When somebody plants a garden, they accept that forces of nature beyond their control — rain, wind, animals — may one day destroy it. What they generally don't expect is for their next-door neighbor to be the source of its demise.
Unfortunately, this was the outcome for one homeowner, who posted on Reddit with their tale of woe.
They've lived in their home for seven years, they explained, and their relationship with the grouchy neighbor has always been rocky. Nevertheless, they said, they'd maintained a friendly and neighborly attitude.
"That ended today," they wrote, when their neighbor "decided that he was going to reach over the fence to chop and mow down my tomatoes, cucumbers, giant sunflowers (ones you can eat), and tall privacy ornamental grass with a weed wacker."
They posted photos of the destroyed garden, saying: "I went to his house and asked him point blank if he did that and if it was intentional. … [He said it was and] I asked him why, well it's because my impact sprinkler heads occasionally mist water on my side of his fence."
The homeowner immediately filed a property report with the police, saying that if the neighbor "wants to be petty while also being a terrible neighbor, he can have the petty consequences in court."
Commenters were outraged by the neighbor's actions. "You can screw around with a lot of things in my life, but you hurt my plants ... I wish you the best of luck," one person wrote.
While this degree of blatant destruction is somewhat rare, it's not uncommon to hear stories of neighbors who, disagreeing with a landscaping choice, decide to take matters — very illegally — into their own hands.
One commenter shared a story about a friend whose trees were destroyed by a neighbor after he secretly "sprayed them with who knows what."
Similarly, people have been caught razing trees, mowing down gardens, and using pesticides on their neighbor's properties.
Legal recourse varies based on where a home is located, but particularly when it comes to trees, there are often laws mandating repayment for the destruction. After all, not only are gardens like this one a source of property value and beauty for a home, but they're also often a source of food and important habitat for local pollinators and wildlife.
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