The incident involved a hedge and pruning shears, and it came to a bloody conclusion that police are now investigating.

Strangely it took place in one of Australia's most affluent suburbs, where residents are usually more interested in hedge funds than hedge fights.

71-year-old Lawrence Ho says he's lived peacefully in his leafy North Sydney suburb of Killara for three decades, until now.

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He claims he's the victim, but it's his neighbour who underwent surgery last night to reattach the finger taken off by Ho's shears.

The neighbours on the adjoining side of the Ho's property are Robyn Miller and her family, who have lived in their home for sixteen years.

The neighbourhood feud has been brewing fore the past twelve months. First it was about a tree that grew along their boundary, then rubbish Ho was piling against the boundary fence.

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According to Robyn's son Hugh "about a year ago he started going around to the neighbours' bins at night and collecting their garden waste so he could stockpile it down at the bottom of his driveway. He is using the fence as a retaining wall to keep up the pile of garden mess."

On Monday afternoon some ambitious pruning along Ho's driveway easement, which borders the Millers' property, brought Robyn out of her hom.

"I told my mother that he was out here gardening and she might want to see what he is doing, because she doesn't like him tearing up her favourite plants," Hugh said.

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Robyn's son witnessed the argument that followed and says it went from heated to bloody very quickly.

"They only argued for about a minute, and then there was screaming because he had cut off her fingers with the shears," he said.

Ho is a retired engineer and a devout Christian says he's made it abundantly clear to everyone, including the neighbours, that no one is welcome on his property.

"I have put the sign here: 'trespassing being prosecuted'," he said.

Ho says he never went out to chop off Robyn's finger.

"I just cutting, cutting, and then suddenly she yell 'oh you cut my finger', and then a lot of blood, and then a lot of abusive language and yelling," he said of the incident.

"I no have slight clue of what happened because I say 'how come her finger got cut', because I'm not (cutting) towards her. She might point to something to stop me."

Regardless of his intentions, Ho did cut Robyn's finger, though he says it was done by accident.

"I try to be nice to neighbour. I don't want to create any problem, even when they are bad to me. I try to be nice because bible say so," Ho said.

Hugh says Ho "had cut through the bone and it was only attached slightly by a little bit of flesh."

Police were called to the scene to recover the severed finger, and Robyn underwent surgery yesterday to reattach her severed digit. She is recovering in Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital.

Ho has been charged with recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm - a charge he intends to plead 'not guilty' to, and he vows nothing will stop him from continuing to prune his garden.

"I am the victim in this case. You come to me, I am doing my job, you try to interfere," he said.

This reporter is on Twitter at @maddykennard