You spend an entire weekend improving your yard, planting shrubs, installing new garden beds, and finally tackling that landscaping project you’ve been putting off for years. Everything looks fantastic until your neighbor knocks on the door with a complaint. Apparently, your new privacy hedge is crossing their property line, your sprinkler is soaking their patio, or your beautiful shade tree is creating problems they never agreed to deal with. Suddenly, what started as a simple home improvement project threatens to become an expensive neighborhood feud.
Landscaping mistakes that cause neighbor disputes are more common than many homeowners realize, particularly when plants, water, and property boundaries are involved. While you generally have considerable freedom to landscape your own property, that freedom isn’t unlimited. Here are seven decisions worth reconsidering before they create problems with the people living next door.
