Nope, no poison, just idiot.
Years ago, the timber fence between our backyards was flattened in a winter storm and there was no way to repair it. The neighbour didn’t respond when we knocked on the door, insurance didn’t pay out because they said the fence was beyond it’s normal lifespan already. For budget reasons, we settled on chainlink on metal poles set in concrete. Ugly but durable. Months later when we didn’t expect it anymore, he did eventually pay half of it, in installments. He then said he wanted the fence to be covered so we wouldn’t be able to spy on him in his yard and he doesn’t want to see us either. So I planted English Ivy and spent years weaving all the new branches through the chainlink. The grape at first wasn’t attached to the chainlink but grew up a pole and a metal wire I strung from the pole to the side of the house. But at some point it seemed fun to attach the grape to the fence too. It’s a perfect spot, in the full sun the entire day. Meanwhile, on the neighbour’s side, it’s all nettles, hop and Japanse knotweed (not the result of planting them, they just showed up there). So I’m fine with the ivy and the grape growing a bit bigger, a wall of fast-growing plants will hopefully prevent his fast-growing plants migrating into my yard. Especially as I’m allergic to hop. I prune the grape and the ivy every fall, which he may or may not have noticed, but of course, in early August, it looks pretty wild.
So what did he do while we were at the wedding this weekend? He cleared out all the weeds on his site except for one bit of Japanese knotwood which it looks like he kept on purpose, possibly because he doesn’t know how terrible it is. He then removed every single plant from the ground on his side of the fence, still fine, then he randomly cut through everything he could reach from his side of the fence. Not just branches hanging over on his side, but straight through the branches. From the center stalk there are two branches going left and right and he cut both of them. He cut through the stalks of the ivy too, he didn’t just cut off the new green bits. He left everything in place and I just pulled down most of what’s loose. In a few days, it will rain and all the loose leaves will fall off and it will look even worse. Ivy is impossible to kill but he’s cut so much, now I’ve pulled down what he cut you can look through the chainlink fence in most places. Including right next to our back door and right next to Mr. Imma’s studio space. We’re going to keep quiet because he’s strange and I don’t want to make a fuss, but next time we’re suddently standing eye to eye and he’s blaming us for spying on him, I’ll let him know who caused this mess.
He has a small, DIY’ed annexe from random building materials attached to his house (concrete panels, plywood and plastic). It didn’t look sturdy when we got here, but during his pruning spree he has damaged the side of his annexe. I’m not sure if he can see it from his yard, but it’s clear to see from this side. I’m not sure I want to provoke him by mentioning it, he may think we damaged it.