My neighbor is a “let nature take its course” person, which means I’m constantly battling back poison ivy, Virginia creeper, invasive English ivy and Japanese honeysuckle that spreads into my yard. I am a “plant native” person who doesn’t use chemicals, but I have a conundrum. In the narrow portion between our two houses, she has let a bundle of volunteer trees grow up, including two sweet gums, which can grow to 75 feet. They’re about 80% on her property, 20% on mine. There are also some “trash trees” that I can’t identify, and they’re all twisted together into a leaning mat, which means they’re going to be unstable and unhealthy. Not only are they shading out my plants, they’re only about 15 feet from my house, which means they’re eventually going to wind up falling on my house. (She has a sweet gum in the back yard that’s a mere 5 feet from her wall.)

I’ve gently suggested that it would be best if they were removed, and I’ve offered to pay to have them removed, and she’s not interested. I’m sorely tempted to use some sort of herbicide to secretly kill them off before they get too big (they’re about 15–20 feet now). Any ideas?

Topics: trees, safety, neighbors, houses, murder