A Chicago-area property dispute took a sharp turn when a resident said he discovered his next-door neighbor had reached over a fence, drilled multiple holes into a mature mulberry tree, and injected herbicide to stop fruit from dropping into the neighbor’s yard. The tree, described as roughly 70 years old and “fairly healthy,” sits fully on the resident’s side of the property line.
In the original post, the resident alleged there were 11 drilled holes total and that the tree began showing signs of injury or decline within days. The resident said the neighbor never asked to have overhanging branches trimmed and that the drilling angle appeared consistent with someone leaning over the fence to do it.
A tree that provided shade, fruit, and routine use
According to the account, the mulberry isn’t just landscaping. It’s one of the property’s primary shade trees, and several tenants regularly eat the fruit. The property itself is a rental with an on-site manager, and the poster said their family owns it while they help with grounds and maintenance.
The resident also described a longer-running clash over vegetation along the fence line. Before the drilling incident, the neighbor had allegedly been spraying herbicide along the fence and property line because he disliked ivy on his side—ivy that the poster said was rooted on the rental property’s side. The poster said the spraying killed “a whole chunk” of that ivy.
How the homeowner said it escalated: 11 holes and injected herbicide
The most serious allegation is straightforward: the neighbor drilled into the mulberry and injected herbicide because he didn’t like mulberries falling into his yard. The resident said the tree canopy only slightly overhung the neighbor’s side—described as about 5%—and that the neighbor made “no effort” to have overhanging branches trimmed before taking matters into his own hands…