We have neighbours on either side and it was clear when we moved in that they liked to keep their yards nice and were keen to offer lots of advice on how we could keep ours nice too.
Anyway recently my neighbour has pointed out she is worried about the crumbling rocks that border hers and ours and basically hold all her flower border together so it doesn't fall on my lawn. Now these rocks have been crumbling for ever and they should never have been put in as they were damaged from blasting but i have never worried about it and think it could be years before any issues arise. She approached me the other day about getting them replaced and when i said i thought it was fine and why was she worried as it was my responsibility she said she had checked and it was actually her responsibility as her property was sitting higher up and therefore she had to ensure the rocks didn't collapse onto my side.
So last week she gets a man who is friends with the other neighbour to have a look, he says he needs to bring in a bobcat but will put sheets of ply down to protect my lawn, i said no problem.
Today she tells me he wanted $6000 to do it but she's got a good deal where he will do it with the other neighbours help for $2500 cash and would we like to go halves??????
Well i was gobsmacked. I said we really hadn't budgeted to spend that kind of money on that part of the yard and there were many more projects needing it. She said don't feel bad if you cannot contribute we will pay anyway. Jeez now i really feel guilty and they are elderly. To make matters worse she is trying to rush it through this week and i told her my mum is coming and i don't want a building site in my front yard. She said it's ok he said it may only take a day or 2. And he was going to charge $6000!!!!

Answers on a postcard

Don't have any postcards I'm afraid.

My first thoughts are. Stall her! Tell her you've found a guy and can do it for half the price, but he'll have to come round and inspect it first, don't give a date. Second find out who this guy is and phone him up, ask why he's charging so much. Go from there...

This is a basis for a plan I reckon.

I'd be checking who owns the rocks, where is the property boundary line? If she has checked, then she will have something in writing from the city or whoever the municipal powers are.

A colleague has difficulty with his neighbour. There are trees near them and blossom falls on to the lawn. My colleague vacuumed his lawn on Saturday taking, he said, four hours to do so. On Sunday the neighbour soaked her blossoms then tried tidying up with a leaf blower. Some blossom got on to my colleague's lawn so he had to vacuum all over again.

I shall try to think of these people next time I'm inclined to deride Calgary's anal garden bylaws and practises. Residents of Markham don't seem to have a life either.

Tell em you have buried your pet adjacent to said 'rocks' and cannot permit this hallowed ground to be desecrated.....

In the yard backing on to my next door neighbour there was until a few days a ago a very tall tree. It was about four floors high and young, so it was going to get bigger. It was also spindly; even the base of the trunk was only about a foot across. It was something of a safety concern for a few folk.

The tree was also issuing what appeared to be large amounts of cotton wool. This was annoying, particularly for people with pools.

My neighbour eventually got so pissed off he informed the other guy he wanted the tree down and was prepared to pay for it. The other guy agreed and did contribute to the cost.

Watching the feller was fascinating, not to mention alarming. It takes balls to go 30 feet up a thin tree and, at full-stretch, use a chain saw one-handed.

I assume it was a chain saw. It could just as easily have been a light sabre.

I was most impressed. The tree was down, chipped and gone in about an hour.

Is it just me?

You have rocks on your boundary which you agree need replacing. Your neighbour has said that they think it's their responsibility, and they are willing to pay the cost, but they want you to allow them access to get the work done.

If the neighbours 'drive you nuts', why are you making this an issue? Just tell her to carry on with the work and get it done as quickly as possible, thank you very much.

If you're the guilty sort, tell her you'll make a contribution as and when you can.

Ah. My ex once had "the largest willow tree for miles" in her back garden. $5,000 and two whole days for a team to reduce it to a stump about 30' high. When last I was there the ground was still littered with chunks 3' thick and 20' long.

Pah, you urbanites. Here, I'd call my buddy with a chainsaw and we'd have it down in 10 minutes & the wood chopped up for the woodburner in the shed.

Ah and pah, you Easterners. Here, we'd have a mass rally to save the tree, with the eco-warriors shouting of a soap box, the bongo players banging out Bob Marley tunes and the Raging Grannies chained to the tree. Completing the scene, we'd have local raw food vendors handing out slices of vegan 'bliss pizza' as the scent of weed wafts in the breeze.

I, of course, have a chainsaw and a reckless disposition. Not reckless enough though to step into that yard holding a weapon.

I think my neighbour paid $600, for a not very major job. It was a Sunday, so probably a cash-job.

That job involved putting a truck with a cherry picker in the park behind the house. I imagine $4,000 went on permits and liability coverage.

We have anal garden bylaws and practices?

Could you elaborate please?

Refer past threads on cats and laundry.