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Privacy hedges are supposed to keep the peace, not start a whole new conflict.

One homeowner decided to plant a row of arborvitae along her backyard fence after growing tired of staring at her neighbor’s cluttered, tarp-covered shed. Little did she know, this decision would instantly change the tone of what had been a friendly relationship.

The neighbors went silent overnight, never mentioning the trees directly, and simply stopped speaking altogether.

When several of the new plantings died over winter, she assumed it was just harsh weather, until a landscaper pointed out something strange: every dead spot was concentrated specifically on the side of each tree facing the neighbor’s yard.

You’ll want to keep reading to find out what Reddit thought of this one.

I think my neighbor killed my trees

My neighbor behind me has a backyard that is not very well kept, and they have a huge makeshift shed with tarps wrapped around it.

There’s a short fence, not tall enough to block our view, so I decided last year to plant arborvitae along the fence.

Things with this neighbor started off fine, but their relationship quickly deteriorated.

Well, we had a great relationship with my neighbors until I did this. After they got planted, they never spoke to us again, nor did they say anything about the trees.

After the winter, a few of them died, and I thought no big deal, the winter was harsh, I’ll just replace them.

Soon a landscaper arrived and shared some unsettling findings.

I had a landscaper come by my house today, and he pointed out to me that every single one is dead on the back side of the tree closest to their house.

Essentially, he thinks that the neighbor poured something on them to kill them.

I asked him if he’d seen this before, and he said he’d seen this a handful of times.

The homeowner now finds themselves in a difficult situation.

Not sure what to do, I don’t have a video or anything of them pouring pesticides on my trees, but all the evidence points to it. I also want to replace them, but I’m worried that they’ll just kill them again unless I put up a camera.

What kind of neighbor would do something like this?

Redditors chime in with their thoughts.

This commenter shares a few suggestions on next steps.

This user encourages the homeowner not to jump to conclusions.

This redditor tries to wrap their head around why the neighbor could switch up their attitude so suddenly.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this postabout a man who installs a fence after his neighbors cut a property line rope and move a canoe.

It’s time to start approaching this situation like a detective.

Going silent over a hedge already says something, but silently killing it off later says a whole lot more.

If the neighbor really did do it, sneaking around to poison someone’s trees instead of just knocking on the door and airing a grievance is a wild way to handle mild annoyance.

No camera means no proof yet, but every dead branch on that one specific side is basically writing its own confession.

Some neighbors would rather kill a hedge than have an awkward conversation.