Originally Posted by gomsiepop (Post 1702745)

Yesterday morning my neighbor rang my bell. I invited her into my home and she immediately said, "I hope this doesn't ruin our friendship". She proceeded to tell me the tree I planted in the back of my home was blocking her "view" of the water. I live two doors away from her and the tree in question is a Magnolia. Our homes are newly built and the tree in question was planted three months ago. I am in the process of having my entire home landscaped right now. I was extremely upset and because I didn't want to upset her I said I would try to relocate the tree. I spoke to my landscaper and he said because I have an interior lot the location I suggested could damage the screen to my pool area in the future as the tree grows. Although I want my neighbor to be happy I am not happy myself. I am upset she waited three months to tell me her concerns. The "view" she mentioned can only be seen from one chair in her lanai to the left side of her lanai. The tree is planted on my property and I did submit the paperwork to ARC and I was approved. Can someone give me guidance as to what they would do in my situation. Thank you for your help.

Originally Posted by OCsun (Post 1702765)

My first thought is how attached are you the tree. Will it bother you as the tree grows large and wide that you are blocking someones view? I ask this only because you took the time to ask for our thoughts. Maybe a palm tree would fill your need and not block the view. If you do make any changes I would ask your neighbor to pay for it.

There is a magnolia on the golf course behind my house and it does block my view and I wish I could have it replaced with a Palm Tree. It gets very few flowers also drops quite a few leaves which are messy. Just my opinion but if you love your tree then keep it. It is your property!

Originally Posted by Aces4 (Post 1702794)

This!!! The best move we ever made landscaping-wise was removing the dirty magnolia on our lawn. Magnolias are beautiful on the back forty of a sixty acre spread only. But I applaud your attempt at diplomacy with your neighbor.

Originally Posted by bmit16 (Post 1702976)

My 1st thought is why would anybody in a Villa want a Magnolia tree? The landscaper put one in our yard when the house was built. The 1st thing we did was dig it up. They are nice shade trees but they grow way to big for a Villa lot and they shed leaves and cone terribly. Who wants all that maintenance?

Originally Posted by tophcfa (Post 1702790)

I think you handled the situation very well and have no responsibility to remove the tree. However, let me give you a little advise based on my experience with magnolia trees. Do yourself a favor and use this episode as an excuse to get rid of the magnolia tree. In a few years you will wish you never planted the dam tree. We regretted having a magnolia on our property. These trees grow very big (not just tall but very wide) and create a mess. They constantly drop these rather large and spinny cones everywhere and their leaves make a mess, including clogging your gutters. You will be constantly cleaning up the trees debris. It also becomes very difficult to grow decent grass anywhere near the tree canopy and your lawnmower will learn to hate the trees cones. And if you wait until the tree grows big to take it down you will have to jump through loops with the ARC and pay someone big $$ to remove and replace it. Plus, the now extensive and shallow tree root system will then rot underground and create a fungus that will kill all your grass. Three years after removing our magnolia we are finally getting something that resembles a lawn, but we constantly need to add fill as the lawn depresses where the roots have rotted out.

So my advise would be to get rid of the magnolia for you, not your neighbor. But you will get a double win since your neighbor will think you did it for her : ).

Originally Posted by gomsiepop (Post 1702745)

Yesterday morning my neighbor rang my bell. I invited her into my home and she immediately said, "I hope this doesn't ruin our friendship". She proceeded to tell me the tree I planted in the back of my home was blocking her "view" of the water. I live two doors away from her and the tree in question is a Magnolia. Our homes are newly built and the tree in question was planted three months ago. I am in the process of having my entire home landscaped right now. I was extremely upset and because I didn't want to upset her I said I would try to relocate the tree. I spoke to my landscaper and he said because I have an interior lot the location I suggested could damage the screen to my pool area in the future as the tree grows. Although I want my neighbor to be happy I am not happy myself. I am upset she waited three months to tell me her concerns. The "view" she mentioned can only be seen from one chair in her lanai to the left side of her lanai. The tree is planted on my property and I did submit the paperwork to ARC and I was approved. Can someone give me guidance as to what they would do in my situation. Thank you for your help.

Originally Posted by tophcfa (Post 1702790)

I think you handled the situation very well and have no responsibility to remove the tree. However, let me give you a little advise based on my experience with magnolia trees. Do yourself a favor and use this episode as an excuse to get rid of the magnolia tree. In a few years you will wish you never planted the dam tree. We regretted having a magnolia on our property. These trees grow very big (not just tall but very wide) and create a mess. They constantly drop these rather large and spinny cones everywhere and their leaves make a mess, including clogging your gutters. You will be constantly cleaning up the trees debris. It also becomes very difficult to grow decent grass anywhere near the tree canopy and your lawnmower will learn to hate the trees cones. And if you wait until the tree grows big to take it down you will have to jump through loops with the ARC and pay someone big $$ to remove and replace it. Plus, the now extensive and shallow tree root system will then rot underground and create a fungus that will kill all your grass. Three years after removing our magnolia we are finally getting something that resembles a lawn, but we constantly need to add fill as the lawn depresses where the roots have rotted out.

So my advice would be to get rid of the magnolia for you, not your neighbor. But you will get a double win since your neighbor will think you did it for her : ).

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby (Post 1703256)

Don't you need special approval to remove a tree? Under Florida law, you have to get an arborist to state that the tree is dangerous or diseased or something like that? I thought I read that somewhere, with some recent changes.

If that's the case, then the neighbor is already on pretty shaky ground with her complaint. If it's not the case - decide if you want the tree more than you want a peaceful cordial relationship with your neighbor. If you're willing to give up the tree, have her pay for the removal.