I am angry/upset! Neighbor wrongfully cut my lovely oak tree.

[Bryn]

Her name is Kate and is in her late 60's or early 70's. She has Obsession Compulsive Disorder when it comes to leaves. She'd carry around bag, picking up leaves around her house, over and over. Mom and I would comment on that, but Kate was a very sweet lady, so we thought.

We live in Hot Springs Village community that is so full of lush nature, wildlife which consists of deer, bears, bobcats, racoons, foxes, hawks, squirrels, owls, eagles,etc. Anyone who wants to live here should be aware of this place being a wildlife habitat and respect it. If they don't like so many trees and wildlife, they have no business living in this village, but unfortunately many of them do live here for some strange reason. We even have a village idiot who called police wanting to know how to get rid of wildlife, how to take them out of the village, it was in the papers.

Mom and I couldn't get over the fact that Kate would keep on and on going around picking up leaves. There are thousands of oak, maple, etc. trees all over. We're on the mountain. Why would she pick this place to live? Who knows?

I took an early retirement from my job in South Florida and moved up here in Arkansas to look after Mom a little more than a year ago. We share all expenses. Anyway, we had a best looking, healthy mature oak tree on our property among many other trees. It is on our property next to Kate's, but Kate wanted to get rid of it because of her problem with leaves so she asked Mom if she could cut it down at her expense. Mom said sure, ok. Mom is the type of a person who likes to please everyone else, not herself, to make everyone else happy. When I found out, I told her NO WAY...NO WAY...NO NO NO. I took her outside to take a good look at that oak tree. She realized that it was beautiful and was in no way in Kate's way or threatening Kate's property. I told Mom, why on earth would you let Kate down down OUR oak tree just because of her problem with leaves? She said I was right, So I wrote Kate a note and put it on her door (I am hearing impaired and speak in sign language.). Kate got the note and called Mom sounding so upset. Then yesterday morning when tree guys were over to cut down several trees around Kate's property. Mom was leaving for a church meeting which my sister came to pick her up. Kate came over, my sister interpreted in sign language that Kate will just cut back my oak tree and I said ok..as long as she doesn't get it cut down.

Then I was working on my computer, etc. and when I got up to check. To my horror...Kate had found another way to KILL MY BEAUTIFUL OAK TREE by having tree guys shave all limbs off leaving only the top. I was furious and went to write a note to that tree guy asking him if he had killed that tree, he said no. I told Kate how upset I was, but she laughed like joke was on me. When mom came home, she was shocked when she saw what Kate had done to that oak tree.

Is my lovely oak tree gone even though it is not cut down? We don't know if it will survive that kind of excessive cut like shaving limbs off instead of trimming branches like I thought. I really should have been outside to WATCH, but I trusted Kate. I cannot believe she would do something like that. I got that tree guy in here and he told me that Kate told him to cut like that. Now he's upset because he found out that he was not supposed to cut it that way ... on OUR PROPERTY!!

What is our legal right? I am so angry, angry and hurt. I want to cry every time I see that poor oak tree. :cry: Mom finally can see what Kate really is. Not her real friend. In spite of her odd way with leaves, we did think highly of her. She took good care of my 5 cats when we were out of town for a week and wouldn't let me give her money for it. Kate is just funny funny when it comes to fallen leaves.

That oak tree probably took about 50 years to be like it was. All because of Kate's OCD with leaves. I am thinking of blowing leaves on her property as we still have plenty of other trees..that would serve her right! x(

[Heidi]

1. If you want to know the tree's chances of survival,

you might want to call the Garland County Cooperative Extension Service: http://www.garlandcounty.org/

Word to the wise, though: I wouldn't talk with the extension agent about any possible legal repercussions. I'd just ask them to come by and look at the tree and advise you on its likelihood of survival and what you might do to increase its chances of survival.

Meanwhile, I'm sorry this happened to you, and I'm sorry your neighbor's illness had this result. :hug:

[Bryn]

7. Thanks for the link

We do live in Garland county indeed. Hot Springs is boyhood home of Bill Clinton by the way.

I will have someone come & look at the tree. I did research over the internet. It seems that the tree is badly damaged and may not recover from excessive cut..that if cuts were 50% or more, it may not survive. It wasn't cut properly or trimmed. It was BUTCHERED like shaving big limbs off leaving only top. It looks like a telephone pole with leaves on top now. Even if it survives, it would never be beautiful again because of scars from "shaving" limbs off with branches on them.

[Heidi]

10. I was born near Little Rock.

:)

Good luck with this situation. I hope you can both save the tree and make peace with your neighbor. :hug:

[In_The_Wind]

2. People with problems do need a bit more supervision.

I'm sorry your tree was butchered.
At this point ~ you might want to ask the woodsman if you need to seal the tree where the branches were removed.

[xchrom]

3. they tend not to seal anymore for disease reasons --

but that means the scaring is that much more visible for longer.

this is a sad story.

[In_The_Wind]

4. I did not know that.

Thanks for bringing me up to date.

It is sad when people disrespect living things.

[xchrom]

11. indeed -- and especially things lke oaks which take so

long to reach mature size -- and are always architecturally so beautiful.

and oaks -- unlike many other trees -- won't grow in new branches to disguise the wreckage this woman brought to the tree.

[truedelphi]

37. An old wives' remedy is to plaster the amputated limbs with honey

I do that wnenever someone in my neighborhood has itinerant workers cut down
branches - and it does seem that even "experienced" tree firms rarely seal any more.

I am sorry for your emotional upheaval. I am impacted the same way - and it is hard to explain to some people that seeing a beautiful tree mutilated can have the same psychic effect on someone as hearing about a person being injured etc. In our modern world, such a reaction seems illogical at least and crazy at best.

In some societies trees were revered for having a mind, and for being wise. In those societies, people only had to work about 30% of their time to provide their family with the basics, and then they could spend the rest of the time in sensible recreations. So whose society is the better?

I confess to believing that I must have been a Druid in a former life.

[Bryn]

6. Butchered is a word that is exactly right.!

Thanks for this word so that I can explain it better. I've been doing research for legal rights for trees if damaged by neighbor on property. It turns out that a mature oak tree cost between $25,000 to $60,000 to replace. And also an injury or damage to a beautiful tree lessens value of a property. I will need to get a tree expert to check it out. Those guys that cut down trees hired by Kate were not tree experts!

[In_The_Wind]

14. It isn't always easy to bring down trees the right way.

Hiring unskilled labor for dangerous work isn't the brightest thing to do.

After last year's weather knocked down a huge tree that almost fell on my house I had some of the standing deadwood felled to protect my neighbors home. One of the dead trees became caught up in an old hardwood and it had to come down too. The woodsman and I were both sad over the loss but sometimes it's unavoidable.



You have every right to be upset! :nuke: It takes time to replace old trees.

[Bryn]

5. Here's copy of note I wrote to neighbor about oak tree

Hi, Kate

I hope you won't get mad at me, but please try to understand that I just can't allow that beautiful healthy oak tree on Mom's property get cut down for no good reason. Before I moved here I was a member of "Friends of the Everglades" in South Florida to protect it. I care very much for environment and nature. We are in wildlife habitat and I respect nature and wildlife. This is who I am. Mom should have asked me for my opinion first before she gave you an okay because I live here now and we share everything here.

Respectfully yours, Brenda

P.S. Thank you so much for the calendar you brought back from England. I love it. I have it on the wall in my bedroom now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyway, since Kate is a Brit but married to an American (they met when he was stationed there many years ago). I am real surprised because British is known to honor nature better than Americans. Am I right? Any Brit here? What's worse is that Kate is Bush lover! She and her husband are both repugs. Why should I be surprised? Repugs are known not to respect nature and wildlife and love to do a great damage!

[tjwmason]

8. Some Brits do.

General environmentalism is certainly more advanced over here - but for the most part it does tend to be an environmentalism which is divorced from the reality of nature (very odd concept, I know).

The urban-rural split is acute here, and whilst many urbanites do like the concept of the natural environment they have a very meddlesome approach to it, and certainly don't like it inconveniencing them.

[xchrom]

12. young man?!?! where have you been?

you have been absent and it has been duly noted.

glad to see you.:hi:

[hedgehog]

9. You and she may get a surprise in the spring.

It depends on what was left. I don't know about oaks, but we lost the top of a willow and half a maple tree in an ice storm some years back. Both trees came back as vigorous as ever and put out new branches. MAybe someone who has more experience with an oak in an ice storm can give you some advice.

[XemaSab]

16. That happened with a redwood that lost its top in a snowstorm a few year ago

Now it has two tops. :P

Oaks are different though... probably not as prone to resprouting like that. :(

[Highway61]

13. I am so sorry

That tree may very well come back so wait. Take several pictures of it NOW. To legally go after her would be so expensive...However, you might in the spring, (if it doesn't come back)see if you can get her to pay for a replacement...If the tree was on YOUR property then it becomes "he said, she said" so you have a good leg to stand on. It would be wise to look in the phone book for a lawyer who offers a "free consultation"...Even if you have to drive a bit to find one, it is worth getting the advice.

Now, all that being said...she "Laughed"?????
My Dear Bryn: Find yourself a LARGE bush...transplant it right next to her FRONT yard (make sure it is on YOUR property)...find yourself an artist (like an ice carver or sand sculpturist).....and see if she laughs at this! This woman sounds like a mean spirited nut!!

[Bryn]

19. LOL

I love it!! That gave me an idea. I am going to plant 5 new TREES there that would grow faster! Kate had already taken out 4 of Mom's trees before I moved here. Stumps are still there and she tried to take that one that I fought to save so I am going to plant 5 trees there. She can whine all she wants. Mom said she learned a lesson never to let a neighbor do that to her. She finally woke up to reality that Kate isn't really her friend after all. Since Kate had trees on both her property and Mom's side next to her taken out except for one we have no privacy. I will just tell her when I plant new trees...I like privacy, thank you very much!

[XemaSab]

15. I would be SO PISSED

:grr:

Good luck dealing with that.

[DS1]

17. drop an oak seed over her grave

[China_cat]

18. I know exactly what you are feeling.

My next door neighbor hates anything green and growing. (Has said if she ever gets the money, she'll tear up her lawn and have it concreted)



This was my tree...to the right of the gray house, over the roof...that she butchered. You can't see the damage from this picture and even though the tree looks healthy enough, she had done enough harm to introduce insects into the heart of the wood and we had to have it taken down before it completly died and fell on a building. I will never forgive her.

[Bryn]

20. Lovely tree..that is sad

I looked up legal rights that apply to trees. Here's something that we all can learn.


http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1082/is_5_44/ai_65159944

Laws and Legal Rights that apply to Trees

Elmendorf explains that few homeowners understand the
laws and legal rights that apply to trees. In addition, most
people have no idea that ornamental trees can have a
monetary value that can be recovered in court should
anything happen to it.

"Some trees can be replaced easily for about $500 to
$2,500," Elmendorf says. "An older or landmark tree,
believe it or not, can have an assigned value of $25,000 to
$60,000, based on size, species, condition and location."

Elmendorf says homeowners should know several key
points about trees and the law. These points are:
* Who owns the tree? If a tree's trunk is entirely on a
homeowner's property, the tree belongs to that
homeowner. If the tree straddles the boundary between two
properties, the tree is owned jointly by both landowners.

"You can't remove it or prune it without the other owner's
permission, and you can't prune it to the extent that it will
damage the community property of the tree," Elmendorf says.

What to Avoid

Don't cut too close to the trunk. Flush cuts are too large and
delay the sealing of the wound.And don't cut too far from
the trunk, leaving an ugly stub, which can give insects an
entry point. The wound cannot seal until the stub is
removed.

Instead, make the cut just outside the branch collar (the
swollen area where the branch meets the trunk). The
branch collar contains chemicals that speed the formation
of callus tissue that seals the wound.

[Tafiti]

27. You have a valid claim against her.

If you're serious about pursuing legal action, take pictures, make sure you save any and all correspondence between you two, and write down the conversations you had with her, dates/times you had them, etc. The lawyer will be very pleased if you have very specific information like this - you can never have enough. Plus, as time goes by, you won't forget this vital information.

You certainly have a tort claim - trespass to chattels. If the tree does die, then you'd have a conversion claim. There may be other property law claims as well.

As far as lawyers go, if you don't have a lot of monye, do find one that offers a free consultation. If you don't have a lot of money, and the lawyer thinks you have a solid case, many will work for a contingency fee, which means they'll take a cut of whatever settlement they win. If s/he doesn't win, s/he doesn't get paid. In any case, sounds like you have a valid claim.

Good luck, and sorry about the tree. :)

[eauclaireliberal]

21. Shoot the bitch if she steps on your property again

That is probably your ONLY legal right in this situation. Think small-claims is going to give a whit?

No, I'm not advocating killing someone...an nice-sized non-lethal wound will do the trick.

[Bryn]

23. Blowing leaves over to her property

will really freak her out enough to cause heart attack. LOL She hates fallen leaves more than anything it seems to me. She constantly goes around holding a bag, bending down to pick up a leaf on her property..over and over.

[Deep13]

32. Um, no. You can't do that.

Small claims may not have sufficient jurisdiction to cover the damages.

[LeftCoast]

22. Sue her for the cost of replacing a full grown oak tree

I have a tree that I 'protect' across the street from my house. I think I would go absolutely ballistic if someone hurt that tree.

Hope your Oak makes it through this.

:hug:

[Bryn]

24. I hope so, too

I hope my oak tree will come back and bigger and better! I will come back here in spring to let you all know how it goes. :hi:

[Deep13]

33. right. nt

[Guaranteed]

25. That is really sad.

I understand how you feel- I have a thing for oaks, myself. They are absolutely beautiful, no two the same. So much personality.

You definitely deserve to be angry at her. It sounds as if she deceived you.

[Richard Steele]

26. Putting "revenge" issues aside for now (PM me sometime), you can take steps to help the tree survive

Basically, most "tree service" companies should be able
to come by and give the old tree a "vitamin shot".

They'll drive a pipe a few feet into the ground near the trunk,
and then use that to deliver a concentrated vitamin/nutrient solution
to the tree's roots BELOW the rootline of the grass & plants around it.

They may space it out in several doses over a few weeks, and it may
cost a few hundred bucks...but it works like MAGIC most of the time.
It's like giving an old tree a bucketful of amphetamines and Viagra™.

[MagickMuffin]

28. So sorry to hear about your mighty Oak tree

What kind of Oak did you have? If it was a Live Oak or a Red Oak then they don't lose their leaves.

Here's something I did a search on.

http://library.thinkquest.org/12824/text/growing.html

Oak trees cannot be pruned. If you cut a single inch off the end of a limb, it will die back to the trunk.

I like your idea about plant more trees, and blowing leaves in her yard. Hell you might ask around for bags of leaves that are just going to the landfill anyway, why not add to Kate's hatred of leaves by filling her whole lawn with them. I'm usually not this mean, but she asked for it by deliberately making sure YOUR tree suffered at her hands.

from wikipedia:
Among the animals for which live oak acorns are an important food source are the Bobwhite Quail, the threatened Florida Scrub Jay, the Wood Duck, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Wild Turkey, Black Bear, various species of squirrel, and the White-tailed deer. Native Americans extracted an oil from the acorns. The tree crown is very dense, making it valuable for shade, and the species provides nest sites for many other species.

Here's another website that has a forum. Perhaps you could post there to see if anyone has more advice on how to best save your tree.

http://www.treehelp.com/forum/forum/active.asp

This link is about the different kinds of Oaks

http://www.oak-tree.com/types-of-oak-trees.html

Good Luck Bryn!

[Bryn]

29. White Oak

I wasn't sure what kind of oak tree and I found out from link you gave me. White oak tree grows slow! They're beautiful. Mom is going to call a tree specialist to come and look at it. I will let you all know what he says. From what I can see, it looks like it was excessively pruned.

I am going to look for trees that would grow fast then plant them! LOL I really hope that white oak tree can be saved or grow back. I just saw on CNN about people in California losing homes, wildfire going on and they mentioned losing hundred/thousand yr old oak trees. I feel so bad for them. Nature and animals and people losing homes. That really sucks! :cry: I hate it when it happens. Makes my problem seems so small. :cry:

[Sequoia]

30. Rake up all the leaves and put them around her house.

Why doesn't she move to an apartment in the city where there are no leaves. I would make it so she couldn't stand to live there anymore. That was a terrible thing for her to do.

[Deep13]

31. Were the branches on your property or hers?

If yours, she's screwed. File a police report and then decide if a civil suit is worth it.

This happened to my mother, except it was a whole tree. The geniuses on the neighboring propery assumed Mom's property ended at the fence and cut down the tree just behind it. I told her the same thing I'm telling you, except in her case the damages would be astronomical. I can't imagine what replacing a mature tree would cost. She was too much of a wuss to pursue it.

[Bryn]

34. Tree is very tall - approx. 35 to 50 feet

branches were hanging out all around, looking so well-balanced, gorgeous, were in no way threatened to her property. Branches were very high as well as lower, but lower branches weren't long enough to be over her property. Branches/limbs facing her house are gone leaving 3 limbs facing my house, so that tree is not balanced. IT could fall on my house if we have ice storm or something like that. There are thousands of trees all around where leaves could blow into her property anyway, she just wanted to have one less tree and my mom even let her until I stopped her. Now mom said she has learned her lesson, she was being a wuss also.

[Deep13]

35. Talk to a lawyer.

I'm still not clear whether the branches she cut extended over her property or not. Whether they did or did not, you need a legal opinion on what the reprocussions are. When you said "my mom even let her until I stopped her" I assume you mean you stopped the neighbor by correcting the erroneous impression your mother gave her. If not, then you have to find out what constitutes permission in your state.

[Poiuyt]

36. Neighbor law covers this

Your neighbor usually has the right to trim branches that overhang her property unless it was done in such a way to harm the tree. In addition, I believe the tree trimmers would also be liable if they came onto your property without your permission. There is a book called "Neighbor Law: Fences, Trees, Boundaries, & Noise" by Cora Jordan that goes into this quite a bit. See if your local library has it. Of course, laws vary from community to community. You need to speak with a lawyer who is familiar with neighbor law and I would encourage you to do so. The loss of a large oak tree diminishes the value of your property.