Maintaining a good relationship with your neighbors is important as a homeowner, but sometimes that can be tricky. This is especially true when it comes to disagreements over property lines and landscaping.

In the subreddit r/arborists, a Reddit user posted about a cherry tree on their property that was all but cut down by a neighbor.

"A neighbor said he wanted to prune my cherry tree (because it also grew on his walkway)," they said. "It is in a garden and has not been pruned for at least 15 years (we got the garden just recently) and was growing wildly."

The poster included a picture of the aftermath, which showed that the neighbor cut large branches off the tree and left it severely damaged. "Tell me, will it survive?" they asked.

This sparked a lengthy debate in the comments, with most people outraged that the neighbor would go to such lengths to "prune" the tree without the homeowner's consent.

"This seemed completely malicious. This wasn't a pruning. It looks like he severed every fruiting branch. I don't know what your relationship with him is, but this shouldn't go unchecked. He needs to be held accountable. This is years of growth he took away from you," one commenter said.

"He didn't prune it, he mutilated it. It might sucker out over the next few years. But he basically killed it. I would get him to buy you a new one at the very least," another user wrote.

"I'd get a lawyer and sue for damages. Tree laws are very strict and a mature cherry tree isn't cheap," someone else said.

Other commenters warned the poster to be wary of jumping into legal action too quickly, because once you make that decision, your relationship with your neighbor will likely never recover.

Good neighbor relationships make life easier and have a lot of benefits. Trusting and liking the people who live closest to you helps you build community, connect with others in your town, and navigate emergencies with support.

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But when neighbors are aggressive and cause problems, this can be stressful for those near them. This may lead homeowners to avoid others and spend more time inside, and it could prevent them from making wallet- and planet-friendly updates to their homes and properties.

It's important to maintain good communication with your neighbors so you can work through challenges when they arise without involving authorities. But you should also be willing to determine if a neighbor has gone too far, whether they damaged your home, trespassed on your property, or cut down your cherry tree.

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