Neighbours who sheared tops of B.C. man's bamboo plants ordered to pay $1K in damages

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A B.C. man whose neighbours lopped the tops off of four of his bamboo plants has been awarded $1,000 in damages by the province’s Civil Resolution Tribunal.

The dispute dates back to August of 2023 when William Leong’s next-door neighbours used a pole pruner to “reach over the fence and cut his bamboo plants,” according to a decision posted online Friday. Leong was asking for $3,000 in damages for trespass as compensation for “loss of enjoyment of his property and loss of privacy, and costs to replace the plants.”

The neighbours, Danika and Sophia Powell, did not dispute that one of them cut the tops off of several of the plants, and the other threw the stems into Leong’s yard. However, they argued that they should not be liable for damages because the branches were crossing the property line and “some of these branches were already dead,” the decision says.

Tribunal member Peter Mennie reviewed numerous photos and three expert reports in order to reach his decision. One of the things Mennie had to determine was whether there was evidence of trespass, which required a determination that the bamboo was on Leong’s property.

“I find it most likely that Danika Powell cut the tops off Mr. Leong’s healthy bamboo on his side of the property line,” Mennie wrote.

“Mr. Leong provided photos before this incident which show his bamboo growing straight up on his side of the property with no curve or bend in the stalk. The bamboo cuttings Sophia Powell threw across the fence also appear to have been healthy and growing straight.”

Next, the tribunal had to consider the extent of the damage – including whether the neighbours had “killed the bamboo,” according to the decision.

Based on the evidence, the tribunal found that roughly five feet had been cut off the top of the bamboo branches. The expert reports submitted to the tribunal said bamboo can be killed if it is cut to “ground level” or if it “loses a large percentage of its leaves,” according to Mennie, who found that in this case “the bamboo did not die.”

Cutting the tops off of the bamboo did, however, limit its future upward growth. Mennie awarded damages on those grounds, finding shearing the tops off of the bamboo did “result in a loss of privacy.”

A range of other claims and counter claims relating disputes over plants, a fence, and the property line were dismissed.