind that at all because it provides a nice backdrop and feeds the birds. The fence line really did look bare without the old trees there. I was going to talk to the neighbor about it before the tree was planted, but I forgot. Big mistake! One day I looked out and discovered the nursery planted the tree only three feet from the fence… and this is an Autumn Brilliance serviceberry, which will probably get a bit larger than the old trees. I felt rather depressed for a few days. This tree may get twenty feet wide, so that would mean seven feet over my yard. I know the neighbor is very friendly, so I talked to her about it. We decided that I could move the newly-planted tree a couple feet farther from the fence. Another foot or two beyond that would have been ideal, but she wanted the tree to remain within her garden bed, so five feet was the limit. It will still grow over the fence, eventually, but five feet away is much better than three feet. Now, the core of the tree will remain on her side and I can, hopefully, safely prune a few outer branches down the road when the tree matures.
I live in the country also, but if a tree's limbs go over the property line, you have a right to trim the limbs that extend over and on your property side. Doesn't matter what the other property owner wants. You missed one very important point. You need to double check the plot of the property and find the metal corners of the property. Never assume that the fence is the property line. He may have the fence 2 ft on his side due to a local law that states fences must be min distance from the true line and actually you are on the his property.
Here in the UK, you can go into your neighbours garden, without permission, knowledge or any pre-discussion that there is even a problem, and take down that tree if you want to, and the police will do absolutely nothing about it. In fact, if you call the police they will come and 'watch' to make sure 'you' don't break the law when trying to remove the neighbour from your property. Ask me how I know!
This is my constant issue with pruning and luckily you have a nice neighbor who split the bill. My neighbor's Leyland cypress tree fell on my house and in my state, I'm responsible. Luckily it didn't cause too much damage.
Not saying it's right but I would have cut those in their growing season and put tree and stump killer just on the branches on my side growing through my fence. And hopefully with time it will kill those scrub Maples.
I have 3.5 acres and my fence lines have gotten out of control. Unfortunately I don’t have the physical stamina, strength or the money to pay someone to cut it all down. I never ask for help. I hate it and I’m embarrassed by it. Maybe they have the same situation going on next door. My son looks like a burly guy but has a lot of health issues. What can you do to keep them from growing back. I have found this just makes them create more branching when they come back.TRYING TO GAIN CONTROL. I have the same loppers. They are awesome.
If I could shave off the neighbors loft on their house and the top third of their overly bushy Willow tree I would. The current people didn't plant the tree, or build the house.
Ugh! I have been fighting my neighbors trees for years. The only thing we’ve been able to do so far is cut the branches that grow over our fence. Unfortunately, we can only have a garden on that side of our property 😡
Those might be mulberries they grow edible fruits
Just as we should be considerate of neighbors with existing trees we hope they will also be considerate of new plantings … unfortunately I have noticed an up tick in un-neighborlyness and 'my yard … i can do what i want' attitude.
I too have a Mr and Mrs Not-so-Friendly on one side. The other side the neighbors are great.
I've been fighting Japanese Knotweed coming over from the yard behind my neighbors. It's in the back corner and taking over all 4 yards. The original house it grows at thinks it's pretty when it blooms and decided to let it keep growing. Now I have to fight it.
I may be wrong but it looked like you were cutting on the side of the neighbor …by a little bit. Shrug
Great advice! Thanks!
Looks great Luke!
Cut on the property line then toradon the tree and its done
We had a neighbor who loved trees and a sapling started growing along the fence line and got huge. It created great shade in our yard. When the new neighbors moved in slightly more then 50% of the trunk was now on our property and my parents split the cost to have it removed. Unfortunately now the trees in the woods behind our house is shading the yard starting at 1 in the afternoon and by 3 the yard is in full shade after 30 years of tree growth.
We got a new neighbor and we have great communication. He took down 10 trees, 4 huge ones. The grass grew so well that he's starting to get grass too from our yard. My yard has never been so happy. The open area helps me see exactly HOW LOW the winter sun is. There's one more tree….🤣🤔
Oh I have to add that we back up to a huge wooded area behind a school. Still hundreds of trees back there, so don't fret. I still have 9 trees in my own yard, not counting 3 dogwoods.
I grow on a balcony in my apartment complex. I get 5 hours of sun max. on a good day. It's so frustrating
Wishing you and your family a very blessed Thanksgiving.
It appears your neighbors tree is growing through and will eventually destroy your fence , it's sad he won't maintain his property
I have trees on all 4 sides of my yard. Two sides of them belong to the city (good luck getting government to do anything for you–they don't even trim them, and I had property damage from one of their trees breaking off and smashing through my out-building–I'm very worried about their white pine coming down on my house and crushing hubby and me in my sleep in a storm), and a bunch belong to my sole neighbor. The ones on the 4th side are mine (except one smack in the middle of my back yard that I want for the shade in our family room, which gets unbearably hot in summer), but they're on the north side of the house where I don't garden, anyway. Can't afford to buy land, and we don't have community gardens in the suburbs. Guess I just have to deal with sub-par gardens, as there's literally nothing I can do about it.
Great job ! Now If I can know what I can and cannot do with a Karen type of neighbor 😂
A guy I know lives in Ohio and cut the branches above his property on the neighbor's tree that was a foot away from the property line. His neighbors called the police and the police interrogated him and threatened him but ultimately didn't arrest him. Those branches were going into the guy's house gutters. The police told the neighbors to sue the guy for cutting branches straight above his property. Two years later the neighbors cut those trees down themselves. I feel really sorry for the guy who didn't do anything wrong yet the police was not sympathetic.
At least you don’t have a black walnut over hanging. Try getting pelted in head at any moment they lose them year round. Seems like the fruit would make them a hazard
Happy Thanksgiving
I, too, am in Michigan. I recently split the cost with my neighbor to have two very large branches trimmed from her huge maple tree. They were overhanging my property and the service drop to my home (wires from the pole to my house) and I was worried they'd come down one day during a storm, as other branches had occasionally done from this ancient tree. Luckily, she was very willing to split the cost of the trim directly to the trunk. Otherwise, I could have only had them cut to the property line and the tree would have looked rather odd. For those that don't know, the electric company will trim trees that infringe on wires from pole-to-pole but not from pole-to-house (service drop).
Meanwhile, the chain link fence in the back corner of my lot is being destroyed by the trunk and roots of a huge weed tree in my diagonal neighbor's yard. He's not interested in talking. 😞
Interesting.
Copper nails.