'My neighbour's son mowed down my marigolds when I refused to repair a fence that I didn't damage'

A homeowner has claimed a neighbour’s son has mowed down her flowers after she refused to pay to repair a damaged fence - which she didn’t hit. The problem arose due to the person’s 2nd driveway which is next to the line between the properties. They explained on Reddit that people use this drive all the time to turn around on because there is a sport field nearby where people drop off children for football. However, the neighbour was demanding they repair it. And the dispute escalated with her son turning up to browbeat the homeowner, and now he aggressively goes onto her land with his lawnmower, including chopping down their marigolds and other flowers. They said: “Am I in the wrong for refusing to pay for my neighbour’s fence and now dealing with petty retaliation? I’m looking for some outside perspective because I genuinely don’t want drama with my neighbours, but this situation is getting out of hand. “I moved into my first home abou t two years ago. My next‑door neighbour is an older lady, and at first we got along great—very sweet, no issues at all. I have a second driveway that sits close to the property line, and she has a very old wrought‑iron fence that sits in the public road right‑of‑way and was never permitted. “My driveway gets a lot of traffic, especially on weekends, because people use it to turn around when they go to the public soccer field. Recently, someone hit her fence. She and her adult son (probably around 50) came over and told me I should “do the neighbourly thing” and pay for the repair. I politely told them I wasn’t the one who hit it, and I’m only responsible for my own actions—not random drivers. I suggested she file a report and go through her homeowner’s insurance. I even offered to cut out the damaged section and repaint it so it would look clean and also be less likely to get hit again. She refused and scoffed at the idea, so I dropped it.” Unfortunately, this wasn’t the end of it, as she explained: “Ever since then, her son has been driving his lawnmower onto my property every week. He leaves grass stains, turn marks, and debris all over my white concrete driveway and never blows it off. He even went into my side yard and cut down my marigolds and hastas. “I’m not confrontational, and I don’t want to bully an elderly neighbour, What would you do in my situation? I just want a peaceful place to live and to keep my property clean and respected.” One person replied@ “Park in your driveway when he comes to mow.” Another added: “I’d tell the son that if he damages your property again, you’ll be claiming damages. That’s malicious. Get cameras ofc.” A user said: “You’re not wrong for refusing to pay for damage tou didnt cause. Her retaliation entering your property and damaging plants isn’t acceptable. Document everything, set a clear boundary and if it continues, report it.” A helpful reply was: “As far as the son goes, if you allow this behaviour now, it will always be this way. Cutting down your flowers is an AH move on his part. Allowing him to do this everytime he cuts his grass is you being a willing participant in his game. The days of being neighbourly with the “Sweet old lady next door” are over. You are now dealing with her man-child.” In the UK contrary to common belief, there is not a designated side of the fence to each property. The most common way to find out who owns what side, is to refer to the Title Plan or Land Registry. In this, the T mark is used to indicate who the boundary belongs to and therefore who is responsible for its upkeep. If there is any doubt, it’s worth contacting a boundary solicitors to make sure which boundary is your responsibility. Lawyer Denise Nurse told BBC Morning Live viewers the only way to be absolutely sure is to get the full title plans from the Land Registry - and that is very easy to do, she said. Ms Nurse said: “The first thing is we should most of us have title plans. They’re available from the land registry. You can literally go online and apply for that. It’s not much. What that will show you is usually the red line etching of what’s your property.” “Now, that is not cast in stone. It’s not exact. It’s just based on their ordinance survey to show you generally what your boundary is.” She was speaking on a show dedicated to disputes with neighbours - and said there are many ways to resolve them - but talking is best: “So, it might give you some ideas and give you a starting point for discussing with your neighbour. The next thing to do just go and talk. But if we actually have a conversation, we can again get rid of a lot of those myths. Just make an agreement. This is yours. This is mine.” When it comes to the title plans, she explained that a tiny mark was key to working out where the responsibility lies. She said: “The other thing is you may have heard of a T- mark when you get the plan, which is literally a horizontal, vertical line that looks like a T. Now what that denotes is if there is one on your plan, and there isn’t often, who’s responsible for a boundary line? So that question of who’s responsible for the fence, if you’ve got that on your plans, it might indicate that again, I’d get it checked and agree with your neighbour. It’s not necessarily cast iron.” However, it may be the case that there are no obviously marked boundaries - and that’s where the problems start. Ms Nurse said: “The starting point is always to have a discussion with your neighbour if you can work it out and then agree with each other. Large tracts of land can get a bit messier. But if you want to be exact and you actually want to know what’s mine, I would get a property surveyor to come in, a chartered surveyor to come in and do that work because it actually involves going back in time, looking at the old conveyance and deeds and all those title plans from years ago and the old drawings.”