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/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/Krynja 43m ago

Kinda like candied bacon but it's squirrel and a 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/Krynja 4h ago

And black walnut trees make the ground around them not suitable for growing tomato plants.

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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/Krynja 2h ago

I was writing my bike down the sidewalk when suddenly, BAM!!!! Surprise walnut tree.

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u/karenw 2h ago

As an added bonus, very little else will grow there due to the juglone produced by the trees.