Neighborly disputes have a way of starting small and escalating fast, and two years of untrimmed palm trees dropping seeds into someone else’s pool is about as slow a burn as it gets.

A homeowner who had maintained his property for 14 years finally hit his limit when the seeds came back for a second season and his backyard was once again covered.

So the homeowner went across the alley, forced the conversation, and walked into a brick wall. His neighbor had no interest in paying the $600-$800 it would take to trim eight fully grown palms, and instead suggested the homeowner cover the bill himself.

The homeowner had thoughts about that. He also had thoughts about the weeds, the empty pool, and the deteriorating fence while he was at it.

The conversation did not end on a warm note.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA Told Neighbor To Cut Palm Trees

I’ve been in my house for 14 years and have a pool that I clean myself.

My neighbor across the alley has 8 palm trees — fully matured and about 40 feet tall.

These neighbors have been in the house for about 3 years. We don’t interact much.

So soon his neighbor’s negligence became his problem.

Last year my neighbor did not trim his palm trees.

I had to deal with the seeds in my pool for weeks — it was miserable, not to mention seeds were all over my backyard.

Cut to this year, and seeds have sprouted and once again my pool and backyard are a mess.

So this homeowner decided it was time for a conversation.

I approached the neighbor about trimming his trees.

The conversation did not go well.

The neighbor basically told him to pay up or shut up.

He’s basically refusing to spend the roughly $600-$800 it would take to trim them.

He told me if I want his trees cut, I should pay for it.

But this homeowner wasn’t backing down.

I called that a ludicrous suggestion and told him his entire yard is an eyesore — unkempt, weeds, empty pool, deteriorating block wall fence.

It’s clear they don’t have much money, but his property is becoming my problem, and the guy doesn’t have pride in what his house or yard looks like.

AITA here?

This neighbor needs to understand that if it’s his lawn, it should be his problem.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about neighbors who can’t get along because of a totally legal gate.

What did Reddit think?

The ad hominem attack is what took this into AH territory.

This commenter really digs into the issue.

At this point, the neighborly relationship is never going to get better.

Surely there’s something the homeowner can do about the trees.

In the end, no one in this story came out looking so good.

It was wrong for the homeowner to personally insult the neighbor instead of sticking to the issue at hand, and it was wrong of the neighbor to abdicate his maintenance responsibilities for his own home.

Unfortunately, it’s tough to see this neighborly relationship ever getting better, especially after this little stunt.

Maybe it’s time for the homeowner to just cut their losses.