Neighbor has a tree that shits leaves and gunk all over our back patio and the roots are coming under our fence and fucking up our concrete. I want to start spraying the limbs hanging over our fence with salt water and pour buckets of the stuff down on the roots if necessary. Approx how much salt am I going to need and how long do I need to keep dousing it to see this tree dead? Tree is approx. 20 foot tall and 10 years old.
I suggest you check local laws. Tree law is famous for judgements in the hundreds of thousands, so don’t go killing your neighbour’s tree without checking your local laws first.
Where I live, if your tree causes damage to your neighbour’s property then you are responsible for it. Your local laws may be similar, rather than getting yourself a massive financial bill you could instead try to get your neighbour to pay for the damage.
Since they are your neighbour, I’d suggest a conversation with them first about the damage, which they might not know about. Read up on who is liable before the conversation.
Depending where you are, this could open a whole can of legal worms for you. I’d avoid addressing this issue like this and simply talk to your neighbor.
Did this. Neighbor was emphatic that anything on my side of the property line is my problem to deal with. That’s why I want the salt. The tree overhangs our back patio and drops seedlings everywhere in our decorative gravel. So I want to salt that area to prevent anything growing back and I’d like to mist everything hanging over our property with salt water until it dies. You got any particular tips on salinity for maximum plant toxicity?
You are a fuckwit. Drink the salt water instead and do your neighbour a favour.
Underrated comment.
I’m on your side, ok? Your neighbor sounds like a PITA nuisance. Give me a second here, I’ll show you one way to cover yourself. Salt is not likely to kill the tree, the roots will still be there, even if the upper parts were dead, might take years for upper parts to die in any case. Salt WILL fuck up your soil, if it’s sandy soil,the salt could spread a long way beyond your intention and fuck up your groundwater. Enough salt to kill one thing will kill everything, grass, flowers on your side, maybe for years. Contact code enforcement for your city first. Contact a lawyer and ask about your options, a quick consultation doesn’t cost much, you don’t have to retain him. THAT WAY, you look like the reasonable but understandably frustrated GOOD NEIGHBOR to everyone else. Get other people on your side, first.
Naw I want everything to die in that area. We used to grow ivy out back but tore it all out when it started to climb the fences and cause ddamage. Now its decorative gravel with planters full of succulents on top. As for candy soil, we have clay just under the topsoil, which I’m thinking will hold the salt in place nicely. However, I do want to kill the roots under my side of the fence. It’s already starting to lift the patio slab and I want to stop it before it breaks up the concrete like their patio. We’ve tried a couple lawyers but nobody even wants to consult us when we explain it’s a condo with a HOA on unincorporated land. I don’t even know what kind of lawyer covers that, because it’s obviously not any of the ones we’ve talked to.
I understand that your patio and your property are important to you. I understand what you want. Regardless of what kind of soil you have, salting it will not get you what you want. It will not solve the problem. It will only create more problems for you. I’m sorry that lawyers couldn’t help. If your place is unincorporated, you won’t have code enforcement. Have you appealed to your HOA for help? You pay fees, they’re supposed to help you. That’s another box to check to show that you’re the good guy.
Try asking !unethicallifeprotips@lemmy.world
Don’t kill a tree you fool
What did your neighbor say about it?
Neighbor said anything on my side of the property line is my problem. So I’m planning on salting my side of the plot. We have decorative gravel with planters and the shit tree keeps dropping sprouts in between our gravel.
Dont kill a tree. Dont be an asshole.
I know this tree. I was there when it was planted. I saw the original sapling get pulled out and brought to it’s new home. This is the leftovers uncared for by the current owners and it’s causing damage to my home. At a certain point, you decide to kill the invasive species of tree.
Look into the local tree law before you do anything stupid. It could cost you a ton of money, and possibly criminal charges depending on where you live.
Here’s a story for you: Poisoned trees gave a wealthy couple in Maine a killer ocean view. Residents wonder, at what cost?
TL;DR: it’s not worth it.
If it’s causing damage to your property talk to the city - you might be able to cut back some of the root growth extending into your property depending on ordinances…
But, like, don’t be a vigilante asshole - also… have you tried talking to them about it?
Ofc. The tree has been a problem for years. It was planted by the previous tenants about 10 years ago, and they actually dug up their sapling and took it with them when they moved out. Enough of the roots remained that the tree grew back over the years, e last 5 years or so have taken care of it. Now it’s too big and needs arborist services, but the landlord won’t pay. Our HOA won’t pay. We paid the HOA arborist once to cut the tree over our property line and we were threatened with legal action. We’ve just had another argument the other day and we’re told if it’s over the line, it’s our problem. Thus, I want to kill everything over the line. I want to salt our side of the fence to even saplings can’t take root. It’s already decorative gravel anyways. I just want to know what concentration of salt I need to kill everything on my side and make sure it won’t grow back.
This is breathtakingly dumb
Salt water’s a fool’s game, you’ll never kill a grown tree that way. Look into limb girdling
I don’t want to go on their property. I don’t even want to reach over the fence line. I want to use science and chemistry to murder the shit out of the parts on my side of the fence. As a welder, my first instinct was actually to use fire. However, the officials around where I live are particularly jumpy about starting fires. Its not like I wouldn’t have a running hose in my other hand.
In which case, why not just spray herbicide on the limb? You’d need a constant supply of gallons of saltwater over several days to really stop it
There’s a reason why plants are called complex interconnected organisms. If you put salt on the soil where that tree is growing, it also might reach to other plants in the area and kill them as well.
Keep crying and find out. Petty suburban problems.
sodium aint going to cut it. What you want to do is make a nightmare solution of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potasium and put that on the roots.
Oh shit and find some really nasty manure to go on there too just to make it really cook.
Actually, nitrogen might be the way. Liquid nitrogen kills shit real good. Bore a hole down next to the trunk and funnel in a beaker or so to try to kill the taproot?
yeah exactly. gotta give it time though. trees don’t just die overnight. might help to limit how much photosynthesis it can do by cutting off the ends of branches to because that is where it does the most.
