Neighbor is Clear Cutting

[Lizza]

One side of my property is bordered by a neighbor (the other three border private roads and the rural highway).

The neighbor has decided to clear cut. We are down hill from him and we are worried about run off and mud slides come rainy season. We've asked him to leave a buffer but he doesn't have to and we aren't sure if he will. Logging starts in two weeks.

What can we plant for privacy and run off/mud slide issues that is ecocomical? The property line is 860 feet. My husband thinks poplar trees because they grow so fast. I'm thinking some kind of hedge. It isn't fenced but does have T posts and a few lines of wire. We do have trees on our side but they are big and nothing for privacy and there are bare spots along the way where nothing is on our side.

Thank you for any ideas!

[Cindy in NY]

I would check with a local official to see if the neighbor can legally take out so many trees that he could cause a mud slide or erosion.

[froggirl]

Originally Posted by morningstar

One side of my property is bordered by a neighbor (the other three border private roads and the rural highway).

The neighbor has decided to clear cut. We are down hill from him and we are worried about run off and mud slides come rainy season. We've asked him to leave a buffer but he doesn't have to and we aren't sure if he will. Logging starts in two weeks.

What can we plant for privacy and run off/mud slide issues that is ecocomical? The property line is 860 feet. My husband thinks poplar trees because they grow so fast. I'm thinking some kind of hedge. It isn't fenced but does have T posts and a few lines of wire. We do have trees on our side but they are big and nothing for privacy and there are bare spots along the way where nothing is on our side.

Thank you for any ideas!

I'd say poplars...they really do grow so fast. Don't know about adding privacy, though...maybe blackberries?
Sorry to hear about this...it wouldn't make me happy either but I guess it's his property and he may do as he likes. Good thing that goes both ways though.
--f.g.

[Pony]

Like Cindy said! For sure check to make sure he can't create an environmental "situation" that will take years to correct.

Things to plant that grow fast and thick would be willow hedge, lombardy poplar. You can actually grow a pretty thick fence with the willow, and it's relatively inexpensive.

I'd check with your local DNR to see what they recommend. You may find that they recommend your neighbor curtail or minimize his clear-cutting. Don't know about Oregon, but places like WI are sort of particular about those things.

Good luck to you.

Pony!

[Jennifer L.]

Any large growing wild shrub in your area would probably do the trick, since they are adapted they'd do well. I'd plant the trees, too, though.

I would think the loggers would have to have some kind of containment in place if it's really steep, wouldn't they? Like hay bales?

Jennifer

[titansrunfarm]

How about Leland Cypress and Poplar trees alternating?

[comfortablynumb]

around here, altering a watershed in a way that will create a natural hazard such as a flood or a mudslide is not allowed, unless measures are taken to prevent them after the project is finished.

as for what you can do, a very deep gravel filled drain ditch similar to a french drain running on an angle downhill on your property line may help drain off the subsoil water that makes a mudslide happen. thats quite an engineering and $$$ task. I'd take it up with the TWP and county before they start clear cutting, perhaps they can be convinced to select cut it or reclaim it in a way as to preserve the integrity of the subsoil and watershed system.

I have a similar problem but I am the one ABOVE the neighbor, [now a vacant home for sale]

i was told by the county since i was there first and did not alter the land, any watershed damage on the house below is a direct result of their faulty building design.
no french drains, and a terrace cut building site with no retaining walls w/drains.
My place has been here 45 yrs, their home was built 10 yrs ago.
I did offer to help install a drain ditch to direct the watershed away from their home but they were unconcerned about the damage. [they live like pigs, lets be frank] the new owners will no doubt have a big problem with water and mud in their basement, but the same rule applies; buyer beware, the home was not built right and in a very poor spot. Not my problem.

if I had done any building that made it worse or created a flow change, then i would be liable.

take the issue up with the county, I am sure there are some ordinances in place to address this.

[Ramblin Wreck]

Not sure for your area, but in NW Georgia I would use some sort of spreading pine, like Virginia pine. Poplars would work too, but they would not provide the visual buffer that a pine would. Sorry to hear it, and whatever you choose, I'd do it in a hurry.

[Lizza]

We aren't sure exactly how much he's cutting. He said he's clearing it, building a house (he's been renting out the mobile up there for like 15yrs, I am happy about getting rid of the renters), and taking 15 log truck loads off of the land. We each have the same zoning and acres. 15.5 acres with 10.5 in defered timber and 5 acres in rural residential. I'm assuming he can't take all the trees off but it's sounds like he's got everything squared away so I'm sure he's done everything legally.

We really don't know if there will be run off or mud slides but we want to be prepared. He is putting in a new run off ditch down our shared private road (4 of us live off a shared private road) and re-doing the road since his loggers will tear it up.

I'm not happy about it and wish he wasn't doing it but it is his land and if anything I'm for land owners rights.

My worry was the same for the poplars, they won't be enough of a privacy fence. I will look into some of the other suggestions. THANK YOU!

[Chris in PA]

I would recommend a variety - poplars, pines, bushes, etc. That way you are not creating an artificial look. If a problems takes out one type, you still have the rest (fungus, critter damage, etc)

[CatsPaw]

Once clear cut, I think you'll find everything under the sun will grow. There will be all kinds of brush, briars, saplings etc. There probably won't be much in the way of erosion after a year.

A good forest will create a canopy, disallowing other things to grow under neath. Once the sun hits the ground there won't be many clear spaces.

[fishhead]

I would recommend LOTS of photos along your property line so if this does become an issue you have before and after photos.

Removing trees does increase runoff. I would suggest some type of local bush with some briars thrown in for good measure first with trees added for a longer term solution.

[milkinpigs]

Contact your local FSA/NRCS......they will help solve your problem

[agmantoo]

The logger will be required to function under a BMP (best management practice) I doubt that there will be a real significant problem other than the visual which will heal.

[Unregistered]

Originally Posted by CatsPaw

Once clear cut, I think you'll find everything under the sun will grow. There will be all kinds of brush, briars, saplings etc. There probably won't be much in the way of erosion after a year.

A good forest will create a canopy, disallowing other things to grow under neath. Once the sun hits the ground there won't be many clear spaces.

I agree. Clear cutting will allow all kinds of brush to begin to grow. Usually there is enough trash from broken trees, limbs, and other bushes that there isn't any fear of a mud slide. Unless it is very steep land.

[Lizza]

Thanks for the info. Hopefully it will only be a cosmetic/privacy issue. The unknown is always half of the worry. We shall see what happens when they start.

Thanks everyone for your great advice!

[MorrisonCorner]

The problem here with popples is that "popples topples." In any storm the popples come down first. So the last tree I'd plant is a poplar. A pine will do better.

But before I did anything I'd stake a wall of mulch hay up to catch any runoff. Eventually the hay will rot and "go away," but in the meantime it will create a "fence" to protect you from a modest mudslide.

[Wags]

Well depending on what part of Oregon you are in, I would recommend the Leyland Cypress We are going to be planting some this fall to block the view of the neighbors junk pile, I mean ugly trailer...

[mrglock27]

Kudzu, Himalayan Blackberries, Morning Glory, English Ivy.....NOT! Seriously, Maybe, Red Alder, Cottonwoods, Native Trees. You could transplant stuff on the fence line from other parts of your property if possible, that would save you money.

[Jillis]

There are fast growing cedars that will make a nice thick privacy hedge in no time at all.
Google "fast growing trees" and lots will come up.