My neighbour cut down my bushes to put up an ‘illegal’ privacy fence – I had to get creative with my response
A WOMAN has responded to her annoying neighbour cutting down her bushes in a very creative and clever way.
The bushes were hacked down so an “illegal” privacy fence could be put up, taking away Kathleen Heiles beloved greenery and her privacy.
Kathleen posted a video in May on her TikTok accusing her neighbour of replacing the bushes with a white privacy fence she called illegal.
The video is captioned with “My neighbour cut down my bushes to put up a high privacy fence but we aren’t allowed high fences.”
Showing clips of the bush before it was removed and then a new white fence put in, separating the two gardens.
Before the next caption says: “I had to get creative on a budget to bring back some privacy.”
The clever New Yorker put up some black garden trellis and made her own version of a bush with fake plastic leaves, throwing it over the top and keeping her privacy intact.
The new “bush” sits perfectly on the trellis that’s even taller than the new fence, surely making the neighbours fuming as their rude plan was foiled.
In New York they have laws over this type of neighbour argument.
One is a private nuisance law where you can’t build a fence higher than 10ft that blocks another person’s “enjoyment” of light or air.
Another includes chopping at a neighbours trees and bushes.
While you can trim them back if they’re on your property, you can’t trespass on your neighbour’s house or cause damage to it.
If you do damage the tree or bush, the neighbour can technically sue you for triple its value.
Kathleen uses her TikTok account to show off her travels, artwork and adorable dog, a miniature schnauzer called Moka.
Her artwork is made up of her painting on clam shells she’s found on the beach and selling them online with pictures of your house on them.
The company I Shell Houses is unusual but much loved in the New York area.
Neighbour wars are happening all the time and fences are often involved.
One unlucky woman had her fence stolen along with her garden furniture being swiped when the neighbours moved out.
They spent their final afternoon at the house chilling next-door on the now stolen goods and refused to give it back when they were quizzed on the odd move.
This isn’t the first unusual thing stolen from a neighbour after one person had their deliveries stolen before having them unashamedly sold back to them at a high price.
Another fed-up woman has shared the moment her neighbour from hell cut down her washing line with all her clean clothes hung up to dry.
The video shows the man holding a pair of scissors as the pair have a fiery argument.