Homeowner plants trees to block out neighbor's yard, landscaper tells him that neighbors have damaged them: 'All evidence points to pouring pesticides on my trees'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Sep 24, 2026 11:45 AM EDT

How much of a say should somebody have over their neighbor's landscaping decisions?

While good neighbors are nothing short of a blessing, most of the time, you won't agree with everything that the people who live next to you do. It is not unlikely that they have different preferences, styles, and ways of life from you, and those are going to express themselves in how they live in their home.

So long as this doesn't have an overly negative effect on you, this shouldn't have to be a problem, but when it comes to their homes and the land around them, people can get irritated by the most minor of things. Learning how to traverse the ups and downs of neighbor relationships is a skill that needs to be learned by every homeowner.

In particular, yards and landscaping can prove to be a tricky topic between neighbors. It might be your yard, but you can bet that the people next to you are going to have an opinion on it. Sometimes, these grievances can be legitimate, but others, it seems like they appear out of nowhere to make your life difficult. It just doesn't seem fair, but it has to be dealt with.

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  • A person wearing gardening gloves prunes a young tree.
    via Jakub Żerdzicki

    A person wearing gardening gloves prunes a young tree. Still frame for contextual reference only.
     

  • A homeowner was not happy that the fence between him and his neighbor allowed him to look into their disorganized yard, so he decided to plant some trees along the fence line. Some perished during the winter, which he didn't think much about until he hired a landscaper who told him that the trees had been deliberately tampered with.

    He immediately believed that the neighbors had done something to the trees, but he didn't have any concrete evidence. He wanted to know how to proceed in this situation to maintain both his landscaping and his privacy.

  • I think my neighbor damaged my trees

    My neighbor behind me has a backyard that is not very well kept and they have a huge makeshift shed with tarps wrapped around it. There's a short fence not tall enough to block our view, so I decided last year to plant Arborvitae along the fence. Well, we had a great relationship with my neighbors until I did this. After they got
    via jacobwulgee
  • planted they never spoke to us again, nor did they say anything about the trees. After the winter a few of them dod and I thought no big deal, the winter was harsh, i'll just replace them.
    via jacobwulgee
  • I had a landscaper come by my house today and he pointed out to me that every single one is de d ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE TREE CLOSEST TO THEIR HOUSE. Essentially he thinks that the neighbor poured something on them to k l them. I asked him if he'd seen this before and he said he'd seen this a handful of times.
    via jacobwulgee

  • He didn't want the situation happening again if he replanted.

    Not sure what to do, I don't have a video or anything of them pouring pesticides on my trees but all the evidence points to it. I also want to replace them but worried that they'll just k I them again unless I put up a camera.
    via jacobwulgee
  • EDIT: The part of the trees that are de d are on the back side of the trees closest to their house, not on their property. All 18 of them are the same way
    via jacobwulgee
  • A wall of Arborvitae greenery.
    via Elantro (Unsplash+)

    A wall of Arborvitae greenery. Representative only.
     

  • There needed to be a stronger connection to the neighbors.

    mariexmller You need evidence before you start pointing fingers Sorry about your tree
    via mariexmller
  • cllxo Could send it to the EPA to see if they will do soil testing for spraying or herbicides or dumping of oil?
    via cllxo
  • Aromatic_Recipe 1749 If you have a university nearby with an agricultural school ask them if there's anything they can do to test the trees. If you replant, you need to test the soil first to make sure it's not contaminated. Beyond that, you need cameras.
    via Aromatic_Recipe1749

  • He had to keep watch.

    JonBovi_msn New trees and trail camera.
    via JonBovi_msn
  • Inside_Force3214 Going forward get cameras. I bet they sprayed round-up on them.
    via Inside_Force3214
  • NaineSenora35 That's really frustrating, trees can take years to grow back. Have you talked to your neighbor about it?
    via NaineSenora35

  • There may have been other reasons that the trees struggled.

    Difficult-Prior3321 They are arborvitae. There is a whole sub devoted to people constantly asking "what happened to my arborvitae". These things di all of the time for no reason at all. I wouldn't immediately think your neighbors did it.
    via Difficult-Prior3321
  • BradleyFerdBerfel Is the de d side the side that never gets any sun? Evergreens and whatnot.
    via BradleyFerdBerfel
  • Once-Upon-a-Dream88 So they stopped speaking to you right after you planted the trees? What kind of fence is this? Wondering if maybe they took offense thinking you were planting them as a privacy barrier.
    via Once-Upon-a-Dream88
  • Not that I think that would be anything approaching rational, just trying to understand the correlation between the trees and the sudden unfriendliness.
    via Once-Upon-a-Dream88

  • Perhaps it was technically their property.

    rugaslightingme did you plant them on your side, or their side, of the fence? if it's on their side, you don't get to complain if they are de d or were k led as those aren't your trees.
    via rugaslightingme

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trees landscaping bad neighbors entitled people
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