AITA for asking my neighbor to move newly planted fur trees off my property?

A Reddit user shared a dispute with their neighbor over newly planted fir trees. While the neighbor initially assured them the trees would stay on his property, a survey revealed that 6 of the 12 trees were fully on the user’s land, 4 were right on the property line, and 1 encroached with branches.

The user requested the removal of 11 trees encroaching or growing onto their property, which upset the neighbor due to the costs and timing. The neighbor accused the user of being unreasonable and threatened to install a fence. Read the full story below to see how this boundary conflict unfolded.

‘ AITA for asking my neighbor to move newly planted fur trees off my property?’

A few months ago my neighbor approached us and said he wanted to plant a row of fir trees between our yards. We expressed some concern, specifically in the area closer to our house where it’s dark, we have trouble growing grass, and we wanted to plant something smaller in our bed there.

These trees will grow quite large and wide, and they are not what we want for our yard. But our neighbor said they would be planted on his property, and we said whatever- it’s his property, he wasn’t asking for money, so fine.

We were working from home when the landscapers were planting the trees, we briefly we went out to look at the progress, and noticed that the holes were large, but it was hard to tell where the trees would end up and we did not protest.

However, once they were fully planted, we noticed that several of the trees appeared to encroach on our property, specifically several in the areas we had concerns about. We notified our neighbor about our concerns right away. He was open to moving some of the trees and wanted to know which ones, and to where.

Since we didn’t know exactly where the property line was, we said we wanted to get a survey to be better informed. He asked that we do this as soon as possible because it was late autumn, and he wanted to be able to move the trees before it got too cold.

We called a surveyor immediately, but due to their schedule, it was a month before we had the final survey report, which cost us over $3000. When we got it, the survey showed that out of 12 new trees, 6 were on our property (the tree trunks are solidly on our land).

And 4 are right on the line, and 1 is very close with branches substantially growing onto our property. Only 1 is fully on his land. We sent him the plot plan, and asked him to remove all 11 trees planted on, or growing onto our property.

Understandably he is upset by our request, and the timing of it (why didn’t we tell him sooner, he will have to pay twice, we are terrible people, he’s going to put up a fence etc.)

So, Am the a**hole for asking him to move his trees fully to his side of property line, especially in the cases where the trunks might be right on the line? We are considering offering to pay for half of the removal costs, but really don’t want the trees in our land.

Here’s the input from the Reddit crowd:

itsagooddayformaths −  NTA. He should have surveyed before he planted.. Btw: fir trees.

ArtShapiro −  NTA. Your neighbor has absolutely no right to intrude on your property. And replanting of the trees illegally planted is his problem; you should not even think about paying one cent.

And they should be far enough away from the property line such that the trunks do not breach the property line over the years as the trees mature. You’re going to have an ongoing problem with branches and leaves in future years.

corgihuntress −  NTA and I’d consider a fence. For sure I’d find out what your rights are concerning trees encroaching on your property.

Forward-Wear7913 −  If anything, he should pay for half the survey. He should’ve done that before starting the project.

CheckIntelligent7828 −  Definitely NTA. He should have had a survey done before planting. Especially since he knew you didn’t want them on your land. He’s now just blaming you for his being short sighted or trying to save money. We have over 100 ~50 ft cypress trees that rim our backyard.

We didn’t plant them, and we’re actually not sure whose land some of them are on. But we care for them and pay to fertilize them since it was the previous owner of our house who planted them. Unfortunately, all the cypress trees in our area have a communicable disease and are slowly dying.

When we replace them (with a different type, of course), we will absolutely get the survey done and plant well within our property line so there is no question going forward. It’s the only way to be sure. Honestly, as a property owner, he should have known better and you’ve done nothing wrong.

kimba-the-tabby-lion −  NTA. He has planted trees on your property. He could have done the survey, but chose not to. If he doesn’t want to pay to move them, you can do that easily now with a saw; they won’t have much roots left, it will be easy to move them.

Key-Article6622 −  NTA. Neighbor did expensive landscaping without knowing where his property line is and got 11 out of 12 not on his side of the line? He’s an i**ot and unfortunately, being an i**ot can be expensive.

NorthPortDad −  NTA for asking the trees that are physically on your property be moved. You told him you were going to get a survey to be sure of where the property line was, which should have been fair warning to him and his contractor to double check where they were planting.

Having an issue with trees planted on his property, but branches growing across the line is more questionable. You have the right to trim or perhaps ask him to trim the sides growing across the property line, but moving them so they don’t grow across the line is a bit much in my opinion. Hope you all can work it out.

Tessa_Kamoda −  NTA.. i just say liability. one tree is sick. someone is visiting you or neighbor, goes to look at the tree line and a branch from the sick tree decides to ‘perform (plastic) surgery’ on your visitor. how much, do you think, will visitor’s insurance be open to NOT sue you for their reimbursement?

i can already hear them saying *”the tree is on your land so its your tree, your responsibility, end of story. your claim that the tree belong to neighbor, cute. since when can people plant their stuff on other people’s property? whats next, building a house on a plot belonging to someone else without paper trail, deed, court order?”*

also before the digging and replanting starts inform yourself about the rules regarding building / planting. sometimes trees have to be at a certain distance from the property line or buildings.

lets say the distance between your houses is 700 yards, law says distance to property line has to be 10 yards, distance to buildings of any kind 150 yards. if the property line is smack in the middle, great. but if the line is only, lets say 200 yards away and the law / rules demand greater distances, good luck figuring this clusterfuck out.

oh, and if you do not nip this bud thoroughly it could cost you a pretty penny down the line. neighbor is deceased / sold the house, new neighbor / heirs ”know no nothing” about the trees and refuse to help solving the situation.

you are already more than fed up and decide ‘s**ew it, away with them’. done. but a tree connoisseur (neighborhood busybody suing everyone about everything) invokes tree law since one tree was a 10th of an inch longer and as such protected.

only allowed to be cut down with permission from the city / council and replanting ‘a new tree of the same size / age / bla bla bla’. ianal and it all dependes on the laws where you live.. good luck op.

farmerkaren81 −  NTA. He should have had a boundary survey done before he planted his trees. This is 100% on him. You already paid $3K to prove he was wrong.

Do you think the user was justified in asking their neighbor to remove the trees fully from their property, or should they compromise given the effort already invested? How would you handle a similar property boundary dispute? Share your insights and opinions below!