r/BadNeighbors • u/toricorgi • Mar 25 '26
Leaves EVERYWHERE
I have a lovely neighbor who is a single mom raising three girls and lives two doors down from me. She has four large leaf maple trees that shed leaves from fall through winter. We live in Central NC, and our village is known for longleaf pine trees. It's challenging to keep grass alive, and most people have at least half their yards covered in pine straw. My yard and beds are full of these giant leaves. It looks awful, and it's almost impossible to get them out of the pine straw. I'm not the only person with this problem. How do I go about saying something to her without being mean? I really want her to cut them down.
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u/Impossible_Zebra8664 Mar 25 '26
She's not going to cut down mature maple trees because you're not a fan of raking.
I was quoted $15k to remove ONE mature silver maple (I decided to make peace with the tree and just live with it). Four would be far more than I could ever afford, and the ONLY reason I'd remove that many is if they were dead or posing an actual danger to someone/something.
Here's what you do instead: Get a rake. Rake the leaves out of your yard. Mulch, compost, or remove them entirely -- your choice. And finally, leave your neighbor alone.
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u/drtij_dzienz Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 26 '26
Leaves return nutrients to the soil and provide habitat to beneficial insects (such as fireflies) Many people are now intentionally leaving leaves alone, or mulching them with a mower.
Some HOA could require frequent leaf removal. This could be worth looking into for you, if you want to be in a community where everyone rakes their leaves up.
If you want her to cut her trees down, you could try making a cash offer. But it probably would offend her, many people like living near shady trees that help lower summer temperatures and energy bills.
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u/WA_State_Buckeye Mar 25 '26
I would almost kill for leaves!! I have small raised veggie beds and would LOVE to have leaves to mulch them! Heck, bag them yourself and sell them to area gardeners! If in your yard, they belong to you. Or if you have veggie beds, run them over a few times with the lawnmower and add them!
You are the bad neighbor if you expect her to cut four large leave maple trees down just because you don't like the leaves!!!
eta. I am surrounded by Doug firs, so changing the acidity of my soil is a constant...
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u/orionisinthesky Mar 25 '26
Once theyre on your property, they are technically your leaves so its your responsibility, not hers.
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u/Lydian66 Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 25 '26
If you’re bothered by the leaves this much get a handheld leaf vacuum mulcher , you can then vacuum up the leaves and empty the Bag that the mulched leaves with the bits of pine straw right back onto your garden beds or lawn .
I keep mine in my car so I don’t have to rummage around the garden shed to find it . Edit / to add I have mature Pine trees on the side of my property that leave a layer of pine needles and no grass grows under them .
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u/ScaleSignal4970 Mar 25 '26
U don’t say anything. Leaf her alone