Neighbor garden adversely impacting mine

Hello

I have a home that shares walls with two properties (one on either side) one neighbor’s garden is completely overgrown to plants/weeds over 5 feet tall to the point that you cannot see the ground. These plants and weeds are coming through the fence into our back garden.

The neighbor is unresponsive and has refused to address other issues in the past pertaining to his property impacting ours. The other neighbor we aren’t able to contact and their tenants aren’t available to provide those details.

The house on the other side has a large tree almost leaning into our fence and I’m concerned it will destroy our fence, it’s roots, and potentially fall over and cause physical damage to home residents and damage to our garden.

Is there any recourse or anything we can do ref these concerns? It is impacting the quality of life and at minimum is extremely unsightly. We’ve also seen an influx of raccoons and think it is due to the increasingly heavy vegetation next door.

Thank you!

debbernst

in General Discussion 1 year and 11 months ago

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RobertGMarvin

in General Discussion 1 year and 11 months ago

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And you didn’t throw it back over the fence?

Guest User | 1 year and 11 months ago

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Listen at least your neighbor didn’t dump a 6′-0″ diameter tree trunk into your yard.
Weeds are the least of it.
Welcome to Brooklyn!

laloland | 1 year and 11 months ago

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I feel your pain! This is so annoying. Everyone on our street is very house-proud and we keep our gardens in good shape. Sure, we do this for ourselves, but we also do it out of respect for each other….

Except for one neighbor. Overgrown berm, unraked leaves, an abundance of weeds. It’s a mess.

Although it bothers us, it doesn’t pose a threat to our property. The tree sounds hazardous. Can you get your local council involved?

laloland | 1 year and 11 months ago

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I feel your pain! This is so annoying. Everyone on our street is very house-proud and we keep our gardens in good shape. Sure, we do this for ourselves, but we also do it out of respect for each other….

Except for one neighbor. Overgrown berm, unraked leaves, an abundance of weeds. It’s a mess.

Although it bothers us, it doesn’t pose a threat to our property. The tree sounds hazardous. Can you get your local council involved?

justinromeu26 | 1 year and 11 months ago

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be sure you see that your yard is free of rats or rat trails before you call any city agencies. if they think there is an issue in your yard, you will get put on a rat map. another wonderful nyc idea to deter people who might need help from calling to ask for help.

cate | 1 year and 11 months ago

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If a neighbor’s garden appears to have standing water or rats, you can call 311 and the city will fine them. (If the city can’t see the violations from the street, you may need to give the inspectors access via your home.) Raccoons and weeds are relatively minor nuisances all things considered. Do not leave out any pet food or other food that could attract any pests, and make sure your garbage bins are tightly covered. Trees, especially weed trees, you cannot access or control can be troublesome — including growing up against properties several houses away and causing gutter blockages and flooding on your property as well as admitting squirrels and other pests into your attic. Removing trees, especially stumps, is incredibly expensive. If a neighbor will not cooperate, AFAIK your only recourse is to trim back branches on your property. You cannot touch anything on another property without permission. You would be wise to do this using a professional arborist so you don’t damage the tree and potentially cause dangerous weakness where it would topple over in a storm. Also a professional arborist will have the proper equipment to efficiently grind and remove wood from your backyard without damaging your property.

colonialrevival | 1 year and 11 months ago

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Welcome to attached home living. I regularly trim my neighbors tree at the property line so it doesn’t shade out my garden. I’ve installed root barrier along both sides of my property line to ensure my neighbor’s vibrant collection of local weed doesn’t affect my plantings, and that’s all that I can do.