Are my neighbors odd or not?

[fraidycat]

Sidenote, my backyard has an apple tree that is absolutely loaded with (not yet ripe) apples. But, it could use some pruning. Can you send your neighbors over? 😂

This is one branch. The whole tree is covered like that in apples.

Edited August 5, 2021 by fraidycat

[Faith-manor]

2 minutes ago, fraidycat said:

Sidenote, my backyard has an apple tree that is absolutely loaded with (not yet ripe) apples. But, it could use some pruning. Can you send your neighbors over? 😂

This is one branch. The whole tree is covered like that in apples.

Applesauce, this looks like a lot of applesauce!

[Condessa]

13 hours ago, Katy said:

I got really angry when, many houses ago, a roofing crew next door stole hundreds of peaches off my tree.  It turned out that it was in public property.  The easement in our neighborhood was 10' and the neighbor that was a cop said it was actually legal to steal off the tree because it was technically public property, we were just responsible to maintain it.  I wonder if that's the case in your neighborhood too.

Maybe things are different in your state, but this is definitely not true here.  An easement does not mean it is public property.  We have an easement for our neighbors to access their property.  There is a specified part of our back yard that we legally cannot impede access through for foot or vehicle traffic, but it is absolutely our personal property.  We just have limits on what we can do with it.

(I am very curious whether the law is different in your location or if the cop was just wrong.  Unfortunately, policemen are often not given sufficient education on the legalities.  My dh used to give training sessions to the local police departments on the legal side of things.)

[pinball]

4 minutes ago, fraidycat said:

Sidenote, my backyard has an apple tree that is absolutely loaded with (not yet ripe) apples. But, it could use some pruning. Can you send your neighbors over? 😂

This is one branch. The whole tree is covered like that in apples.

Are you the poster who asked for advice on re-doing a yard in the house you had recently bought?

or was that someone else?

I thought she had an animal name and/or avatar…

[pinball]

15 minutes ago, SKL said:

Odd, but I'd wonder why they are so hungry.  😛

I could probably see little-kid self doing this, but at some age it would feel wrong.

Do you use the apples?

 

9 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

It doesn’t matter if she gives them to the squirrels or plays croquet with them. They are her apples. On her property. 

I think SKL has a valid question.

my reaction to the situation would depend on a couple things…and one would be my intended use of the apples.

but then I think I am unique in the sense I don’t care if people come in my yard, walk on my lawn, knock on my door, call my phone…LOL

[Anne]

5 minutes ago, Condessa said:

Maybe things are different in your state, but this is definitely not true here.  An easement does not mean it is public property.  We have an easement for our neighbors to access their property.  There is a specified part of our back yard that we legally cannot impede access through for foot or vehicle traffic, but it is absolutely our personal property.  We just have limits on what we can do with it.

(I am very curious whether the law is different in your location or if the cop was just wrong.  Unfortunately, policemen are often not given sufficient education on the legalities.  My dh used to give training sessions to the local police departments on the legal side of things.)

This.

We have utility easements on our property for the *utility* companies - we can’t do anything on those easements that would impede the utilities in any way.  But the easements aren’t free-for-all spaces for anybody else to do whatever they want!

 

Anne

[saraha]

4 hours ago, Bootsie said:

I have to laugh because one of the straws that broke the camel's back in our decision to homeschool DS was when in fifth grade he used the term "hobo" talking about the symbols that they used to communicate and got in trouble for using such a deragatory, disrespectful term for homeless people.  

I wouldn't pick apples offf of someone's tree without being inveted to do so, just like I wouldn't cut flowers off of their rose bush.  

I would never call a homeless person a hobo, do we also not call them hobo signs? I never meant to be offensive. In my mind I guess the hobo signs are an historical thing, where a homeless person is a present entity that I respect, so separate concepts. If I was offensive, I’m sorry!

[Anne]

5 minutes ago, pinball said:

 

I think SKL has a valid question.

my reaction to the situation would depend on a couple things…and one would be my intended use of the apples.

but then I think I am unique in the sense I don’t care if people come in my yard, walk on my lawn, knock on my door, call my phone…LOL

In my mind there is a huge difference between you saying to people - help yourself to all my apples, versus people just deciding that the OP OUGHT to let everybody help themselves.

Anne

Edited August 5, 2021 by Anne

[fraidycat]

8 minutes ago, pinball said:

Are you the poster who asked for advice on re-doing a yard in the house you had recently bought?

or was that someone else?

I thought she had an animal name and/or avatar…

Yes, that was me. 

[Anne]

1 minute ago, saraha said:

I would never call a homeless person a hobo, do we also not call them hobo signs? I never meant to be offensive. In my mind I guess the hobo signs are an historical thing, where a homeless person is a present entity that I respect, so separate concepts. If I was offensive, I’m sorry!

Not offensive in my book.  Totally historical.  

Anne

[SKL]

2 minutes ago, pinball said:

 

I think SKL has a valid question.

my reaction to the situation would depend on a couple things…and one would be my intended use of the apples.

but then I think I am unique in the sense I don’t care if people come in my yard, walk on my lawn, knock on my door, call my phone…LOL

I mean, to me it matters partly because if you don't use the apples, then you end up with a bunch of rotten, wormy apples around your yard, and uninvited critters who will come to eat said apples.  So in that case, it's helpful if people eat the apples before they fall.  Also, if it is a theft of something viewed as $0 value by the owner, then how bad is that?  Is it similar to when I leave furniture on my treelawn the night before garbage day, and a guy comes around in a pickup truck and takes it?.

I still think it's odd do do this without actually knowing that the owner doesn't want the apples though.

[pinball]

6 minutes ago, Anne said:

In my mind there is a huge difference between you saying to people - help yourself to all my apples, versus people just deciding that the OP OUGHT to let everybody help themselves.

Anne

Who said the OP ought to let everyone help themselves? 

[Katy]

14 minutes ago, Condessa said:

Maybe things are different in your state, but this is definitely not true here.  An easement does not mean it is public property.  We have an easement for our neighbors to access their property.  There is a specified part of our back yard that we legally cannot impede access through for foot or vehicle traffic, but it is absolutely our personal property.  We just have limits on what we can do with it.

(I am very curious whether the law is different in your location or if the cop was just wrong.  Unfortunately, policemen are often not given sufficient education on the legalities.  My dh used to give training sessions to the local police departments on the legal side of things.)

You are right it was our property.  Our property to maintain that the public had a right to access at any time. 

The point was that just like the fruit trees in the city park, no one was going to prosecute anyone for stealing hundreds of peaches from a tree less than 10’ from the street. 

[Bootsie]

10 minutes ago, saraha said:

I would never call a homeless person a hobo, do we also not call them hobo signs? I never meant to be offensive. In my mind I guess the hobo signs are an historical thing, where a homeless person is a present entity that I respect, so separate concepts. If I was offensive, I’m sorry!

Oh, I do not think you were offensive.  In the situation I was referring to, my son was talking about the type of hobo signs that you are discussing (he was not commenting about any type of homeless person).  We had just been to a museum that had a big display of "Life of the Hobo" and he had learned all about thier ways of communication and life.  It was the teacher who did not know what the word hobo meant (and didn't take the time to find out)--instead elevated the offense of the use of the word to the principal.  

[ktgrok]

3 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Yep.  I live in a normal suburban neighborhood.   There is the treebank along the street, the sidewalk, and then our lot.  This tree is on our lot.  Hmm now I am thinking of putting up a little fence.  I have to see if you can do that in your front yard.  It would also keep people from letting their dogs pee and poop in our yard.  Which I hate.  When I walk my dogs I never ever let my dogs walk on people's lawns, let alone pee or poop on them.  I only let them go on the tree bank.

They make lovely and easy to use white picket style fences, or wire decorative ones, that are only about 18 inches high. I bet that would be allowed - they just stick right into the ground on the attached spikes. 

51 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Not sure if treebank is the real term or I just made that up.  In a normal suburban neighborhood that has sidewalks.  First you have the road, then a little strip of land that the city owns, but you take care of.  The city plants trees on it.   Then there is the sidewalk, and then there is our lot.

I grew up calling the swale, but no one where I live now knows what that is. turns out, a swale specifically refers to an area used for drainage, which they were where I grew up in South Florida. So after a heavy rain the rain drained into the swale area, what you call a tree bank, as it was slighly lower in the middle. I actually asked around for common terms, and parking strip was most common, followed by "hell strip" but that one was in a lawn forum - people don't like mowing them, I guess. 

[Tap]

Seriously, I would put up the linked sign and see if that takes care of the bulk of the problem. My guess is, that the this started and is now established so people think you don’t mind. A lil sign should clue people in that you don’t think it is ok. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

https://www.thespruce.com/building-on-an-easement-4125929

[pinball]

@mommyoffive

I know your thread was asking if the people taking the apples were odd…

but for my own curiosity, what do you want to do?

[Jean in Newcastle]

She wants them to stop. 

[Arcadia]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

Then I would have people picking those apparently.  I see why my neighbors have their yard edged in rose bushes now. 

 

1 hour ago, fraidycat said:

Then they'll steal the berries. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Rose bushes are useful deterrents especially the very thorny ones. Or else roses might just disappear during prom/graduation season.

Here people do not pick fruits off other people’s property unless the fruits are at the sidewalk portion or over the fence. 
 

As for apples, that’s what the local schools give for free breakfast every day. Pre-covid, I have seen the older kids pocket their breakfast plate apples probably to bring home to younger siblings. 

[mommyoffive]

34 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

She wants them to stop. 

Yep.   I am not happy that this started in any sort of way and you guys brought up a good point it will probably keep happening.  And now I more irritated that I will have to do something (that costs $) to deal with it.  Not quite sure what I want to do yet.  Sigh.

[Loowit]

It would bother me.  I would be tempted to put in a sprinkler with a motion sensor.  It would also deter neighbor dogs and cats from using our lawn.

[pinball]

15 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Yep.   I am not happy that this started in any sort of way and you guys brought up a good point it will probably keep happening.  And now I more irritated that I will have to do something (that costs $) to deal with it.  Not quite sure what I want to do yet.  Sigh.

Yes, that was my question. What do YOU want to DO…not what you want the pickers to do…I got the feeling you wanted them to stop. But I wasn’t sure if you wanted to take ACTION or not.

 

[SKL]

What would happen if you posted a sign "apples 25c each"?

[gardenmom5]

2 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Then I would have people picking those apparently.  I see why my neighbors have their yard edged in rose bushes now. 

Rugosas (or some noisettes) can be very good for this.  LOTS of thorns . . . .rugosa thorns can be particular viscous.  and they smell goooooodddd.  You also can get a nice rosehip crop come fall.

1 hour ago, Katy said:

You are right it was our property.  Our property to maintain that the public had a right to access at any time. 

The point was that just like the fruit trees in the city park, no one was going to prosecute anyone for stealing hundreds of peaches from a tree less than 10’ from the street. 

here - an easement is for access for utilities or, neighbors to access their own property.  not the public.  I have an easement (since turned into a private road), and I've also dealt with people who thought my berry bushes, and fruit trees were public property.  there weren't many, and it didn't happen much - so I just left it.  But I can see if it was happening frequently I'd be irked.

[saraha]

3 hours ago, Bootsie said:

Oh, I do not think you were offensive.  In the situation I was referring to, my son was talking about the type of hobo signs that you are discussing (he was not commenting about any type of homeless person).  We had just been to a museum that had a big display of "Life of the Hobo" and he had learned all about thier ways of communication and life.  It was the teacher who did not know what the word hobo meant (and didn't take the time to find out)--instead elevated the offense of the use of the word to the principal.  

Wow, ok teacher, that seems kind of ridiculous. Even if she thought it was offensive, could she not have dealt with it in the classroom? Your poor little guy was just sharing some cool knowledge that he learned in a MUSEUM 🙄

sorry for reading your post wrong, apparently my reading comprehension is not on point today 😆

[kbutton]

4 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

The city has rules on where, how high, and some other things we can have fences.   I don't know that you can have them in the front of your house as I haven't seen any like that in our city at all.

They probably have rules against stealing too, lol! I think I would get a wire fence and put it up seasonally, potentially with a sign about trespassing and about not stealing apples.

If the city complains, I would tell them you're having a problem with theft of the apples. If the fence is up only seasonally and is a wire fence, I can't see how they have much of a basis for complaints.

2 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Yep.   I am not happy that this started in any sort of way and you guys brought up a good point it will probably keep happening.  And now I more irritated that I will have to do something (that costs $) to deal with it.  Not quite sure what I want to do yet.  Sigh.

A wire fence might be the cheapest and easiest option, and it's not permanent. 

[Clarita]

4 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

And now I more irritated that I will have to do something (that costs $) to deal with it.  Not quite sure what I want to do yet.  Sigh.

This is an issue around where I live. You can try just signage either something that says please ask before picking or please don't and perhaps couple it with a under 24hr video surveillance sign for some cheaper options. Some people (a friend of mine) does think it's OK to pick fruit off of someone's fruit tree in their front yard so perhaps a sign informing them you aren't OK with it will suffice. 

 

6 hours ago, SKL said:

I mean, to me it matters partly because if you don't use the apples, then you end up with a bunch of rotten, wormy apples around your yard, and uninvited critters who will come to eat said apples.  So in that case, it's helpful if people eat the apples before they fall.  Also, if it is a theft of something viewed as $0 value by the owner, then how bad is that? 

Well, my in-laws don't eat all their lemons off their lemon tree and do often share with their neighbors. However one year they had someone who took it upon themselves to pick every lemon off the tree, so sometimes a reminder that you don't think it's OK is needed. 

Sometimes uninvited critters will be at your yard regardless of whether you have lots of excess food. Some people do plant excess food to make sure there is enough for critters and themselves.

[Janeway]

23 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

We have an apple tree (actually we have another one on our side yard too) planted in our front yard.  It is 100% on our yard not on the city tree bank.  People have taken to coming to our house and walking into our yard and picking apples off the tree to eat.   Mind you I don't know any of these people other than seeing them around the neighborhood.  I haven't invited them to do it.  I don't have a sign out front to pick your own apples.  So is this odd or not?   

It is theft. Apparently, it is not odd, but it is still wrong, big time, and it is theft. Farmers have trouble with people pulling along side the road and stealing crops.

[mommyoffive]

5 minutes ago, Janeway said:

It is theft. Apparently, it is not odd, but it is still wrong, big time, and it is theft. Farmers have trouble with people pulling along side the road and stealing crops.

I have seen that sort of.  We have a park that is right up to a farm field and kids go in there and take the corn out.  And we have another bike trail that is through farm fields and I have see people just go in there and take whatever was growing that year.  

[katilac]

9 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Not sure if treebank is the real term or I just made that up.  In a normal suburban neighborhood that has sidewalks.  First you have the road, then a little strip of land that the city owns, but you take care of.  The city plants trees on it.   Then there is the sidewalk, and then there is our lot.

Huh, my city plants plants nothing on it! We can plant trees there if we like, but they'd have to be pretty small ones. And I don't think we call it anything, which is kind of weird. 

[popmom]

You need the Orbit Yard Enforcer. And please video. 😉

Also available at Amazon.

I’ve set my own off more times than I’d like to admit. My husband, too. And we get a good laugh at each other’s expense. 😂

Edited August 6, 2021 by popmom

[itsheresomewhere]

If I were you- I might have to set up the motion activated sprinkler…..

Or get out the lawn chair, cooler, put on my finest moo moo, funky cat slippers and yell/lecture everyone who does it. Most don’t stay for the lecture when seeing the crazy lady in the outfit…

[KungFuPanda]

If you have fence-height regulations, maybe you can fight it with landscaping. Can you plant something perennial like sunflowers or Joe Pye that block access in the summer but are lower the rest of the year?

[mom2scouts]

On 8/5/2021 at 2:38 AM, Jean in Newcastle said:

I had neighbors who regularly let their dogs out of their yard to come over to poop in my yard.  I talked to them repeatedly about it.  I came home one day while they sat and watched their dogs take a dump on my yard.  I immediately turned the car around, went to Home Depot and got wire fencing.  It isn't the prettiest but the kids and I could do it ourselves and it keeps those dogs out of my yard. 

 

My elderly mom had a neighbor who let his dog come and poop in her yard. She started picking it up and throwing it back into the neighbor's driveway and it stopped.

[TravelingChris]

On 8/5/2021 at 11:33 AM, Anne said:

Not offensive in my book.  Totally historical.  

Anne

I consider hobos to be people who go on cargo trains illegally.  That is definitely not a usual  homeless practice.

[happi duck]

I grew up with an apple tree and we had the same problem.  My dad went out and set them straight every time.  My mom canned from our trees and garden.

I'd consider a sign on/near the tree.  

[Lady Florida.]

No it's not okay. I suggest starting with signage. It will cost nothing, or very little if you want to buy weatherproof garage sale type signs. Maybe get the kind with metal posts that you can stick in the ground by the tree.

True but embarrassing story - 

After college a close friend and I both applied for our first teaching job in a small South Georgia town. We were both offered and accepted positions, and found an apartment to share. We noticed a lot of pecan trees growing close to the road on our route to the school where we worked. We thought that was great. Free pecans! We started bringing a basket to work and stopped on our way home several times a week to fill it up with pecans. Then one day we were in the teacher's lounge and started talking about it. One of the other teachers was horrified and told us those were pecan farms. Only then did we realize they were probably like the orange groves we grew up with in Florida - they're everywhere but they all belong to someone!

Edited August 8, 2021 by Lady Florida.

[Sneezyone]

On 8/6/2021 at 5:36 PM, mom2scouts said:

My elderly mom had a neighbor who let his dog come and poop in her yard. She started picking it up and throwing it back into the neighbor's driveway and it stopped.

My grandma used to use her golf clubs for this purpose.

Everyone in my neighborhood growing up had fruit trees, a legacy of WW2 victory gardens that offered shared produce to all. Blackberries also grew wild so, as kids, we were always in each other's yards collecting cherries, apples, plums, pears, rasberries and blackberries. I never gave it a second thought. This was an urban neighborhood/block tho and our families knew each other. In some cases, the trees were right out front, in others in the back yard, some were in vacant lots where homes no longer stood. If we didn't pick it, it usually fell and rotted. DH's aunt/uncle have pecan trees on their property and they practically beg us to take some to keep the wildlife at bay.

Edited August 8, 2021 by Sneezyone

[kiwik]

On 8/5/2021 at 10:52 PM, J-rap said:

I remember as a kid thinking it wasn't a big deal to pick a fruit off trees heavily laden along a path I went on...  But for an adult to think that?

Maybe one of the these signs?

https://www.mysecuritysign.com/please-dont-pick-the-fruit-private-property-signature-sign/sku-k-0828?engine=googlebase&keyword=&skuid=K-0828-DZHI-18x24&gclid=CjwKCAjwmK6IBhBqEiwAocMc8oN2nNn6-QA2aVMCdEU02F4wwNV0HbZw9QLVvgHwhwDDnSDLB27WBBoCCBUQAvD_BwE

 

If it is hanging over a public path fair enough but if you have to go into the neighbour's property not so much. Put up a fence or dig a ditch.

[saraha]

@fraidycat after seeing the other thread, I wondered what you ended up doing with this situation

[HS Mom in NC]

Weird.   The only plausible explanation I can think of is if the previous owner had told them to feel free to take apples and they're unaware there's a new owner. If that's not the case, it so weird.

I planted immature apple trees in my front yard last spring.  I have others behind a solid 5 ft. fence in my food forest. I'm from PHX where plants often struggle. I planted 3 very young trees in each planting bed so if 2 died for whatever reason, I wouldn't have to start completely over.  They all took off in the NC climate and I said to myself, "What am I going to do with all these trees!?" So 1 from each planting bed went in the front yard and another from each bed is espaliered along the inside of the fence.

[mommyoffive]

3 minutes ago, Homeschool Mom in AZ said:

Weird.   The only plausible explanation I can think of is if the previous owner had told them to feel free to take apples and they're unaware there's a new owner. If that's not the case, it so weird.

I planted immature apple trees in my front yard last spring.  I have others behind a solid 5 ft. fence in my food forest. I'm from PHX where plants often struggle. I planted 3 very young trees in each planting bed so if 2 died for whatever reason, I wouldn't have to start completely over.  They all took off in the NC climate and I said to myself, "What am I going to do with all these trees!?" So 1 from each planting bed went in the front yard and another from each bed is espaliered along the inside of the fence.

Nope.  We built our house so we are the only owners.  The family that kept doing this have been on our street after we moved in.   But they have still lived here for a few years.  And we planted this tree.  

[fraidycat]

2 hours ago, saraha said:

@fraidycat after seeing the other thread, I wondered what you ended up doing with this situation

I still need @mommyoffiveto send her neighbors over. Either to eat the apples off the tree, or to share the ones my DH bought. 😂😂

[annandatje]

In a former residence, we had a large healthy lovely magnolia tree on corner lot.  Adult thieves delighted in stealing blooms and branches from the tree.  It was a fairly common occurrence which I found bizarre since I had never offered cuttings to anyone.

[Rosie_0801]

27 minutes ago, annandatje said:

In a former residence, we had a large healthy lovely magnolia tree on corner lot.  Adult thieves delighted in stealing blooms and branches from the tree.  It was a fairly common occurrence which I found bizarre since I had never offered cuttings to anyone.

Magnolia flowers are edible. Pickling them seems to be a thing on some of my online groups at the moment.


I've been politely informed by some local kids that they intend to steal some of the olives off the tree I'll be planting on my nature strip in November. 😂

[saraha]

3 hours ago, fraidycat said:

I still need @mommyoffiveto send her neighbors over. Either to eat the apples off the tree, or to share the ones my DH bought. 😂😂

Ah! Sorry I tagged the wrong person!

@mommyoffive what did you end up doing?