Neighbor has a tree that shits leaves and gunk all over our back patio and the roots are coming under our fence and fucking up our concrete. I want to start spraying the limbs hanging over our fence with salt water and pour buckets of the stuff down on the roots if necessary. Approx how much salt am I going to need and how long do I need to keep dousing it to see this tree dead? Tree is approx. 20 foot tall and 10 years old.
I’m on your side, ok? Your neighbor sounds like a PITA nuisance. Give me a second here, I’ll show you one way to cover yourself. Salt is not likely to kill the tree, the roots will still be there, even if the upper parts were dead, might take years for upper parts to die in any case. Salt WILL fuck up your soil, if it’s sandy soil,the salt could spread a long way beyond your intention and fuck up your groundwater. Enough salt to kill one thing will kill everything, grass, flowers on your side, maybe for years. Contact code enforcement for your city first. Contact a lawyer and ask about your options, a quick consultation doesn’t cost much, you don’t have to retain him. THAT WAY, you look like the reasonable but understandably frustrated GOOD NEIGHBOR to everyone else. Get other people on your side, first.
Naw I want everything to die in that area. We used to grow ivy out back but tore it all out when it started to climb the fences and cause ddamage. Now its decorative gravel with planters full of succulents on top. As for candy soil, we have clay just under the topsoil, which I’m thinking will hold the salt in place nicely. However, I do want to kill the roots under my side of the fence. It’s already starting to lift the patio slab and I want to stop it before it breaks up the concrete like their patio. We’ve tried a couple lawyers but nobody even wants to consult us when we explain it’s a condo with a HOA on unincorporated land. I don’t even know what kind of lawyer covers that, because it’s obviously not any of the ones we’ve talked to.
I understand that your patio and your property are important to you. I understand what you want. Regardless of what kind of soil you have, salting it will not get you what you want. It will not solve the problem. It will only create more problems for you. I’m sorry that lawyers couldn’t help. If your place is unincorporated, you won’t have code enforcement. Have you appealed to your HOA for help? You pay fees, they’re supposed to help you. That’s another box to check to show that you’re the good guy.