Help! I'm doing fine with my own garden but my problem is with my neighbors on both sides of my lot. They both have trees right up to my property and guess where the roots and branches are hanging and growing. One tree is a Norway maple and those roots are real thick and thirsty. I cleaned them out once and found that they came back larger and thirstier! What' a girl to do?!! Any advice would be helpful. I also have a Norway maple in my own yard that I would love to get rid of. Any thoughts?
In the city I believe the guidelines state that you can go up and down on your properity line and remove any obstruction in your path.. I guess after abrading the roots in your yard you can dose them with any recomended treatment.. Gordon
In my town you may prune back the branches that over hang your property line, but you may not do anything to the root systems as it will cause damage or death to the tree. Maybe talk to your neighbors about what they will be willing to do regarding this matter (if they are friendly).
Get an arborist in to see to the removal of the Norway maple on your property and then to prune away some of the branches that overhang from your neighbor's property.
It might be asking for trouble, but I wonder if you could ask your neighbors how they feel about their trees? If you explain to them that you love to garden and offer to pay for the removal of the trees that are right against the property line (and to bribe them with the season's first tomatoes), they might be receptive. An arborist might also tell you if there's a middle ground, like pruning both branches and roots on their trees every two or three years.
Our neighbors trees hung over our yard and dropped leaves everywhere, including our above ground pool. My husband nicely spoke to the neighbor. The first time she had a professional prune the (offending) branches. Then a couple years later, he asked her again. We split the cost of cutting down the tree and grinding down the stump. Fifty-fifty. What a nice lady.
a major problem with trees is root competition. I have read in various gardening books that it's best treated by laying down about 5 overlapping layers of newspaper and putting a good 8 inches of soil on it. By the time that the tree roots get through the newspaper your plants have had a year and a half to get their own roots established. They will be better able to fend for themselves. good luck!
