THE LEAFLINE FENCE WAR

The first demand was leaves. Then it was the tarp. Then the "dead" trees. Now a neighbor wanted a fence, weed removal, and a cleaner view.

A few years ago, after moving into a home in a woodsy suburban area, the poster got a call from a neighbor named Joe. He wanted the leaves cleared from a border strip along his property line. The poster had already cleaned up leaves elsewhere, but this stretch was different: about twenty-five feet wide and eighty feet long, packed with trees and not really used for anything. The poster had planned to let the leaves build up there.

Joe said his landscaper was coming in a few days to handle his own leaves, and he did not want anything blowing over from the poster's property afterward. So the poster agreed and spent several days working nonstop to clear the whole area.

Then Joe made a second request. He could see the blue tarp covering the poster's compost bin from his house, and he found it "unsightly." Would the poster replace it with a green or brown one instead?

The poster did. It felt like a small neighborly accommodation. Joe did not offer to pay, and he did not thank them.

After that, the arrangement kept growing. Over the next two seasons, the poster repeatedly cleared leaves from the same border area, going out several times each week for two months so they would not pile up again. Autumn, once just autumn, became something the poster dreaded.

Then Joe moved on to the trees.

He started saying the "dead" trees in that area were eyesores. The poster said their view of trees was based only on whether they posed a threat to property. They also said the trees were not actually dead, only possibly on their way out, and not tall enough to endanger Joe's property if they fell.

That was when the poster decided to build a fence to keep leaves from blowing onto Joe's side. They told Joe about the plan and even shared the design.

Joe was not pleased. He complained that the fence would not work well enough, saying "it's too low to prevent leaves from crossing," and he also complained about having a fence there at all. Then he added another request: cut the weeds that grow in that area during the summer.

The poster looked at the bigger picture. Other wooded strips between properties in the neighborhood were allowed to collect leaves. Some neighbors had manicured yards, and others, as the poster put it, "mow their lawns and keep things presentable but are more relaxed about it," or even keep things "chemically free of all weeds and insects." There was also no HOA in the neighborhood, something the poster had specifically cared about when buying the house.

Now the poster is considering stopping all of it. No more leaf clearing. No more extra accommodations. Maybe, if Joe wants a barrier so badly, "he might consider planting a hedge on his property."