A heated confrontation between a Good Samaritan gardener and a furious neighbour has been caught on camera – and it proves how territorial some Aussies can be when it comes to property boundaries.
Gardener Nathan Stafford was trimming overgrown hedges at a home in Ryde, in Sydney‘s north-west, when he was confronted by a ‘very angry and aggressive’ man.
Although Mr Stafford had obtained permission from a woman on the neighbouring property to cut the overgrowth and clear the debris, he was verbally abused by her partner as he completed the job.
‘Before I cleaned up this yard, I spoke with the neighbour’s partner and asked if I could clean up any mess quickly that falls on her side, just to do the right thing,’ he explained.
‘She was fine with this, so I did my thing.’
As Mr Stafford began his work, he heard loud yelling from inside the house.
‘I actually was starting to worry and was thinking if I should knock on the door because I knew kids were inside,’ he explained.
The yelling man eventually came outside and directed his frustrations towards Mr Stafford.
Gardener Nathan Stafford was working on a property in Ryde, in Sydney’s north-west, when he was confronted by a ‘very angry and aggressive’ man
‘I had to quickly come over and clean up the mess – it literally took about one minute – and then this guy came out, and he started yelling at me,’ Mr Stafford said.
‘He was yelling, “Get off my f**king property, you have no right to be on here, I’m going to smash you”.
‘One thing I know with these kind of blokes is if they are going to have a swing then it happens in the first few seconds, otherwise it’s all talk.’
While the altercation happened earlier this year, Mr Stafford said he shared the footage this week to show how strongly some Aussies feel about boundary issues.
‘The joys of this job, you don’t know what’s going to happen,’ he said.
Mr Stafford explained he has frequently dealt with upset neighbours when cutting down overgrown trees and hedges.
These situations arise when the plants encroach on multiple properties, leading to disputes about who is responsible for their maintenance, Mr Stafford said.
Many viewers were shocked by the encounter.
‘You would have thought he would be happy that his neighbour’s garden was getting cleared,’ one said.
A second added: ‘Nice one, mate. Rather than yelling at you, [he] should have helped you clean up. Well handled, though. You sound very street-smart.’
A third said: ‘He seems like an absolute delight. He can look forward to a very lonely life.’
‘I don’t understand why people have to be so mentally abusive to someone who is doing a favour for someone else,’ a fourth added.
Although Mr Stafford had obtained permission from a woman on the neighbouring property to cut down an overgrown hedge and clear the debris, he was abused by her partner as he completed the job