Our grass is an absolute minefield, and the walnuts break down and turn into sharp little pieces so we can't even let Ash walk barefoot. These things are like old wrinkled balls that terrorize us daily.
We have been throwing the nuts back over their fence for years, so I'm absolutely mortified to go over there and talk to them about this problem. Yes, we are very immature. I have actually taken videos of Ashford back here and you can see huge walnuts falling inches from his head. And if you can tell in this photo, there is a dead branch just hanging by a thread.
Now that we have a little guy playing in the yard, we just can't have this happening. I have no idea how much it would cost to have these trees cut down, but I'm sure it will be hundreds. Does anyone have any advice for me? Should I stop being an idiot and just go over there? Drop a to-the-point but nice note in their mailbox? Introduce a walnut-tree killing insect? Find a recipe to use all the dropped nuts?
You can call the city. Is it by a power line? Ours were by power lines so we energies cut it down for free. They don't do stump removal though. The city might send out in nspector if it is a hazard to you. Best of luck.
ReplyDeleteYou can offer to pay half of the cost of the tree trimming. But I'd check with the city about the power line thing first...that's free :)
ReplyDeleteomg lol!! We have the exact same horrible tree with huge falling branches and green balls!! Its our neighbors tree and sits right outside of our fence facing our yard. Another bad thing about it is the leaves fall before any tree and make another huge mess....only in our yard!
ReplyDeleteKeep us posted on what you do.
Write a super friendly letter explaining the situation and offer to pay half for tree trimming. Hopefully they'll be so embarrassed that they offer to have it done at no cost to you.
ReplyDeleteSeveral years ago I also had an issue with a tree in a neighbors yard that looked like it was going to fall in my yard where my son played. I knocked on the owners door and spoke to the wife and waited for something to happen. after a few weeks of no action I called a lawyer. He was very happy to write a very friendly letter on his legal stationary with the words "liability" clearly stated. It only took 3 days before the tree was cut down. If you have to pay a lawyer, it's worth every penny to make sure your family is safe on your property.
ReplyDeleteThis does nothing for tree removal but, in the meantime, could be tasty.
ReplyDeletehttp://midwesternexposure.wordpress.com/2010/07/09/pickled-green-walnuts/
Is Black Walnut still desirable to furniture makers? I know it used to go for a pretty price. Maybe convince them to sell it.
ReplyDeleteI have a black walnut in my backyard. Did you know that their roots give off juglone that kills other plants? I remember you wrote something about a few of your plants that were not doing well this year. If they are within the root zone of the trees - the juglone could be killing them. There's only a limited list of plants that do well under black walnuts. I have a very sad looking Annabelle Hydrangea - it was on a local nursery's list as black walnut tolerant - but not this one: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1148.html.
ReplyDeleteDespite the amount of money I've wasted on dead perennials, the smelly walnuts, the brown husk stains on my fence, the green balls I roll my ankles on, the empty shells I step on in my bare feet, - I would never chop down my tree. The squirrels thank me. But even if I wanted to it's illegal here to cut down big trees.
I think you have to put up with the green ball annoyance (every other year?), but not the huge dropping branches. Take your son with you when you go talk to them.
I would go talk to them, but pretend the nut-throwing wasn't petty. Rather, you knew it would be wrong to keep their own hard-grown bounty, so tossed it back to is rightful owner. You have to say it with a straight face, though.
ReplyDeleteAfter that, you can talk about your overhanging limb worries.
is the tree between the street and sidewalk? If yes, it is the city's responsibility to trim. If not, it's up to your neighbor, but if you tell him how much liability there is from falling branches to both your family and your property, he might wise up and pay to have it pruned. i'm currently fighting the same battle...my neighbor has a huge tree that drops crap constantly and she doesnt' give a damn about her property.
ReplyDeleteI don't have advice for this and for that I am sorry, I just wanted to add how much I hate how these trees smell. We had a few in our yard (our home growing up was surrounded by the woods, so they were all wild). Ugh, I hated stepping on them, and smelling them. I hope you can remedy the situation easily!
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