When they fall, leaves are a hassle for anyone to clean up.
Especially for 91-year-old Elsie Taylor, who wakes up every morning to a blanket of leaves covering her front doorstep.
"It's just about wearing me out now," says the Paeroa local, who is outside everyday with neighbours, raking them up.
It's even worse when it rains, because the leaves block her drain.
"I got to go out, put gloves on and put my hand down the drain to bring the leaves out in case it gets blocked again," she says.
"To keep bending down, you know, its the next day I have to sort of, sit in the chair all day I can't get up hardly."
The root of her problems are the two oak trees over the fence from her property.
Taylor's not the only one who has an issue with the trees. Her neighbours Richard and Pauline Gabriel are fed up too.
"We're pensioners and we don't want to be out there in our spare time doing all the raking up," says Pauline.
But it's more than the leaves that are causing problems. It's the acorns too.
This is a typical Fair Go topic that we get a lot of complaints about, and property lawyer Mark Saunders says it's best to have a chat with your neighbour, before you decide to chop.
"You have to take great care about the tone with which you both talk," he says.
When it comes to who pays, Saunders says if you're pruning an overhanging branch then you would be required to pay that cost.
"If the problem is continuing on an ongoing basis, then the neighbours should probably be contributing but they may have to be forced to the table by an application in court."
If those branches come bearing fruit, or flowers, they too belong to your neighbour, so its best to check with them before you go picking.
The same goes for adding a swing or a tree house to overhanging branches. You may be able to negotiate a treaty for shared use.
Taylor has tried to talk to the previous owners of the oak trees, but had no luck with getting their help.
"I asked them could they please do something with the tree and boy, they were different people," she says.
"They just didn't want to know me sort of thing, and they got very angry with me. They just said, 'oh pick them up and throw them over the fence, the wind will blow them away'."
So that's exactly what she's been doing. It's far from a permanent fix though.
Your rights
With tree disputes, the law says that tree owners have the right to use and enjoy their land, but their neighbours have this same right too.
If their tree is causing any issues, they have to make efforts to try to solve them.
Mark Saunders says these issues can include things like the roots of your tree finding their way into your neighbour's drain.
Branches, leaves and acorns falling on your property can be deemed a nuisance too, but it depends how much of a nuisance, and if taken further, what proof you have.
"The ultimate last and final step is making an application to the court to order the tree to be pruned or removed," says Saunders.
Both the Gabriels and Taylor have also paid their fair share to keep the leaves at bay.
The Gabriels had a leaf gutter guard installed on their roof, while Taylor paid for two branches to be cut.
She's also reached out to the current owners of the trees, Elizabeth and Matthew, hoping to get some help from them. But no help came, so Fair Go got involved.
Elizabeth agreed to meet with Taylor and co, to sort things out directly. But months later, and no meeting happened.
Taylor and the Gabriels' next option would be to take the matter to the district court, something that they didn't want to do. They wanted the trees to be removed.
"We just feel that its not necessary for us to be doing this at our age," says Pauline.
"It's your tree," says Taylor.
"It's causing all this trouble, you should do something about it."
But just recently- a breakthrough. Matthew visited Taylor, and so far they've made a plan to cut, more branches to reduce leaf fall, to let more light into the properties and to get the trees checked for safety.
At least Taylor and the Gabriels' can relax a little, knowing something's being done.
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