We bought this house 5 years ago. It had been vacant about a year due to foreclosure. The neighbors have lived in their home 2 years longer than we’ve been in ours. They have kids the same age who love to play together, and we mostly get along fine. We will never be best friends as our personalities are like oil and water, but we can get along fine while our kids play.
The issue is the tree leaves.
We have a live oak in our backyard. It’s huge, and at least 25 years old. It’s in the back corner, so the branches cross the fence line into the neighbors’ yard. And every damn spring when the old leave fall, my neighbor complains about the leaves in her yard. It’s so strange to me because the wife is so quiet and reserved (I am the exact opposite, hense the struggle to be friends) but she never misses an opportunity to complain about the leaves.
I have told her multiple times they are welcome to cut all the branches that cross onto her property. They’ve never done it. I’ve even told her how much it would cost to have the tree removed ($900 minimum) if they were so miserable about it. My family cannot afford that right now. It’s not a priority for us, and honestly I don’t hate the tree. It shades the house and we get the same half dozen dove families every spring that have their babies in our tree. But if they wanted to pay to have it removed, I’d get over it
Obviously they aren’t willing to pay to have it removed. They aren’t even willing to pay a trimmer to come out and cut it back from their property. We have a friend that comes out to do it for our side, but he can’t do it for them unless they pay him for liability reasons. (He knows we won’t sue him, as he’s been my friend since elementary school. But if he were to do it for the neighbors, it would have to be official under his business to cover liability). They’re irritated that I won’t send my friend over to trim their side, and irritated that the shade keeps grass from growing, and irritated they have to rake every spring.
But…that’s just what you have to do when you own a home. Like I said, they moved here first. They knew the tree was there. It was actually in much worse shape before we moved in. But they won’t stop making passive aggressive comments about the tree.
I’m the type of person to just flat out tell you to get over it. I don’t have a lot of patience for complaining. But they’re our neighbors and I don’t want to be stuck in some stupid feud for the rest of our lives. I’m at my limit and if they don’t stop complaining I’m going to end up saying something harsh. How do I stop this conversation while maintaining a civil relationship?