Homeowner seeks advice after neighbor's yard maintenance causes major damage: 'Pines began to die'

It looked innocent enough, but a relatively short retaining wall built by one Australian homeowner became the downfall of their neighbor's trees.

The neighbor and tree owner posted a photo of the situation in the subreddit r/TreeLaw, writing, "Neighbour's retaining wall killed big ol' hoop pines."

"Mostly just a sad vent, but if any champions of Australian tree law can weigh [in I'd] be incredibly appreciative," they wrote. "My neighbour cut into the bank and [built] a shoddy DA free retaining wall within a metre of the boundary fence. Soon after five established hoop pines began to die and after three or so years I've had to have them felled before any real damage happens."

Unfortunately, they explained, in their part of New South Wales, there aren't dedicated tree preservation laws, leaving them with minimal options for recourse.

"An arborist did come out and inspect the dying trees and did say the retaining wall is likely the cause although I never got an official report," they said.

In the United States, while similar issues happen frequently with neighbors — and with HOAs and property developers — there are at least legal recourse options available. 

Most states have laws in place called timber trespass. These specify that damaging a tree on private — or public — property is subject to fees. This includes the cost of replacing the trees with equivalent specimens to those that were cut down. Those fines can quickly climb into the hundreds of thousands, considering the cost of replacing even a single healthy mature tree.

But sadly, for this homeowner, their options are much more limited. They shared the plan for landscaping their yard: "Next step is to get the stumps ground down and densely [plant] a dozen or so fast growing species to fill the hole."

Several commenters suggested some fast-growing species for the task. But while OP acknowledged that these would technically fit their needs, they wrote, "A good idea! But I've spent too many years and poured too much sweat into poisoning camphors and tearing out Lantana to introduce more invasive species."

And while nothing will truly replace the hoop pines, an array of native species will help create a beautiful, flourishing yard … one that even the shoddiest retaining walls can't touch.

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