[JRcorvette]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

OP, if I were in your position, I would remove the tree. I think your neighbor's complaints are justified, and I don't think your like of shade even comes close to an equivalent concern. Also, if the builder were building houses on your street today, they would not want a large oak tree there. People are more important than trees. Just my opinion.

Clearly you have no idea how expensive it is to remove a large live oak tree! Besides that it is their right to keep it if they want. Sure glad we don’t have PIA neighbors.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I don't think the house color is a good comparison. But, I think the amount of time the neighbors have lived in the house and the amount of tree growth would be something to consider before making a decision about the tree. Obviously, if the neighbors recently bought the house, they should have known that the tree would be a problem, and I probably would not remove it. But, in The Villages, I have seen very large oak trees on small old villa lots that are really a nuisance, and should be removed regardless of the Florida law.

“Regardless of the Florida law”. ?

[gatorbill1]

be a good neighbor and have it trimmed even if you are ONLY a snowbird

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

To the OP: if it's a healthy tree, but has grown so much that it's posing a hurricane threat to your house or neighboring houses, then you should have it professionally crowned. Crowning is a process that doesn't merely trim oversized branches. It also provides an aesthetic outline, and balances what you see when you're standing underneath it and look up. It is a healthy thing to do, to preserve the tree while at the same time reducing the risk of damage to neighboring structures. It also keeps the branches from resting on your own rooftop, which can cause damage to your roof.

[Velvet]

There is a person at the pool who has a tree like that - he is 90 years old and still goes over to his neighbors property and rakes “his” tree leaves up regularly. He can do 15 minutes of raking at the most. But he likes his neighbor.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by JRcorvette

Clearly you have no idea how expensive it is to remove a large live oak tree! Besides that it is their right to keep it if they want. Sure glad we don’t have PIA neighbors.

Having only heard one side of the story, I don't know which party is the PIA.

[Babbs1957]

It it's a large oak, it will be closer to 150-200 years old. Unfortunately the hiring of the scam arborist is a joke. The homeowner pays the arborist to find a reason to cut the tree down. If the neighbor doesn't like trees, tell them to move to the desert of the villages where there are no trees. Better yet, tell them to move back north.

Too many pieces of ____ move down here and want the old southern oaks removed and then they pay an arborist to find a reason to remove it. If the government really cared about the law, they would require an independent arborist to make the decision when a homeowner wants to remove a tree.

Put a camera on the tree and hope to capture the neighbor on your property, then deal with them.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Babbs1957

It it's a large oak, it will be closer to 150-200 years old. Unfortunately the hiring of the scam arborist is a joke. The homeowner pays the arborist to find a reason to cut the tree down. If the neighbor doesn't like trees, tell them to move to the desert of the villages where there are no trees. Better yet, tell them to move back north.

Too many pieces of ____ move down here and want the old southern oaks removed and then they pay an arborist to find a reason to remove it. If the government really cared about the law, they would require an independent arborist to make the decision when a homeowner wants to remove a tree.

Put a camera on the tree and hope to capture the neighbor on your property, then deal with them.

I once built a house on Skidaway Island near Savannah, Georgia. The lots were one-half acre, and they had many old southern oaks. I was amazed at how the builders were allowed to almost completely clear a lot of the old oak trees, without any regard to the tree's age or beauty.

[Mellow]

Originally Posted by mvbird

I bet at least half of Villages residents with a mature oak tree in their front yard has heard the complaints.

Our oak tree has been there for years, probably before our houses were built, but our neighbor has decided it is now out of control, has gotten too big. They do not like the leaves and debris that fall on their driveway.

She would like the tree to be gone. We disagree and like the shade. I think trees on Villages streets are attactive. I have repeated Florida law that she can trim roots or branches of the tree that hang over hear property line. But she wants more. She would like us to hire a landscaper with bucket and trim the tree substantially.

But will it ever be enough ? There will still be leaves and debris. We live in New England much of the year. Trees everywhere. The idea that it is someone's fault when leaves and acorns are blown by the wind onto a neighbor's property is crazy to us.

How to handle this... anyone ?

Unfortunately, I had a neighbor that called the village arborist out about 5 times. This neighbor claimed the tree was on its way out. The 5th time, I was told I had to remove this tree. Unfortunately, this tree was in my back yard & getting the equipment back there was impossible. The tree had to be cut down piece by piece, at my cost of $6,500. I was a snowbird at the time, but I was here for the tree removal. The tree was the cleanest, most healthiest on the inside.

[tmillson]

Originally Posted by mvbird

I bet at least half of Villages residents with a mature oak tree in their front yard has heard the complaints.

Our oak tree has been there for years, probably before our houses were built, but our neighbor has decided it is now out of control, has gotten too big. They do not like the leaves and debris that fall on their driveway.

She would like the tree to be gone. We disagree and like the shade. I think trees on Villages streets are attactive. I have repeated Florida law that she can trim roots or branches of the tree that hang over hear property line. But she wants more. She would like us to hire a landscaper with bucket and trim the tree substantially.

But will it ever be enough ? There will still be leaves and debris. We live in New England much of the year. Trees everywhere. The idea that it is someone's fault when leaves and acorns are blown by the wind onto a neighbor's property is crazy to us.

How to handle this... anyone ?

We used a local company called Airborne and they are Arborist. They used a bucket truck to go all the way around, above and up into the tree. After they shaped it, they cleaned up everything and left a beautiful work of art. The tree went into mild stress as was expected and stopped dropping acorns and also seemed to drop far less leaves the following year but I assume that was from far less leaves on the tree of course. We trimmed it every 3 years from then and the tree really turned out beautifully and filled in nicely and stopped the out of control root growth. The roots will grow out as far as the tree limbs are allowed to grow. Cut the limb length and the roots stop there as well and saves driveways, foundations etc. Trimming was good for me and my neighbors. Trees are painful to own but a reward is the beautiful look and feel they provide and we loved the birds that loved sitting in and under it. Sand Hill cranes came to rest on some afternoons and we always had several singing away in the mornings. Best most relaxing feeling ever.

[Sledneck]

if she wants to pay for the entire trimming . hand her an estimate. i have a feeling it will quiet her down

[La lamy]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

There's an enormous tree in the front yard of a property near me. The branches rest on the homeowner's roof in one spot, and low over the road in another spot. Its roots have already broken through and damaged their driveway such that a FedEx delivery person tripped and fell while bringing a box to their front step when it was dark out.

The property owner doesn't care. He won't repair his driveway, he won't trim the tree, he's already stated that it's not important to him. And - the property is for sale. So it'll be the next homeowner's headache - and continue to be a headache for everyone else in the area. It's a gorgeous tree, but it needs to be properly crowned and that root going under the driveway needs to be severed - and then the driveway completely dug up and repaved.

I bet you're talking about Aloha Way. That person's driveway needs to be repaired. The trees are insanely beautiful on that street, but I can't imagine living with them. Just the fear of damage from hurricane winds would freak me out, let alone all the rest of their regular sheddings. I can imagine they also prevent all sunshine from coming through, depleting the lawn and flowers. But like I said, beautiful to look at while driving by!

[thevillages2013]

Originally Posted by tmillson

We used a local company called Airborne and they are Arborist. They used a bucket truck to go all the way around, above and up into the tree. After they shaped it, they cleaned up everything and left a beautiful work of art. The tree went into mild stress as was expected and stopped dropping acorns and also seemed to drop far less leaves the following year but I assume that was from far less leaves on the tree of course. We trimmed it every 3 years from then and the tree really turned out beautifully and filled in nicely and stopped the out of control root growth. The roots will grow out as far as the tree limbs are allowed to grow. Cut the limb length and the roots stop there as well and saves driveways, foundations etc. Trimming was good for me and my neighbors. Trees are painful to own but a reward is the beautiful look and feel they provide and we loved the birds that loved sitting in and under it. Sand Hill cranes came to rest on some afternoons and we always had several singing away in the mornings. Best most relaxing feeling ever.

Winner! Top post hands down! End of discussion!

[otgpaul]

Our neighbor was obsessed with removing every last leaf that fell into their yard. After demanding we cut down the tree for over 3 years, they got up and moved out without notice to any of the neighbors. We had a gala going away party without them attending.

[FredMitchell]

Is the tree healthy? If so, point out that the leaves only drop once annually and will until the tree dies which will likely be long after she is gone. Don't bother to explain the legal details. They are mostly in your favor if the tree is healthy.

Suggest that if she is so unhappy she should find a real estate agent to help her with her problem. There are thousands of houses in the villages which don't have large trees next door.