Photo of Shrubs that Neighbors Hacked......

[MariannNOVA]

I will try to post a photos here - I found the cable and the camera.

 

Just to give perspective, prior to the Scissorhands incident, we could not see the road, or the neighbor's lawn, or anything on the side where the shrubs were.

 

I am providing an update as that seems to be the most asked question: Right now, we are in the process of having our landscaper get the rest of the property cleaned up. We are thinking of a fence, have had a fence company out to provide an estimate, but as some of you here wrote and our landscaper told us, these will grow back really fast. We DO intend to put the house on the market and move so we are thinking we do not want the expen$e of a fence).

 

We have our receipts for the trailer that dh had to rent to haul it all away, the day he had to use from his office to haul it away, the fee to dump it, etc.

 

They have been served with the No Trespass Letter and I have to say, it is like they have gone underground. I think they are so afraid of us, and that's fine with me.

 

Something funny DID happen today though ;) -- they had their annual 'Open the Pool' party (good grief it was lame - lasted for all of two hours and then everyone was gone) - but this evening, we sat down on our screened porch for dinner and dh and the kids are giggling. I asked them what was the matter. :confused: Dh tell me to look to my right near the birdbath.

 

There was a beach ball in our yard. DH said that he had been sitting on the porch sort of sleeping with our pooch and there was a game of volleyball going on in the pool. He said that all of a sudden he hears Mrs. Scissorhands shouting at the top of her lungs, 'No, no! You can't go on their property - leave the ball there. We'll get arrested!' He opened his eyes to see that the ball had gone out of the pool and landed in our yard.:lol:

 

.....and THAT was the end of the volleyball game.;)

Edited June 1, 2010 by MariannNOVA
to provide update

[Corraleno]

:eek: Wow! Have they reimbursed you for the damage???

 

Jackie

[Brigitte]

Oh boy!

[Purpledaizy]

*gasp* wow, still speechless.

[BikeBookBread]

We want an update!!!!

[Pink Fairy]

Wow. That's such a shame. :crying: :grouphug:

[In the Rain]

That is shocking to see. Where does the case stand now?

[elizabeth]

Holy*****. That is my legal analysis. Wow this is truly wretched looking. I would be most displeased.

[2cents]

Yikes! How could they possibly think that was ok to do???!!! What is the status of the case??

[Nakia]

Oh my...That is horrifying. I am so sorry!

[Blueridge]

Bless your heart, Mariann! :eek: I cannot BELIEVE the nerve of those neighbors. It makes me want to cry and wring their necks at the same time. So, I imagine they will have to retire from the 'lawn maintenance business' and start playing the blues on their out-of-tune fiddle with all the damages they will eventually have to pay! :nopity: Stupid, selfish people!

[Imprimis]

I still can't understand why a neighbor would do that. :confused:

[jujsky]

That's worse than I imagined! Where do things stand now?

[fhjmom]

Just for clarification, are these your shrubs or the neighbors shrubs that happen to be on the side next to you? Are they on the property line, hanging over the property line, or fully on the property of the owner? What was the reason for pruning them? Do they block the view of the street when entering traffic?

 

They do look pretty bad now, but this time of year shrubs will put out new foliage pretty quickly. It is not unheard of to prune shrubs by at least 2/3 to reshape them, although not really my preference. I prefer a more natural shape over hard pruning and choosing a shrub with a mature size appropriate for the space rather than trying to keep a large shrub pruned to medium size.

[MariannNOVA]

:eek: Wow! Have they reimbursed you for the damage???

 

Jackie

 

Oh boy!

 

*gasp* wow, still speechless.

 

We want an update!!!!

 

Wow. That's such a shame. :crying: :grouphug:

 

That is shocking to see. Where does the case stand now?

 

WOW -- great minds really do think alike!:D Right now, we are in the process of having our landscaper get the rest of the property cleaned up. We are thinking of a fence, have had a fence company out to provide an estimate, but as some of you here wrote and our landscaper told us, these will grow back really fast. We DO intend to put the house on the market and move so we are thinking we do not want the expen$e of a fence).

 

We have our receipts for the trailer that dh had to rent to haul it all away, the day he had to use from his office to haul it away, the fee to dump it, etc.

 

They have been served with the No Trespass Letter and I have to say, it is like they have gone underground. I think they are so afraid of us, and that's fine with me.

 

Something funny DID happen today though ;) -- they had their annual 'Open the Pool' party (good grief it was lame - lasted for all of two hours and then everyone was gone) - but this evening, we sat down on our screened porch for dinner and dh and the kids are giggling. I asked them what was the matter. :confused: Dh tell me to look to my right near the birdbath.

 

There was a beach ball in our yard. DH said that he had been sitting on the porch sort of sleeping with our pooch and there was a game of volleyball going on in the pool. He said that all of a sudden he hears Mrs. Scissorhands shouting at the top of her lungs, 'No, no! You can't go on their property - leave the ball there. We'll get arrested!' He opened his eyes to see that the ball had gone out of the pool and landed in our yard.:lol:

 

.....and THAT was the end of the volleyball game.;)

Edited June 1, 2010 by MariannNOVA

[fhjmom]

Ahhh... so it sounds like you have had on going issues with the Scissorhands family. Yeah, I would not be happy if someone did that to my plants!

[MariannNOVA]

Ahhh... so it sounds like you have had on going issues with the Scissorhands family. Yeah, I would not be happy if someone did that to my plants!

 

 

No, there were no issues beforehand -- I don't think I had spoken more than four words to either of them -

 

Here is the link to the thread that I posted when it happened:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174280&highlight=neighbor

 

Honestly, the whole thing was bizarre. They clearly have boundary issues, they clearly did not know that they should not mess with me. I filed the No Trespass Letter the next day -- they should stay out of my sight until we sell the house and move.

 

Oh, and yes, forgot to answer your question: the shrubs were on our property, were not over hanging on their property at all. She volunteered that the folks who owned the house before us put the shrubs up because they liked their privacy. She unabashedly told us that she cut them down b/c she likes to see what people are doing.:001_huh:

[jujsky]

LOL! I LOVE the volleyball story! Your DH must have laughed his butt off! :lol:

[AuntieM]

Marianne, I was thinking of you today. I planted a forsythia in my back yard. Good to know yours will come back, hopefully soon enough for you to get some more enjoyment from them before you move on.

 

At least you know the neighbors are taking you seriously. I can just imagine the scene at their home a few weeks ago. They get served with this order... they call their attorney to ask what it's all about... attorney says, "You did WHAT????!!!!!" Attorney gives thorough instructions to become invisible...

[elise1mds]

I'm giggling. It's probably wrong, but I'm giggling. I love a good comeuppance. Sounds like they may have actually learned their lesson. I can't wait to see how it all comes out. I'm sorry you're having to deal with it, but at least they're learning.

[fhjmom]

Thanks for the link to the other thread.

 

Wow. Just wow! I can't imagine what it took for her to think something like that was okay. (Jaw dropping on floor)

[LMK]

Mariann,

 

I have to tell you that I was absolutely BLAZING with curiosity to see the hedges that I actually joined the Hive (after just reading for months). This is my first post! I was horrified for you when I read about what happened. Now, after seeing the pictures, I don't blame you at all for wanting to move. This is bad enough, but who knows what will happen next? Good luck with your house hunting!

 

:grouphug:

 

LMK

[MariannNOVA]

LOL! I LOVE the volleyball story! Your DH must have laughed his butt off! :lol:

 

Isn't it great! Yes, dh said he was laughing!:lol: The kids were having a good laugh at dinner, too.

 

Marianne, I was thinking of you today. I planted a forsythia in my back yard. Good to know yours will come back, hopefully soon enough for you to get some more enjoyment from them before you move on.

 

At least you know the neighbors are taking you seriously. I can just imagine the scene at their home a few weeks ago. They get served with this order... they call their attorney to ask what it's all about... attorney says, "You did WHAT????!!!!!" Attorney gives thorough instructions to become invisible...

 

AuntieM: THAT is the funniest part of all this - literally, except for today and their pool party, they have been invisible! I LOVE IT! And, if there was an Olympic Event for looking through someone as if they were invisible.......I'd ALWAYS win the GOLD!

[MariannNOVA]

Thanks for the link to the other thread.

 

Wow. Just wow! I can't imagine what it took for her to think something like that was okay. (Jaw dropping on floor)

 

Yup - that's how we felt! Jaw-dropping shock!

 

Mariann,

 

I have to tell you that I was absolutely BLAZING with curiosity to see the hedges that I actually joined the Hive (after just reading for months). This is my first post! I was horrified for you when I read about what happened. Now, after seeing the pictures, I don't blame you at all for wanting to move. This is bad enough, but who knows what will happen next? Good luck with your house hunting!

 

:grouphug:

 

LMK

 

OMH - THAT is funny! I finally found the USB cable on tuesday evening, and on tuesday night, dd9.5 spilled water on my keyboard and dh was away so I didn't have a computer to use. Well, welcome, and I hope you enjoy being here!:)

[FlockOfSillies]

'No, no! You can't go on their property - leave the ball there. We'll get arrested!'

 

Oh, to have been a fly on the wall to hear the response to "What do you mean you'll get arrested? Why?"

[MariannNOVA]

Oh, to have been a fly on the wall to hear the response to "What do you mean you'll get arrested? Why?"

 

Her response was: 'B/c they have NO TRESPASSING signs on their property. You'll get arrested!'

 

She's nosy AND she lies! :D OH! The irony of it all!:tongue_smilie:

[happi duck]

LOL! I LOVE the volleyball story! Your DH must have laughed his butt off! :lol:

:iagree::iagree:

[EthiopianFood]

He said that all of a sudden he hears Mrs. Scissorhands shouting at the top of her lungs, 'No, no! You can't go on their property - leave the ball there. We'll get arrested!'

 

:lol::lol::lol:

[mom2abcd]

Are you still packed, Mariann? Will you find a new house easily and sell this one easily? I hate moving.

 

Thanks for posting the update and photo.

[MariannNOVA]

Are you still packed, Mariann? Well, we are almost totally de-cluttered. Packing will not be difficult.

 

Will you find a new house easily and sell this one easily? yes and yes

 

I hate moving. So.Do.I. :cursing:

 

Thanks for posting the update and photo.

 

You're welcome -- I was so thrilled that I found the USB cable! On Tuesday. When I was decluttering. :hurray:

[tex-mex]

Holy guacamole. I tell ya, your screwball neighbor is sumptin' else... ;)

Edited June 1, 2010 by tex-mex

[babysparkler]

I was about to pm you to see if you have found your cable yet :lol:.

 

Wow... that really looks bad! :grouphug:

[Prairie~Phlox]

Was it right for them to do that, No. But they will grow back fairly quickly. They probably did need a trim, but no, it was not their place to do it. I would get over it though and move on. Life is too short to hold grudges. I feel forgiveness is important. Good luck.

[Carrie12345]

I can't even wrap my mind around that sort of violation.

 

I live in the woods, in a section of 1+acre lots, and 90% of my 1.26ac property is wild. Last week, the neighbors across the street clear cut their own front yard, leaving a 10' buffer of semi-mature trees, perfectly within their right, and I still feel slightly exposed, lol.

 

I can't even begin to imagine how I would feel if someone were to take it upon themselves to come over and cut something of mine.

 

I hope everything is resolved for you as quickly and painlessly as possible! :grouphug:

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

I haven't said a thing yet because I'm not sure I understand... I guess we're just different.

Over here, neighbours cut each other's shrubbery all the time. When it needs a trim, we take turn. So basically once every three years we do it, and three years later they do it. No one even asks if the shrubs are on the property line or not (my west shrubs are on the line, the east ones aren't).

For us, it's just being good neighbours. We both benefit from the shrubs and we both take care of them.

 

As you can see, I come to this with a totally different point of view. I never knew it wasn't handled like that everywhere.

[AuntieM]

I haven't said a thing yet because I'm not sure I understand... I guess we're just different.

Over here, neighbours cut each other's shrubbery all the time. When it needs a trim, we take turn. So basically once every three years we do it, and three years later they do it. No one even asks if the shrubs are on the property line or not (my west shrubs are on the line, the east ones aren't).

For us, it's just being good neighbours. We both benefit from the shrubs and we both take care of them.

 

As you can see, I come to this with a totally different point of view. I never knew it wasn't handled like that everywhere.

 

Hmmm, in my book, hacked to the ground does not equal neat neighborly trim...

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

Hmmm, in my book, hacked to the ground does not equal neat neighborly trim...

 

Well, based on the posted picture, it *is* what we do every three years.

[KnitWit]

I haven't said a thing yet because I'm not sure I understand... I guess we're just different.

Over here, neighbours cut each other's shrubbery all the time. When it needs a trim, we take turn. So basically once every three years we do it, and three years later they do it. No one even asks if the shrubs are on the property line or not (my west shrubs are on the line, the east ones aren't).

For us, it's just being good neighbours. We both benefit from the shrubs and we both take care of them.

 

As you can see, I come to this with a totally different point of view. I never knew it wasn't handled like that everywhere.

 

Seems to me the difference here is that YOU have a history, a relationship and an understanding with your neighbors. All of this is lacking in Mariann's case.

 

And, Mariann, those photos are shocking. I still can't believe it.

[KnitWit]

Oh my word! I just realized that the pile to the left in the pic is what they cut off and LEFT for you! :eek:

[Impish]

Mariann and her family came home to find the shrubs a few inches tall...this from being 6 or 8 ft tall (if I remember correctly). The neighbour told them she did it because the previous owners of Mariann's home liked their privacy (and hence the hedge) whereas the Scissorhand family 'liked to see what ppl are doing'.

 

This wasn't a friendly neighbour helping out. This was flat out destruction of another's property, vandalism. Rather like someone wandering on to another's property and removing their tree.

 

And to add insult to injury, the nutbars left all the chopped down shrub for Mariann to clean up!

[Jennifer in MI]

WOW!!!! I just can't wrap my head around it. What the heck were they thinking????

 

I can't even wrap my mind around that sort of violation.

 

I live in the woods, in a section of 1+acre lots, and 90% of my 1.26ac property is wild. Last week, the neighbors across the street clear cut their own front yard, leaving a 10' buffer of semi-mature trees, perfectly within their right, and I still feel slightly exposed, lol.

 

I can't even begin to imagine how I would feel if someone were to take it upon themselves to come over and cut something of mine.

 

I hope everything is resolved for you as quickly and painlessly as possible! :grouphug:

 

My parents' neighbors had a HUGE row of beautiful trees at the back of my parents' property. One day they took a bunch of them out. Entirely within their rights, but my mom said it felt like she'd lost a wall to her house! She felt too exposed.

 

We decided to cut down a hedge between our yard and our neighbor's yard. We talked with him at length before we did it. Even though it is on our property, we want to maintain a good relationship with him. He's a great neighbor!! We did cut them down on Saturday and it looks GREAT!!!

[AuntieM]

Seems to me the difference here is that YOU have a history, a relationship and an understanding with your neighbors. All of this is lacking in Mariann's case.

 

And, Mariann, those photos are shocking. I still can't believe it.

 

Cleo, I'm sure your established relationship makes all the difference. How did you start doing it? Was there an initial discussion way back when? I just can't imagine this severe a pruning coming fully unbidden. I know some plants are given serious prunings, but if it serves the purpose of being a privacy hedge, and there's no established custom... Well, that's shocking to me.

[Spy Car]

The kids were having a good laugh at dinner, too.

 

A dinner cooked on the beautiful new brick-red AGA stove (that you are thinking of moving away from)???

 

Bill (who could get used to a view of the road for a while)

[LibraryLover]

A dinner cooked on the beautiful new brick-red AGA stove (that you are thinking of moving away from)???

 

Bill (who could get used to a view of the road for a while)

 

 

lol I know could you leave such a stove? :D

 

 

 

Edited September 15, 2014 by LibraryLover

[Laurie4b]

I haven't said a thing yet because I'm not sure I understand... I guess we're just different.

Over here, neighbours cut each other's shrubbery all the time. When it needs a trim, we take turn. So basically once every three years we do it, and three years later they do it. No one even asks if the shrubs are on the property line or not (my west shrubs are on the line, the east ones aren't).

For us, it's just being good neighbours. We both benefit from the shrubs and we both take care of them.

 

As you can see, I come to this with a totally different point of view. I never knew it wasn't handled like that everywhere.

 

In the original thread, it was posted that the neighbor said she did it because she wanted to observe the family whose hedge was cut. The family wanted it there for privacy and the protection of their children, as it apparently blocked the street, too. They didn't want it trimmed. The woman who cut it was being nosy & weird (wants to see what their family is doing) and arrogant ( she doesn't like something on your property, she removes it.) It wasn't about taking turns with each other's yard work---at all. So in this case, it was the polar opposite of being a good neighbor. Perhaps the OP would have felt differently if the neighbor's explanation was that she was trying to help.... But it's against the law to do what was done whatever the reason. It's not your property, you aren't to touch it. To lose 3 years worth of privacy & protection for your children while waiting for it to grow back is a big deal. The woman stole something of value from the OP's family that she cannot replace without building a fence. By her own admission, she did it to satisfy her own voyeurism. That is very different from neighbors taking turns helping each other with yard work.

[jazzyfizzle]

Wow, shocking is it.

I still think they need to look everyday at the the charming toliet planter I found. :D

 

Nope, no one touches my plants here either, they are important to me and I absolutely would take as much action as you did, (maybe more if possible) to 'provide' consequences for their actions. It looks as though they will think next time before putting their hands on another person's property. Love it!

[Denisemomof4]

:eek::eek::eek:

 

I'm so glad I don't have neighbors close by. We'd get stuck with real WINNERS like you have, I'm sure.

 

LOVE the names you've given them!!! :D

 

I didn't realize you were serious about the historic condos! You've probably mentioned you were moving but........ my memory fails me. Regularly. :glare: I hope you have better neighbors when you move!!!

[jenL]

Unbelievable!!!!!!

[coffeefreak]

Mariann,

 

I have to tell you that I was absolutely BLAZING with curiosity to see the hedges that I actually joined the Hive (after just reading for months). This is my first post! I was horrified for you when I read about what happened. Now, after seeing the pictures, I don't blame you at all for wanting to move. This is bad enough, but who knows what will happen next? Good luck with your house hunting!

 

:grouphug:

 

LMK

 

:lol:

Welcome to the group! Oh, the things that take us out of lurking.

 

In the original thread, it was posted that the neighbor said she did it because she wanted to observe the family whose hedge was cut. The family wanted it there for privacy and the protection of their children, as it apparently blocked the street, too. They didn't want it trimmed. The woman who cut it was being nosy & weird (wants to see what their family is doing) and arrogant ( she doesn't like something on your property, she removes it.) It wasn't about taking turns with each other's yard work---at all. So in this case, it was the polar opposite of being a good neighbor. Perhaps the OP would have felt differently if the neighbor's explanation was that she was trying to help.... But it's against the law to do what was done whatever the reason. It's not your property, you aren't to touch it. To lose 3 years worth of privacy & protection for your children while waiting for it to grow back is a big deal. The woman stole something of value from the OP's family that she cannot replace without building a fence. By her own admission, she did it to satisfy her own voyeurism. That is very different from neighbors taking turns helping each other with yard work.

 

Not to mention, they WAITED until Marianne and her family drove away, and then rushed to do it in the time they were gone!!!!:001_huh:

 

I'm still in shock over the whole situation Marianne. I would have done the exact same thing!

 

Blessings!

Dorinda

[Kirch]

Will you find a new house easily and sell this one easily? yes and yes

 

As long as you don't tell prospective buyers about the neighbors . . .