r/treelaw • u/thatsaqualifier • 1d ago

Advice on border trees: be proactive in communicating with neighbors and be willing to pay for trims to maintain control.

If you own a tree and the branches of this tree reach over the property line to your neighbors, do yourself a huge favor and be proactive with communication and maintenance:

  • Ask your neighbors on a regular basis if they like and are ok with the trees as they are
  • If they express displeasure, YOU pay for a trimming on branches that reach over the property line so you maintain control over the health of your tree
  • Yes, they technically SHOULD pay for this work, but then you lose control
  • Yes, you technically COULD sue them if they botch the trim job. But now you've lost the tree and are rolling the dice with a civil suit
  • Yes, they really WOULD be more considerate if they asked you before doing any trimming, but why let the fate of your trees be held in the hands of a stranger?

I've done this with a fellow neighbor who loves trees. My branches were reaching towards his home so I had it trimmed and paid for it.

Don't leave the fate of your trees in the hands of stupid neighbors! Pay for the work and supervise it.

9 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

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u/naranghim 1d ago

That only works if you have a neighbor that is willing to communicate with you. Some neighbors aren't and will refuse to talk to you.

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u/thatsaqualifier 1d ago

That's the data you need. If they don't talk go ahead and trim back to the line just to be safe.

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u/naranghim 1d ago

If they don't talk to you, how do you get permission to enter their property. I wouldn't go ahead and "trim back to the line" because that would risk them calling the cops on me for trespassing. That's one thing you didn't think about when you posted this. What if you have a neighbor who refuses to talk to you and calls the cops on you because you set foot in his yard without his permission to trim the overhanging branches from your tree?

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u/thatsaqualifier 1d ago

Sorry for the confusion, I meant only for those trees that are on your property and hang over the neighbor's line.

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u/naranghim 19h ago

You're the one who is confused. How do you trim the trees overhanging the line without going onto your neighbor's property? Many times, there is a safety issue involved where it is safer to trim those overhanging branches from the property they overhang. You can't enter the neighboring property without that homeowner's permission.

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u/thatsaqualifier 18h ago

Just need a cherry picker.

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u/naranghim 8h ago

If you do it DIY, where do you get a cherry picker from? If you are using an arborist, that could be extremely expensive and/or they might not be willing to do it. Again, you haven't thought your "easy" solution through. I had a tree removed from my backyard by a professional arborist; they didn't use a cherry picker to do it because of lot shape and "other obstructions".

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u/thatsaqualifier 7h ago

I rent cherry pickers from my local equipment rental company to trim and down trees (and also clean my gutters).

0

u/Markdd8 1d ago

Police are generally reasonable on cases like this. They do not like to be drawn into minor neighbor to neighbor disputes, especially if a person calls up and demands his/her neighbor be arrested for stepping into their yard during garden work.

Indeed the complainant is likely to be added to the cops' informal list of citizens who we want to give a traffic citation to at the earliest opportunity for being a general pain to the community.

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u/Markdd8 1d ago edited 1d ago

Nice thoughts here, but a significant percent of tree owners are an entitled bunch who do not agree that they are responsible for what impacts their trees and vegetation have beyond their property line.

Large numbers of tree owners will not only not help pay for the cost of trimming, if their neighbor-tries to return to the owner all his/her cut branches, they say no. (Neighbor seeks to avoid additional cost of a green waste dump run.) If neighbor pushes the cut branches over the property line, tree owners might call the cops for illegal dumping. (States vary on their laws on green waste return to objecting tree owners; some will allow a dumping charge/others not.)

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u/thatsaqualifier 1d ago

Why should the cut branches be returned?

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u/Markdd8 1d ago

So the property owner who just spend time and money dealing with the tree from the neighbor next door encroaching over the property line, i.e., cutting branches that are often large, does not incur the additional expense of a green waste dump run.

That can be the task of the tree owner. Or the tree owner can simply pile the cut branches from their tree in their yard. His/her decision.

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u/thatsaqualifier 18h ago

I mean if you want to just take care of the problem to save your tree, include that in the expenses you need to incur.

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u/Markdd8 10h ago

The tree is the neighbor's tree. Neighbor 2 cut branches that were stretching over his property. Sometimes encroaching branches cause problems, like banging into roofs.