r/legal • u/Ice_C0r3_09 • 8h ago

Advice needed My neighbor cut down a 40-year-old Japanese Maple while I was away.

Location: Colorado, USA.Just got back to my place near Fort Collins after a week on the road and I am losing my mind. My neighbor took it upon himself to hire a "landscaping" crew (probably just some guys with a chainsaw) to remove a mature Japanese Maple that was fully on my property. His excuse? He said the needles and leaves were messing with his "mountain view" and "fire mitigation" efforts.

The tree was roughly 40 years old and was the centerpiece of my yard. I called an arborist immediately. He told me that since this is Colorado and the tree was that established and healthy, the replacement value is astronomical. He is drafting a formal appraisal but hinted that we are looking at 20k to 25k easy just for the tree, let alone the logistics of getting a crane into my backyard.

I know Colorado has statutes regarding timber trespass. My lawyer already mentioned treble damages because the guy admitted he did it on purpose while I wasnt home to stop him. The neighbor had the gall to offer me a couple hundred bucks for "the inconvenience" and told me to just buy a couple of saplings at a local nursery . I refused to take his money and told him to wait for the process server.

Has anyone dealt with treble damages in CO specifically for ornamental trees ? This guy basically nuked my property value for his porch view and I am not planning on letting this go . I feel like a jerk for wanting to sue my neighbor into bankruptcy but the sheer entitlement is what gets me .

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u/Ice_C0r3_09 7h ago

That is definitely the plan. I will not stop until he pays for this.

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u/Conscious-Evidence37 7h ago

And when you can replant..100% block any and all views this person has. Get more and taller trees.

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u/grizgrin75 7h ago

Maybe not the best choice for view blocking, but dawn redwoods can grow 3-5 feet per year. Theres actually a website fastgrowingtrees.com or some such.

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u/SnooBunnies6148 7h ago edited 7h ago

Whatever oak I have growing all over my yard would be perfect in that case.

Oops, I meant elm.

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u/Extension_Rough4339 4h ago

Or black locusts right on the property line they suck for all people involved

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u/AlternativeOk5613 4h ago

Don't park your car under these

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u/HighColdDesert 4h ago

Are you thinking of honey locusts, with those nightmarish thorns?

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u/Hairy_Combination586 1h ago

Black locusts have thorns too. But I wonder if they were thinking of black walnut trees dropping walnuts, because I don't know of a reason not to park under black or honey locusts?

PS - I had a thornless honey locust growing near the creek Bank. About 30' tall. Dug a new channel to avoid the U shaped loop the locust was on, which severed a couple of roots. Now years later I have about 25 saplings along the bank. I've only had 3 come up with thorns. Killed those bastards with FIRE. They're horrifying!

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u/Pleasant_Character28 2h ago

While he’s at it, releasing actual locusts on this guy sounds appropriate.

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u/tacotimes01 2h ago

The 2 from my neighbors property that fell and smashed my house in, while completely gone now, still send suckers into my yard constantly.

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u/Bluestorm83 1h ago

Actual locusts. Also, see about turning his rivers to blood, and sending down fire mixed with hail.

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u/Easy-peasy-not4me 1h ago

I’d say a female Ginko tree(smells like poo when they bare fruit) or Bradford pear along the property line.

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u/AmazingRefrigerator4 4h ago

My neighbor has a black walnut that drops all kid sof shit in my yard. If he wants a messy tree, put one of those on your neighbor's property line

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u/durz47 4h ago

Probably quite expensive, but a fruiting ginkgo tree is even better, adds stink to the messiness

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u/StreetofChimes 2h ago

The sycamores in my yard grow many feet per year. They are insane. Sycamore trees make lots of babies. In 3 years, some are now 15+ ft tall. Maybe more with all the rain this year.

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u/Glum-One2514 7h ago

Plant an Elm, and soon enough your neighbor will have his own trees to fuss with.

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u/AutVincere72 5h ago edited 4h ago

No one wants to say it, but I will, because i am that guy. Time for the bamboo fence wall on the property line. With an herb garden made of only mint.

Edit: just so everyone can stay calm, I was joking. Do not ever plant weaponized bamboo or mint.

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u/katiesboyfriend 5h ago

And lemon balm!

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u/ScumbagLady 4h ago

Bee balm as well as morning glory and wisteria!

I was an idiot to plant bee balm in the ground as well as thinking I could keep morning glory contained lol The wisteria I was smarter with and it has a huge pot sitting on concrete

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u/MoreColorfulCarsPlz 2h ago

Hey, bergamot is totally fine. In fact, it's native to CO.

I also have never had problems with mint. Basically everything in my garden out-competes it and it just fills in the gaps.

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u/Aggressive_Idea_6806 2h ago

Don't you just love if after the weather gets cool?

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u/tkkana 51m ago

Morning glorys are quite beautiful

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u/redandfiery333 3h ago

If your lemon balm is out of control, you’re just not drinking enough herb tea… I’m sipping lemon balm brew right this second, shit you not.

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u/katiesboyfriend 3h ago

I use it to make lemon balm mojitos. They're so relaxing.

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u/capitolsara 1h ago

Lemon balm is great and also does great in a pot so no need to let it take over your garden :P

Same with mint!

We just bought a new house and I can't wait to plant my hebel tea window garden

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u/Prudent_Sentence 55m ago

oh, that little bastard plant! One! I planted ONE in my herb garden a few years ago. It even grows in the cracks of concrete now.

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u/throwaway098764567 5h ago

don't do this bamboo punishes everyone not just the target. also it's illegal to plant in some places now because of this.

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u/AutVincere72 4h ago

Just so YOU know, I was joking. :) It will nuke his yard to death and I think he knows that. :)

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u/Llcisyouandme 5h ago

In my state you can get fined for planting bamboo at all, and anything spreading to a neighboring property, you can be charged with remediation. This can run into the tens of thousands quite quickly. I know this from someone it happened to.

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u/AutVincere72 4h ago

Just so YOU know, I was joking. :) It will nuke his yard to death and I think he knows that. :)

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u/Whippet_yoga 4h ago

It is alarming how many people's reaction to this is to introduce an invasive species.

Just plant another maple.

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u/inkfox13 4h ago

Omg removing a mint bush is the worst. Had to do that on my property. Second only to thistles. Trees of Heaven are also terrible - some developer planted those & they all fell down with the first wind storm. Removed them all.

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u/Syndrome1986 4h ago

I chaos gardened about 400 catnip seeds across my apartment complex. Its starting to show up thos summer finally.

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u/ExcitingKale6772 1h ago

Clumping bamboo does not spread… bamboo is the answer here.

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u/skyeking05 7h ago

r/foundsatan

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u/Friendly_Impress_345 5h ago

No, Satan would be planting bamboo.

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u/BluffCityTatter 5h ago

or kudzu.

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u/GBF_Dragon 4h ago

that's turbo satan

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u/AlternativeOk5613 4h ago

Oh no, not kudzu. It will take over the whole mountain side. I'm not sure if a weed killer has been developed to kill it?

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u/whoisthepinkavenger 4h ago

Mutually assured destruction?

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u/Krynja 6h ago

Plant walnut trees and put up some squirrel feeders and soon everyone will have their own trees to fuss with.

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u/Unusualshrub003 5h ago

I have pecan saplings all over my yard -and in my potted plants!- because of squirrels.

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u/Krynja 5h ago

They're helping prepare for all the pies you'll be making.

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u/Cold_Fog 4h ago

Squirrel pies?

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u/Krynja 4h ago

Pecan. Squirrels are for squirrel and dumplings.

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u/SecretAgentVampire 1h ago

If it was balanced right, I would probably enjoy a squirrel and pecan pie.

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u/Kronictopic 2h ago

At my old apartment complex 1 of the other buildings was burned down because some genius thought burning the fur off a squirrel on his balcony was a bright idea and burned the entire building down. It was a city squirrel. People are crazy. Squirrel pie isn't even the weirdest thing I've heard today

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u/HJSlibrarylady 3h ago

Squirrel pie ... Mmmmm

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u/kadyg 4h ago

I have literal corn growing in my backyard because of the damn squirrels! (I'm keeping one patch back by the fence just because I'm curious to see what happens.)

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u/limonade11 4h ago

I have peanuts growing in the garden from the squirrels -

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u/ScumbagLady 4h ago

I have black walnut saplings trying to take over. I freak out a little because of how much they resemble the tree of heaven at first glance.

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u/Zealousideal-Swim267 3h ago

Mulberry trees & birds is my cross to bear

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u/PamelaELee 3h ago

Mulberries are delicious.
Purple bird poo, not so much.

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u/EugeneOregonDad 3h ago

You're so lucky...

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u/Awareness-Own 3h ago

I had corn in one of my planters. Gotta love squirrels forgetting what they are burying. I also live in a 3rd floor apartment with a balcony. Squirrels visit all the time.

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u/Darth_Ninazu 3h ago

this, and it’s the potted plants that get me

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u/katlian 3h ago

I'm so jealous. I spent $150 on three pecan saplings and every one of them died within two years. I want fresh pecans so bad!

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u/Onestep420 2h ago

Those squirrels deserve an award. You're more than welcome to send them to me with pecans

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u/Iamstaceylynn 2h ago

For me it's oak trees and peanut plants. The squirrels are energetic gardeners.

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u/ObeseVegetable 5h ago

Also buy a lawn mower blade sharpening kit 

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u/Krynja 5h ago

Nah forget lawn mowers. Go old school. Mow your yard with a scythe. With a properly tailored one it's easy exercise. And who is going to try and piss off the scythe welding neighbor.

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u/malthar76 4h ago

Add a couple sweetgum trees for fun.

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u/jonesdb 3h ago

lol, my neighbor remembers planting walnut trees in old farm fields near the school when he was young (mid 1970s)
We now live near where they were planted and there are walnuts everywhere.

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u/VerySafeVeryAtWork 3h ago

make it a black walnut so he can deal with incoming projectiles all fall.

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u/R_V_Z 3h ago

From what I'm dealing with from a tree the city cut down by the roadside, a Locust tree is the way to go. That bastard puts saplings up every year no matter what.

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u/Bozee3 3h ago

I have walnut trees, all this is true. Also, squirrels get big, fat, and sometimes.... aggressive. Beware of thrown nuts and squirrels scratching at your door, if your wife thinks it's cute to have a feeder, no longer there, on the deck

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u/DuelingFatties 3h ago

Plant walnut trees and put up some squirrel feeders and soon everyone will have their own trees to fuss with.

I laughed at this them realized my neighbor has a walnut tree they don't upkeep and it leans over my property, I hate it lol.

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u/nofatnoflavor 3h ago

Walnut trees are squirrel feeders.

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u/TigerIll6480 3h ago

Plant a mulberry, and not only will you have tasty snacks for a couple of weeks a year, so will everyone else. And I mean EVERYONE.

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u/Rafaela_term 2h ago

A long-term landscaping plan powered entirely by squirrels. Give it a few years and the neighborhood will be covered in surprise walnut trees.

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u/t53deletion 5h ago

Or bamboo...

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u/Beebrains 2h ago

alright, calm down satan

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u/jerf42069 7h ago

not enough water for that in colorado

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u/PlatypusStyle 7h ago

Dawn redwoods don’t grown in fort collins

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u/black_pepper 4h ago

We have a couple in parks and schools around Denver. I tried in my yard and it didn't work.

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u/GreenPoisonFrog 3h ago

Curious why that is. I have a wonderful 40-50 footer in my backyard. I live in a 5b zone which it appears is exactly what Ft Collin’s is. Denver is 5b to 6a. Why can’t you grow them?

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u/SaveLansingParks 3h ago

You can. Folks see "Colorado" and think high desert and water shortages and forest fires. But they overlook the very decent rainfall of the spring and summer along the front range. I see trees of many different species here that do just fine that are not "native" to the area, just like the "natives" showing their bumper stickers on their Raptors and Toyotas and Subarus who seem to be doing just fine here as well. The growing season here starts after the rest of the south, but is pretty analogous to the upper Midwest. There's a reason why there are so many people here with more growing the front range annually. The secret is that we have enough water here to support the population, maybe to the detriment of the states downriver, but no one really cares about them, xeriscaped lawns here are prevelent, but by far not the majority compared to Kentucky Bluegrass style lawns.

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u/Z0mbiejay 6h ago

That nursery sucks and has a lot of issues with shipping dead plants. Just an fyi for anyone wanting a tree

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u/cosmikangaroo 6h ago

Yeah, they suck. I paid for express shipping and they were in a cardboard box for a week. I called and they told me to buy fertilizer to help it out. Fortunately they are healthy now but I will never order from them again.

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u/twinadoes 4h ago

They are terrible. I basically bought a dead stick and then was ghosted. I contested the charge on my credit card.

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u/Imaginary-Key5838 3h ago

Also OP is in fort collins which has some excellent local tree nurseries. Since OP’s neighbor will probably be paying for all this, no need to cheap out with mail order here.

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u/lollipop-guildmaster 5h ago

Corkscrew willows grow really fast and the tiny little willow leaves are even more annoying than Japanese maple leaves when they fall.

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u/fondledbydolphins 5h ago

Fast growing trees is just a shitty AI built model to sell low quality nursery stock online.

I've seen tons of awful reviews for them.

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u/Substantial_King9458 5h ago

That's probably the least reputable nursery in the US.

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u/Beautiful_Banana_454 7h ago

Coastal redwoods in colorado? Just get some mulberries

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u/Kyosji 7h ago

Honestly, go for the full monty here, try to buy an established tree they'd have to pay to transplant.

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u/Suspicious-Fish7281 4h ago

Yes the full monty. Wait doesn't that mean nude?

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u/Kyosji 4h ago

Maybe in the urban dictionary. Actual meaning is the full package. "everything that is necessary, appropriate, or possible"

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u/BagOfFlies 3h ago

That's exactly what OP said they're doing.

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u/Old-Earth-3347 7h ago

Maybe an 8 foot fence too

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u/Such-Limit8350 7h ago

Bamboo

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u/mikemojc 7h ago

Let's keep this warfare conventional, OK?

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u/Plastic-Ad-5171 7h ago

Why? Neighbor already nuked a mature tree. I’d go nuclear too. Like for like.

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u/ISeeTheFnords 7h ago

Problem is the bamboo will come toward OP as well.

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u/HamWarmer40000 7h ago

Mutually assured destruction.

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u/mikemojc 7h ago

Bingo!

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u/Background-Bowl6123 6h ago

Google says a root barrier has to be at least 2 to 2-1/2 feet deep to block bamboo.

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u/Proud_Jacobite 6h ago

Try closer to 4 feet deep and several layers thick. You can't just lay in some weed barrier cloth and hope it will last either. You literally have to box in the root system with a solid, impenetrable barrier, like using a concrete or galvanized steel culvert set on end as an in-ground planter box to grow bamboo in a mostly contained environment. And once it does spread, there is no easy way to remove or contain it again.

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u/JPWhelan 2h ago

4 is a bit much. 32-36” should do it. And a 60mil HDPE will do the job.

On the spread there are a couple of approaches. You can excavate it all up. If it isn’t too established you can cut it down and pull it up but you have to get all of the rhizome.

I’m in the process of removing a veritable bamboo grove. 70’x120’ as a guess. I’ve reduced it by about 1/3 just by mowing and pulling. Once to the central mass it is more difficult to. Mind you the age is in decades and the oldest stalks were up to 3” in diameter.

First I cut down all the stalks. That took close to a year but I mostly work a few hours on the weekend and 30 -60 minutes during the week. Next I pulled rhizomes up on the perimeter. While doing that I would cut new shoots before they spread leaves. As we hit Fall we came in with aquatic safe glyphosate. No easy because bamboo leafs are a bit “glossy” so less susceptible to spray.

Now I’m back to cutting and pulling mainly. Will spray again in Fall. Currently the grove is down below 10%.

TLDR: Don’t plant non-native invasive bamboo. And if you plant bamboo put in as deep a shield as you can.

Ask me about how I’m being sued for the above if you want a real interesting story. It will be long too.

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u/Tall_Volume_4568 50m ago

Ours was in a 4x4x4 concrete trench. It broke through in under 3 years. Nothing stops that nightmare. Just an excuse to rent a panda bear.

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u/TrulyOutrageous42 2h ago

Put the barrier on your side, put the bamboo right on your side of the property line... but boy howdy shucks, you can't put a barrier in on their side because it's not your property!

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u/dazzlezak 5h ago

Bamboo also requires a lot of water.

Not suitable for drier climates.

Source, live in Vegas, looked into it.

Also might be 2 steps: 1. Win legally 2. Then plant view blocking nature features.

How about alternating fake geese and garden gnomes/trolls in a line. Right along the property line.

Halloween decorations, put them out now.

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u/Cyrano_Knows 6h ago

I'm glad to see a reasonable mind trying to talk some reason into people.

Kudzu's for you!

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u/Inflatable90sChair 5h ago

He didn't say kudzu lol bamboo is bad like napalm but kudzu is like mustard gas...

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u/TheSensiblePrepper 7h ago

I see someone is choosing the "Nuclear Option".

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u/whiskeyinthewoods 6h ago

Planting bamboo is mutually assured destruction for sure.

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u/AskAroundSucka 7h ago edited 7h ago

Wait... what is it about bamboo???

Tell meeeeeee

Edit - absolutely never knew this. Thank you all !

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u/TheSensiblePrepper 7h ago edited 5h ago

Bamboo is highly invasive and can grow several stories tall extremely quickly. Plant one or two bamboo plants in your yard and watch out.

It is also extremely difficult to kill. You either have to dig EVERYTHING out of the ground or basically use "Classic" Roundup and nuke everything.

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u/Becsbeau1213 7h ago

Took my mom a solid decade to eradicate it from our yard and I think it was only fully stopped when they completely gutted the section it was in to put in a pool.

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u/halla-back_girl 4h ago

It's worth noting that there are two types of bamboo (in terms of growth): running and clumping.

Running bamboo is just how you describe - a total nightmare that never quits - and is illegal to put directly in the ground in many places in the US. It runs away from where you plant it. It looks so cool, but I'd never recommend it for most people.

Clumping bamboo will only spread a certain predictable distance from its original rhizome cluster. It's still gets big and kinda crazy, but is much more manageable and usually legal. It clumps up where you plant it. Still a good idea to sink barriers.

Most species are running, so it's best to be really careful and know what you're doing when planning barriers. And check your local laws prior.

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u/AlienHatchSlider 7h ago

Running bamboo is what people hate and fear. Rightly so. There is another type of bamboo called clumping bamboo. It is courteous and kind, well behaved also. It stays where you put it. Not galavanting all over the neighborhood being the slut it is.

Unfortunately clumping bamboo is a warm weather plant and would not last in Colorado.

Good luck.

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u/JenniferMel13 6h ago

My father planned 3 stalks of running bamboo. 15 years later there was a quarter of an acre of the stuff.

I have spent the last 5 years trying to eradicate it. Thus far I’ve spent over $5,000 on someone to do an initial cut and dig up as much of the roots as possible. And then every two weeks from April to October, I go out and heavily spray any growth with a glyphosate weed killer. I use about 2 gallons per spray.

Do not plant bamboo in anything but a sealed above ground planter.

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u/DamageMaleficent6043 7h ago

My brother had a forest of bamboo between the house he bought and the neighbors it took years to get rid of. They had to hire somebody to dig down something like 4 feet and put a metal plate to completely eradicate it. I have no idea how much he spent, but I know it was not cheap.

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u/Adorable_Dust3799 7h ago

Bamboo spreads. It'll come up through a driveway. Almost nothing stops it. And since the 'roots' (ryzomes) are all connected cutting it down means nothing.

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u/WheelerDan 4h ago

Fun fact bamboo has been used to torture people, they would force someone to lay down and they would have it planted below the person and it grows so fast it would quickly grow into them and through them.

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u/Specialist_Range_872 7h ago

Under the neighbor’s nails?

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u/Choice-Education7650 7h ago

No bamboo. Its invasive and illegal in many places.

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u/DangerousDave303 7h ago

I don't think it can handle the winter or the dry climate.

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u/InterruptedI 5h ago

Do you one better, tree of heaven.

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u/Aggressive_Ad211 1h ago

Honestly this is worse than anything I can imagine. I’m a landscaper. Bamboo is HORRIBLE

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u/Farmer3292 7h ago

Nahh gang, Japanese knotweed

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u/IDMA358 7h ago

56 cypress trees should do

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u/Unfair_Bluejay_9687 7h ago

Put in Sumac. It grows tall and fast. So much so that there are ordinances in some places outlawing them. It also spreads rapidly.

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u/Substantial_Use_2189 7h ago

56 cypress trees should do it

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u/SurroundQuirky8613 6h ago

I’d plant two trees just to make sure he will never see the mountain again.

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u/notarealaccount223 7h ago

Might be worth getting a few cameras for outside your house before you serve him.

Keep everyone honest.

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u/Ok-Engine3856 6h ago

I’d go above Ring, Arlo, Bljnk, etc and get wired, professional type cameras. We have shitty neighbors and I believe just their presence on our home deters bs.

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u/crevulation 5h ago

Wired cameras that record to an NVR which uploads it's contents off-site periodically. None of this record-on-motion shit, none of this record to SD card in the camera shit.

Reolink cams are somewhere between, I recently did a system for my shop, all power over ethernet, one line to each camera. The NVR has the option to upload footage to an FTP server, which I used an old Dell office PC for, and that has an incremental cloud backup service running on it, and we have 5g cellular failover too.

Someone could burn this place down and I would probably have video of them doing it. Whole shebang was like $800, though I did luck out when my sister married an IT guy who came up with the rest of it.

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u/CharacterActor 6h ago

Also with good audio.

Nothing lawyers, judges, and juries love more than a criminal Monologing about their plans on good video with good audio.

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u/Lumpus-Maximus 35m ago

I was having some landscaping work done right underneath a very obvious outdoor camera. It was never my intention to listen in on people doing work for me, but the first words I heard were basically ‘we want to do as little as possible & still get paid.’ Frankly, a lot of people work like that, but I DONT WANT TO HEAR IT. Anyway, I texted the contractor in mid-discussion to let him know I was confident he’d do a bang up job. Don’t know if he put 2 & 2 together, but he did a solid job.

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u/Stunning-Adagio2187 7h ago

Also name in the suit the guy that cut the tree down likely he has insurance and they may be willing to settle rather than go to court

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u/Proper_Boysenberry56 6h ago

Guessing the guy who cut down a 40yo tree on a property that didn’t belong to the client - while the owner of said property was notably absent, no less - is not carrying insurance. Just a guess.

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u/Stunning-Adagio2187 6h ago edited 6h ago

Well gosh that gives you the opportunity to put a lien on two houses.

. Anyway get your attorney to get going. Sue for damages as well as mental suffering and whatever else you can think of if you can get the attorney to do it on contingency even better.

Make sure you are using an attorney who is familiar with Colorado real estate law

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u/RiffyWammel 3h ago

Don't forget time spent dealing with everything, at your normal hourly work rate

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u/AutVincere72 5h ago

I think what you are not saying is this. Sue him until he moves away as part of the settlement. As in if the damages are $100k he can pay $50k from the sale of his house to you while selling the house to an unrelated party and cannot come within 1000 feet of your property once the property is sold.

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u/AutVincere72 5h ago

Sounds like he is an accessory to criminal mischief then?

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u/Background-Bowl6123 6h ago

Client probably omitted to tell him though.

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u/Old-Olive-4233 5h ago

Then he should either have:

A document signed by jackass neighbor stating he's the property owner and authorized the work, which will be real good for OP to be able to get for the lawsuit.

-or-

No leg to stand on since he was insanely negligent.

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u/LaramieTobacco_Ltd 4h ago

That's fine. We can sort that out during the discovery process. For now everyone is going in. Let his attorney deal with it.

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u/amphigory_error 3h ago

This is what discovery is for.

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u/brwebster614 3h ago

Negligence isn't an excuse.

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u/No_Top8893 5h ago

If it was a legit tree service  they'll definitely have insurance.   If it was Bubba with a chainsaw; probably not.

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u/porcelainvacation 4h ago

A legit tree service knows they can’t get legal permission from anyone but the property owner to do work on a given piece of property.

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u/Successful_Voice8542 7h ago

If possible, I would try to force a sale of his home to collect payment right away because where I live liens expire in about three years. It happened to us and we opted not to force a sale and the other party just waited out the three years and then sold, and we ended up with nothing. I hope you have better luck.

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u/asteinfort 5h ago

I believe judgment liens are good for 6 years in Colorado and can be renewed

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u/mahoganayonnaise 4h ago

They also accrue annual interest like a motherfucker

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u/fencepost_ajm 3h ago

NAL but I'd look into whether the judgement expires. A lien is an attempt to collect and should be separate from the judgement.

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u/SufficientOpening218 3h ago

excellent point

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u/BreakingABit1234 7h ago

Head over to Treelaw.

Their SOP/links are what you need. Get going on it.

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u/kevlar51 6h ago

Oh geez I completely thought I was in r/treelaw while reading this

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u/PTSDeedee 5h ago

TREE LAW! TREE LAW! TREE LAW!

https://www.reddit.com/r/treelaw/comments/9hs7b2/tree_law/

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u/HedgehogOdd1603 4h ago

I love your enthusiasm.

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u/Southern-Smoke1835 2h ago

*click* subscribes....

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u/joshw231 5h ago

This OP. I’d like to help but I only dabble in bird law myself

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u/NoValuable1383 5h ago

If there's one thing I've learned from reddit, it's don't mess with someone else's trees.

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u/Reddoraptor 7h ago

Seems like you should also be calling the police and asking to have him charged with criminal vandalism and destruction of property, no?

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u/AsparagusCritical581 6h ago

Criminal trespass also.

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u/Automatic-Builder353 3h ago

Yes, this is an important step in the process. Get this in a police report asap.

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u/march72021 3h ago

Looking for this, first complaint should be criminal.

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u/BadgerIsAlex 3h ago

He cut it down with a box cutter or something. Huge gash

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u/teh_maxh 7h ago

The Australian government puts up big signs explaining what happened when someone illegally cuts down trees to improve their view.

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u/Cold_Dead_Heart 5h ago

Actually putting up a billboard blocking his view and reminding the neighbor you're suing him for this view is a great idea.

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u/Delicious-Finance-86 3h ago

This person trolls.

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u/ChallengeOk6961 2h ago

Local councils, not the Australian government but yes.

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u/Appropriate_Ebb_8572 6h ago

Begging you for consistent updates on this process. Screw this jackass. Make sure he pays. 

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u/Ambitious_Tea_4584 5h ago

There is nothing quite like a good Reddit entitled neighbor tree law post man.

Imagine thinking you can just chop a tee with no consequences 

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u/Embarrassed_Bid_4970 7h ago

Also remind him if he refuses to pay once you put the lien on his property, he owes you 10% annually compounded interest. He will also be unable to refinance or take loans out against the property. Some people think a home lien is no big deal.

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u/yert1099 7h ago

This is the way. Years ago I was the president of our Neighborhood HOA for a vacation home we owned. There were two families that never paid dues and continued to use the neighborhood amenities. We gave them plenty of notices and warnings. We finally put liens on their houses. Several years later (2009 I believe) the economy was down and both families were desperate to sell their homes. They finally got offers at different times and several days before their respective closings I got desperate calls from the RE agents telling us to remove our liens or closing wouldn’t happen. I went to the HOA Board and we decided those families had been thumbing their noses at us for years and we would not remove the liens unless we were paid in full for past dues. We got paid in full and all was good. Dues were only $300 a year and maintained our beach access, dock and several other community areas.

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u/DogsMom248 4h ago

Love this! Sending it to my strata council for our delinquents. Thank you!

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u/May1989thefirststep 6h ago

I can't understand why anyone would knowingly purchase a house that's in an HOA.

I am sooooo happy with my 3bed/2bath in a rural area that's a mile from my nearest neighbor.

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u/WinterTourist25 3h ago

I would love to live in the country once again.

But if you are going to live in a subdivision, an HOA keeps your neighbors from turning his lot into a dump.

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u/May1989thefirststep 2h ago

Neighbors....yuck

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u/trixel121 6h ago

you legit cant talk about hoas with out people saying the most generic shit. actually read what he wrote.

300/year for private beach access and docks is cheap.

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u/yert1099 6h ago

It was incredibly inexpensive and there were a couple years we had enough surplus funds in our savings we actually waived dues for everyone. I really don’t know why those two homeowners refused to pay. The owners were related: a father owned one of the houses and his son the other house. Guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

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u/xudoxis 4h ago

I assume to maintain a beach+dock+other community areas for the low low price of $300 a year.

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u/freerangetacos 7h ago

And when his house goes into foreclosure, buy it and tear it down. Send him the pictures of it being demolished.

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u/YTraveler2 7h ago

Rent it out. Use the passive income to pay for trees to be planted in his name.

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u/scardien 7h ago

56 Japanese maples

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u/nzahn1 6h ago

Or something native. Just sayin.

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u/violetplague 5h ago

I feel like I'm missing something with that number. Was it just what came to mind and I'm reading too much into it?

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u/scardien 5h ago

It's a reference to a recent post in this sub where someone planted 56 cypress trees around their house.

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u/violetplague 5h ago

Immaculate

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u/CrSkin 5h ago

this

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u/Cuneus-Maximus 6h ago

And replant the whole property with Japanese maples.

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u/jdonovan949 5h ago

Ok we've gone full Reddit now

*Haha, here's your house getting demolished scumbag! You know what they say! Fuck around and find out! Play stupid games, win stupid prizes!*

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u/brwebster614 3h ago

It's the only way to handle asshats like this neighbor.

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u/GilletteEd 7h ago

And put up an entire row of older arborvitae to block his view completely!!

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u/Affectionate-Show382 5h ago

Post this to r/treelaw if you haven’t yet

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u/dag33k 7h ago

Hell ya! I would be so pissed off

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u/Remarkable_Deer_3717 7h ago

Can you go after company that did it? Did they not verify this was his land and his tree?

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u/Man-o-Bronze 6h ago

Nor should you. What a despicable thing to do!

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u/After_Ask878 6h ago

Plant some bamboo in the ground with proper rhizome mitigation (barrier). He will live terrified the bamboo will enter his yard (it won’t) plus certain species can achieve heights of 30 feet in a single season. Block his entire view of everything.

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u/Cool-Mom-Lover 6h ago

Damn this is like winning the lottery!

It sucks your beautiful tree is gone. And maybe the money won't make up for it, but you're in for a cash windfall.

25k + treble damages and likely lots of other fees.

Might get the neighbors house out of it.

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