If you’ve ever gone toe-to-toe with your neighbor over your property line, you know just how stressful these conversations can be. Most of the time, people will just go with the flow to keep the peace, agreeing to let their neighbor put a fence directly on the property line so that both parties avoid losing any of their yard.
Typically, both neighbors end up benefiting from the physical boundary anyway, since it clearly spells out which part of the yard is yours and which part is theirs. But what happens when your neighbor wants you to do something a little extra with your side of the property line, like adding a privacy hedge?
A Redditor named gold_squirrel_9473 took this exact example to Reddit recently, asking people for advice on how to handle an unusual request from their neighbor. “My neighbor that shares a fence with me on one side is asking me to fully pay for the installation and watering of a hedge that will provide us both with equal privacy,” they wrote. However, the OP doesn’t think it’s a fair question to ask, since it would involve taking on considerable expenses to pull it off.
And that’s not all. Later in the comments, the OP revealed that their neighbor has done some other unusual things since the OP bought the house, and most of the commenters agree that this neighbor seems to have a major problem with boundaries… both figuratively and literally.
Neighbor is asking me to plant hedges on fence we share at my own expense, not willing to pitch in
by
u/Gold_Squirrel_9473 in
neighborsfromhell
The OP Only Just Moved in
According to the OP, they just purchased their Los Angeles home, and they noted that they’ve already discovered that water usage costs are very high. Coupled with the hedge conversation with their neighbor, they have some serious concerns about the potential cost of this project.
However, they do feel a little torn because the neighbor says that they have the same setup with the person who lives on the opposite side of their home. And when they made that arrangement, the OP said that the neighbor was the one to foot the bill.
“Is it fair that he’s asking me to do that? I mean he’s not forcing me, but I feel like it’s kind of a d–k move to ask me to do it and not pitch in at all. I asked if we could somehow split the cost and he said no, but is still suggesting I do it,” the post continued.
This Isn’t the First Time the Neighbor Has Overstepped
The plot thickened when the OP revealed that the neighbor had a sprinkler system run into the OP’s yard when the previous owners owned the property so that he could water a cypress tree that he planted. His reasoning? He didn’t like looking at the electrical pole that sat in the OP’s yard. “I’m reading it could be a fire hazard, but the City of LA I guess will trim it for free if it gets too close to the power lines,” the OP wrote. “Should I ask him to remove it or just leave it as is?”
Most people responded with comments about the original question, asking the OP whether or not they actually wanted a hedge in their yard to begin with. “Decide if you want hedges,” one person wrote. “If you do, plant them. If not, don’t. Neighbor has nothing to say about it.”
“People are too nice to their entitled neighbors,” another person added. “If he told me no, there’s no way I’m paying for it, got some damn nerve.”
Between the Hedge and the Sprinkler System, Reddit Has Thoughts
It doesn’t sound like anyone is on the neighbor’s side in this argument, and several people sounded off in the comments about how the demands are likely to continue if the OP gives in.
“Don’t agree to anything. Take back your power. Say no thank you. Stop engaging with this neighbor. They have no right to your property nor your time and money,” one person wrote in part.
Since the post was only recently shared, there aren’t any updates on which way the OP decided to go. Based on the overwhelming amount of feedback, one has to imagine they will follow the suggestions that were given to them about the hedges and say “no.”