BETHLEHEM LEMON TREE AT CENTRE OF 14-MONTH BOUNDARY DISPUTE, STUFF UNDERSTANDS
Two neighbours. One tree. Approximately 400 lemons a season. A dossier.
A mature Meyer lemon tree straddling the boundary of two Bethlehem properties has become the subject of a protracted neighbourhood dispute involving a surveyor, three lawyers' letters, and a spreadsheet, The Daily Yarn can reveal.
The tree, planted some time in the late 1990s according to sources familiar with the matter, sits directly on the fence line between two Gladstone Road properties. One neighbour claims the trunk is 60% on her side. The other claims the canopy — and therefore "the productive asset" — hangs predominantly over his lawn.
"He counts them. He literally counts the lemons. I've seen him out there with a clicker."
Helena Voss, 58, who has lived at the property for 22 years, told The Daily Yarn she had been keeping a photographic record of lemon movements since March last year. "I don't want to be doing this," she said, gesturing at a manila folder labelled CITRUS. "But someone has to."
Her neighbour, Grant Petersen, 61, denied using a clicker but confirmed he had commissioned a licensed surveyor at his own expense. "The survey is clear," Petersen said. "The trunk's centre of mass is on my title. She can have the windfalls. That's the compromise I've offered. She won't take it." Voss, informed of this offer, said Petersen could "get stuffed, respectfully."
What we know: The tree exists. It produces lemons. Both parties want the lemons. Tauranga City Council has confirmed it does not mediate boundary vegetation disputes and suggested the Disputes Tribunal, which both parties have separately threatened to use and neither has actually approached.
What we don't know: Who planted the tree. Whether the original fence has moved. Why a third neighbour, two doors down, has also started claiming lemons. What is in the manila folder beyond the photographs.
A source who spoke to The Daily Yarn on condition of anonymity — described only as "the neighbour on the other side" — said the pair had once been friendly. "They used to do Christmas drinks. Now she edges the lawn at 7am on Sundays specifically to piss him off. He knows. She knows he knows."
The Daily Yarn has approached the lemon tree for comment.
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Reader Letters
TaurangaTrev
Bloody lemon trees! Just share.
SteveWharf
This sort of shit happens when people have too much time on their hands. Seriously, get a life! My neighbours and I just laugh over stuff like this, have a cuppa under the tree, enjoy the lemons together, and call it a day. It’s pointless being this territorial over some lemons. They're not even that great unless they're from your grandma's tree where every lemon smells like sunshine.
couchgremlin
Mate, the tree doesn't care who owns it. It's just fruit.
BarryBishopdale
Lemon tree mediation? I thought the council would care more about this since they've got their nose in everything else around here. Always pushing for something daft like new kerbs for cyclists who don't exist, but lemons? Too hard basket apparently. Typical!
sandra1971
@BarryBishopdale no one cares about kerbs when the lemons are at stake! Priorities, mate.
Garry (Halswell)
I've lived in Tauranga all my life and remember when neighbours were handshaking and sharing the spoils of their fruit trees without a hassle! You'd never have disputes like this back in the day. Everybody was more civil and understood the value of being good neighbours. Now it's lawyers and surveyors for a few lemons. Bloody hell!
TaurangaRae
@Garry (Halswell) but did your lemons grow any bigger back then? Maybe that's why there were no disputes!
MumOf3
Why bother measuring lemons? Does he weigh them too? Absolute piss-take. Some people just get off on the drama, eh?
Bev_MtMaunganui
@MumOf3 you never know, some might want to start selling the lemons at the market. Might be his big money plan!
CraigFromTheMount
The real question is, who actually eats 400 lemons? That's enough to make a bloody lake of lemonade.