Tree overcome with wisteria and English ivy in neighbor's yard.
Hello all. I’m wondering if anybody can provide any advice regarding an opposite-side backyard neighbor’s very large tree which is overcome with both wisteria and English ivy. The tree itself is still alive, but I’d guess that all the vines that are choking it are hurting the health of the tree. This has been an issue ever since we moved in almost 9 years ago, and it’s not getting any better. Every time there’s a lot of wind or snow, I’m worried that the tree will come crashing down.
I’ve taken a few steps to try to have the issue addressed:
-I’ve visited the house to introduce myself as a neighbor to ask if they have any plans to take care of the tree, but nobody’s ever answered. (Most all of the neighbors on my street are acquaintances, but this house is on the parallel street one block down, so I don’t personally know most of the people on that block.)
-Through my block association, I’ve been in touch with a member of the neighboring street’s block association. They got in touch with the homeowner on my behalf, but I’ve received no reply myself from them.
-While r ecently having some tree work done in my backyard (by one of the tree services that is often mentioned on this forum), I tried to see if they may be willing to at least give a ballpark estimate so that I could perhaps take that info to the neighbor. But the tree service did not want to engage with it.
-I’ve explored making some sort of 311 report, but as far as I can tell, since it’s a tree on private property, there’s nothing they can do.
This may be completely out of my power, but I’d like to see if anything can be done before it’s too late. Thanks for any advice. I’m attaching 2 photos: One from earlier this spring before the tree’s leaves came in, and one from today. [IMG_9219](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:kIff:img_9219.jpg.jpg) [IMG_9514](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:m7QE:img_9514.jpg.jpg)
fmb78
in General Discussion 4 years and 3 months ago
13
Please log in, in order to post replies!
13 replies
andriywww1990 | 4 years and 2 months ago
i would write them a letter and warn them about the danger and see if they will let you enter their yard and cut the vines at the base. sometimes these people don’t mind the solution but do not want to deal with it themselves. you have not said if they are senior citizens and if they are that could tell many of us a lot about why they don’t move on stuff like this-
i wrote above about how a neighbor came on my property and took ripped ivy off my wall and out of the ground near the wall in my yard and part of the reason i let them away with that was because i knew the ivy should not be there. you might have leverage with these folks if you could sell it to them a certain way. but i would plan on offering to do it for them. it will take a 1/2 hour to cut all those roots and vines.
fmb78 | 4 years and 2 months ago
I appreciate all your responses. To be clear, I’m not interested in seeing if the neighbors will remove the tree. (I like the shade, too.) Its the wisteria and ivy that are overtaking the tree that need to be dealt with.
RobertGMarvin
in General Discussion 4 years and 2 months ago
I’ve pulled out lots of seedlings over the years, but I have an oak and an elm that grew in places I thought appropriate, so they’re “wanted “ even though I didn’t plant them.
Putnamdenizen | 4 years and 2 months ago
Tinker, sounds like you kept your eyes on the prize – having responsible, engaged neighbors. I’ve been generally lucky in that respect.
andriywww1990 | 4 years and 2 months ago
Putnam & others who “liked” that comment: there is a little more to why i was so relaxed about that (i am not usually that way). the house they moved into had a prior occupant who fed pigeons in the back and stray cats out front and was disliked by all on the street. the pigeon mess had been so bad, i could not let my then two year old play in the back yard. we (the street) had been through so much that if the new neighbors had thrown a rock through my window and that was all they did, i would have been happy. So i took a breath and kept my mouth shut and am glad i did; all has been very very well for 8 years.
hkapstein | 4 years and 2 months ago
I think a huge shade tree that grew for 100 years was wanted by the property owners. Think about it. Your yard, a tree grows from a sprout, getting bigger every year until it’s a massive tree, and you don’t cut it over thirty years you own the house? Justify it how you want, but when you write that check and cut down the tree, there’s one less tree in Brooklyn.
JohnHancock | 4 years and 2 months ago
Most of these backyard trees were not “planted”. They just grew from seeds flying around from other yards or squirrels spreading them. The Norway Maples, oak, Catalpa etc have a limited lifespan and most are half dead by now if not more. I like them too but these trees are and were mostly not cared for. I planted trees in my yard but trees that are appropriate in size and manageable.
It costs a lot of money to gave these trees removed so ppl just hope for the best and ignore the problem. Your insurance is likely not to cover the damage either when it falls
hkapstein | 4 years and 2 months ago
The usual aproach of landscapers with a tree problem is to remove the tree. It pays the best, and there’s no callbacks about the tree because it’s gone. Since they’re the “experts” who’s going to question them if they say a tree needs to come down? But I’ve managed to save a few backyard trees by talking to neighbors about it, and telling them I wanted them to save the tree. After talking to the tree company, they assumed it was a nuissance that neighbors wanted removed. People were generally pretty excited that the tree was wanted and could saved.
Just remember, those trees took 50-100+ years to grow. It takes one day to cut one down, but they’re not coming back. No one is planting trees in their backyards these days.
Putnamdenizen | 4 years and 2 months ago
Wow, Tinker, I wouldn’t have been as good-natured about a new neighbor trespassing on my property, killing my vines and removing them from my façade! A disabled neighbor on my block had a 3-story pear tree covered with vines. I offered to help him take down the vines. He hired someone who took down the entire tree. It was his tree, but… Made me sad. Life moves on…
catboot | 4 years and 2 months ago
That looks like Virginia Creeper to me, which grows astoundingly fast. It’s a native species so can’t be called invasive, but it sure feels like it. We had a similar situation with a neighbor’s tree. When the house sold, the new owners did pull down the vines, but did nothing to the tree, which has been in a half-dead state since.
andriywww1990 | 4 years and 3 months ago
if you are willing to cut the vines yourself if they give you access, i would try another nice letter before going to what urban dad is suggesting. once you write a letter like he is saying, they might address the situation but probably won’t want to know you.
hkapstein | 4 years and 3 months ago
I suggest sending a certifieed letter to the owner stating that you believe the vines constitute a hazard to your property and you formally demand the owner address the hazard. Proveable knowledge generally increases the liability of the owner if something happens, and it may very well scare them into taking the very minimal action required to sever the vines. They will grow back, but it will take decades for the infestation to return. Now if part of the vines are on your property, you could look into painting a few inches or maybe a bit more of the the stem with triclopyr. I’m not sure legally if poisoning a plant that is partly on your property is acceptable. But that will kill it good. Don’t get any on the tree. A big tree will probably survive, but it will harm it. You’ll notice an impact in a day or so, but expect it to take a month or two for the plant to fully die.
andriywww1990 | 4 years and 3 months ago
so you have tried to do the right thing and communicate and it has not worked and you now have something that will soon become a hazard. i am not about to suggest doing something illegal but i have a friend who had the very same situation and he went out at night and cut the vines at the base, all the way around, the they vines all died.
i let ivy grow up the front of my house. it also grew onto the house next door. when the house next door sold, the new neighbors saw the risk and came into my yard and chopped the ivy off at the base and ripped it off my wall and theirs. i never said anything to them because i knew the intent was good and they were doing the right thing. we get along pretty good and often step into each other’s space and say nothing about it.
could these people be elderly? we have some elderly in this neighborhood who do the best they can to keep their houses up but because they retired years ago and live on fixed incomes, they cannot always do as much as they would like – and they will let that be known if you get to know them. perhaps i f you now told them the danger of that tree and the issues and expense it can cause and you offer to go over and cut the vines, they will let you do so.