It takes a special kind of impertinence to take down a tree, half of which is on a neighbor's property, and ruin that neighbor's Japanese Maple in the process. The neighbor has been left holding the bag and turned to the r/treelaw subreddit for help. 

"Neighbor not only had a big tree that split our property line cut down without telling me, but a huge chunk fell towards my house and smashed my Japanese Maple. I live in North Carolina and don't know what to do," the original poster wrote, sharing a deep sense of frustration.  

The pictures are worse, beginning with the majestic tree and ending with a bent Japanese Maple the OP compared to "Charlie Brown's Christmas tree." 

Neighbor disputes are not rare, and conflicts over trees and property lines are often the driving factors.

The tree in the first pic is allegedly a Bradford Pear, which is beautiful but considered invasive, especially in North Carolina, where this unfortunate event took place. They grow fast and have highly alluring spring blossoms, but they also have an unpleasant smell and facilitate ecological problems. 

A North Carolina state program called the NC Bradford Pear Bounty kicked off in 2022, intending to spread the word and encourage residents to remove these trees, replacing them with free native alternatives. 

Worse, Bradley Pears were once marketed as sterile, which is not true. They cross-pollinate with other pear varieties via birds, growing into Callery Pears, which outcompete native plants and create food deserts.  

Given these facts, getting a free native tree is a great deal, especially since some native North Carolina trees are pricey. Whether the neighbor who did the cutting knew about the bounty or not isn't clear, though. It seems they might not have.

"She's refusing to pay or replace anything because she screamed 'it was an accident,'" the OP said.

However, if the tree was indeed on two properties and its fall destroyed the OP's Japanese Maple, there may be room for a dispute in small claims court. "Japanese maples are very expensive, even as tiny saplings," one Redditor commented. 

While this isn't a case of one person acting as a barrier to a neighbor developing a natural lawn, it is an example of disregard for another's property resulting in unwanted destruction.

Should homeowners associations be able to determine what you grow in your garden? Yes 💯 Only if it impacts your neighbors 🏘️ Depends on what you're growing 🌼 Heck no 🙅 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

While Japanese Maples are not indigenous to North Carolina, they offer habitat refuge, are low maintenance, are compact, and have a high degree of aesthetic appeal. 

As for the OP's dilemma, things got worse. The OP managed to capture a developing situation on a RING doorbell camera: "Gotta love RING doorbell cameras. Just realized I have them taking my Japanese Maple away."

Here's to hoping that something can be done to resolve the conflict.

"Get an estimate for the tree, plus removal of the old one and planting of the new one," recommended one person who supported an attempt at small-claims court given that the neighbor didn't seem open to talking.

"Might be worth a lawyer consult," added another.

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