How Would You Deal With Pushy Neighbors Without Getting Nasty??
14. Feb, 2010 
5 Comments
I have new neighbors from Brazil, although I have not formally met them due to the fact that they are not officially moved in. They cut all the shrubs around their house into sticks, this doesn’t concern me, it just looks awful. We share a driveway and they also cut one bush on the property line sort of in half, they cut their half out of shape. I can’t tell them not to do it because it is on their side, however how do I bring up the subject to keep it uniformed in the future. And how do I sort out shoveling the driveway in the winter? I want a nice relationship and don’t want to fight with them. I was going to buy them a welcome to the neighbor plant but changed my mind after they hacked the shrubs, I guess they hate foilage.
Ooops,things got off on a rocky start didn’t they. It would have been polite to talk with you first regarding the shrubery. I don’t care where they came from, its plainly not a nice thing to do.
I would check out the property line and try to determine whose hedge it is.
I suggest you go over and introduce yourself and try to talk about the hedge, and upcoming winter snow, and any other mutual property concerns.
Be calm and nice. You will soon find out what they are like.
The best advice that I can give you is, when you meet them, to approach them with an open mind. It is, frankly, not any of your business to decide what looks good and bad on someone else’s property, whether it borders yours or not. I would try introducing yourself to them, maybe by the traditional mode of bringing over a casserole as a means of getting aquainted. DO NOT, however, under any circumstance, bring up the shrubs. As long as they do not cut the shubbery on your property, you have no right whatsoever to question their landscaping choices.
Blamed it on Rio….ha ha…Not serious..Touchy subjects like being a good neighbor.comes from the way you handle…
What you can do is refer to the home owner association to see about debris left at drive way.
Otherwise, winning them with honey will attract better relationship than vinegar…
Invited them over for lemonade or such. Talk to them a get to an agreement..Just blame it on the last neighbor and how nasty they were used to be . Make up something?
Maybe you should bake, or if your not a baker buy them a pre made, goody basket with some muffins, fruits, and other baked goods in it. Make sure they are home when you deliver it, that way you can talk to them about shoveling the driveway during the winter and about their habits of mutilating the hedges.
Tell them that you would appreciate it if they would not cut the hedges so much in the future. Explain to them that they need to be trimmed in order to look visually appealing, but tell them that this is something you just do occasionally.
Also, tell them that you would like to work out a way where each of you could shovel the driveway during the winter. Explain that while this means they have to do a bit of work, they won’t have to do it all by themselves.
“Hey Neighbor, I just wanted to say thanks for trimming the shrub but I just wanted to let you know you totally don’t have to do that. I’ve gotten so used to trimming both halves of that bush when the Smiths lived here that I’m used to doing it myself.”
(By the way, it’s easy to go a little nuts on hedge trimming. This might be a one time occurance)
When the weather starts getting cold I would go over and ask them “Hey, how do you want to handle snow in the driveway? When the Smiths lived here we had it worked out so that we did . . . . “