Trees and Neighbors and Law

14 Arbor Age / September 2014 www.arborage.com

PLANT HEALTH CAREPLANT HEALTH CARE

On any given day, arborists throughout the country are

unwittingly dragged into neighborly conﬂ icts. Trees are almost

universally praised for the beneﬁ ts and beauty they bring to

the neighborhood. On the other hand, that same tree is al-

most universally damned when it bothers one neighbor but

is owned by another. It’s not uncommon for a pruning crew

to be requested to “show up on Thursday when I know my

neighbor will be gone” or give advice as to whether or not

this guy’s branches can be pruned back to improve their views.

So, what can you tell your client, and what should you be

practicing to keep yourself out of a lawsuit as well? Let’s take a

look at some common “frequently asked questions” arborists

get about trees, their neighbors, and the law.

Full legal disclaimer: These are the “general rules of thumb”

around the country, but, of course, there are local laws and ordinances

that will supersede these. Always get to know your local laws by con-

tacting the municipal forester or through your local ISA Chapter. I

also found the real estate industry to be very helpful when researching

this article, as it turns out trees and their ownership come up frequently

when purchasing property.

Is this my tree or the city’s tree?

Local ordinances will determine which trees are considered

public and which are private. Trees in parks and on other public

grounds are certainly considered the city’s responsibility, but it

Trees and

Neighbors

Or,

some good advice so you

and your client don’t get sued

By Brandon

Gallagher Watson

Damage caused by a hazard tree may be the owners responsibility.

Determing public or private trees may vary by city.

AND THE LAW

www.arborage.com Arbor Age / September 2014 15

varies greatly as to what boulevard trees are considered public.

Some include only trees on the street-side of the sidewalk; others

include all trees within ﬁ fteen feet of the boulevard, even if that

tree is in the middle of someone’s yard. If the tree is determined

to be the city’s, pruning and removal is the onus of the munici-

pality, and requests for this maintenance can be submitted to the

city forester. You may also need the city’s permission if you wish

to have it serviced or removed by an arborist. The city, however,

does not need the homeowner’s permission to perform pruning

or removal on a public-owned tree.

My neighbor’s branches hang over into my yard; can

I prune them back?

Yes. Legally, you have the right to prune branches and limbs

that extend past the property line. However, the law only al-

lows tree trimming and tree cutting up to the property line.

In most areas, permission is not needed by the neighbor to do

this, but a good practice would be to have the neighbors in

communication with each other. As the arborist, you may not

go onto the neighbor’s property without permission or do any

practices that may destroy the tree. If you do harm the tree,

you and the homeowner could be found liable for up to three

times the value of the tree.

A large tree hangs over my yard, but the trunk is in

the neighbor’s yard. Is this my tree or theirs?

This is a common issue in urban areas, and is a frequent

cause of disputes among neighbors. In this case, even if nearly

100 percent of the canopy is over your yard but the trunk is

clearly in the neighbor’s yard, the tree belongs to the neighbor.

If you wish to prune back the branches to the property line,

that falls under the same rules as above.

There is a tree directly on the property line between

my house and my neighbors, who is responsible for

this tree?

When the trunk is directly on the property line owned by

two or more people, it is referred to as a “boundary tree.” In

the case of a “boundary tree,” all of the property owners own

the tree and share responsibility for it. Any pruning or tree

removal requires consent of all the tree’s owners.

The leaves from my neighbor’s tree keep blowing

into my yard, is it their responsibility to rake them up?

Nope. We all wish this were the case, but leaves are con-

sidered a natural product. Even if the leaves cause damage,

like clogging your gutters or pipes, you have no legal claims

against the owner of the tree. Additionally, you are responsible

for cleaning up any natural products that fall into your yard.

If, however, the tree branches that are shedding the leaves

are hanging over your yard, or the tree trunk is encroaching

on your property, then you have a right to trim those branches

up to the property line, but it is still not their responsibility to

clean up fallen branches.

All photos provided by Rainbow Treecare Scientiﬁ c Advancements

Trees can be pruned to property line. Always get permission to

go on neighbors property.

This tree was a boundry tree and paid for by both homeowners.

16 Arbor Age / September 2014 www.arborage.com

PLANT HEALTH CAREPLANT HEALTH CARE

If my neighbor owns a fruit tree, and the

branches hang over into my property, can I eat

the fruit?

No. The fruit of the tree belongs to the owner of the

tree even if the fruit hangs into your yard, so don’t pick

any of the fruit without permission. Rules about fallen

fruit, however, vary across the country, so check your

local laws to see if you can eat any fruit that falls off the

tree. Oddly, if the fallen fruit is considered a nuisance to

you, it is considered a natural product, no different than

leaves, and thus it is not their responsibility to clean it up.

My neighbor did construction in their yard,

and in the process killed a tree that’s just on my

side of the property line. Can I get compensated

for my loss?

In most cases, yes, the tree owner has the right to

sue for damages. Anyone who engages in tree removal,

tree cutting, or injury to the tree without the owner’s

permission is liable for compensating the tree owner.

In many cases, the tree owner has been compensated

by up to three times the value of the tree. We know, of

course, that construction damage can take several years

to really start to show up. This often lands arborists in

court as an expert witness to help show work done in

the past is what caused a tree to die recently.

A storm knocked down my neighbor’s tree

onto my property, causing damage. Are they re-

sponsible for the damages?

In this case, it depends. If the dispute got all the way

to court, the judge will probably apply a reasonable

care standard. If your neighbor took reasonable care

to maintain the tree, and the tree did not seem to a

reasonable person to be threatening to fall, then they

will probably not be held responsible. If a reasonable

person could not have avoided this from happening in

any way, then it will be deemed an “Act of God,” and

the neighbor will not be liable.

If, after applying this reasonable care standard, how-

ever, the judge ﬁ nds that a reasonable person should have

known that the tree branch posed a danger of falling,

or that the neighbor never did reasonable inspections

to maintain the tree branch, then the neighbor could

be found liable of negligence, and therefore responsible

for damages to your property. This can also get arborists

in trouble if they recently performed a reasonable in-

spection and did not determine the tree to be a hazard.

Always document your inspections, as you may be called

in later to justify your ﬁ ndings.

The tree that caused damage was a public

tree; is the city responsible for damages?

If you were walking though a public domain, such

The property owner may have to compensate the neighbor if construction

damages their trees.

www.arborage.com Arbor Age / September 2014 17

a case where you are not completely comfortable with the local

laws and ordinances, do not perform any service until you know

exactly what you can or cannot do. Waiting a week to perform

work while you wait for the neighbors to come to an agreement

is much better than spending a week in court.

Brandon Gallagher Watson is creative director at Rainbow Treecare

Scientiﬁ c Advancements, and is an ISA Certiﬁ ed Arborist (#MN-

4086A).

Additional Resources

Tree Owner’s Rights and Responsibilities (University of

Tennessee)

https://utextension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/

SP687.pdf

Trees and Neighbor Law

http://stores.treeandneighborlaw.com/

How to Recognize Hazard Trees (USDA Forest Service)

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/uf/sotuf/chapter_3/

appendix_b/appendixb.htm

as a park or a street, and you were injured by a failing tree, you

may have grounds for a tort claim. Tort is a term derived from

the Latin term torquere, meaning twisted or wronged. Tort law

dates back to Medieval England and, while tort covers many

different types of laws, they are commonly used in the United

States as legal means of holding a public entity, such as a mu-

nicipality, responsible for damages that occurred due to the

municipality’s negligence with regard to maintaining the safety

of their public trees.

Tort claims can mean big dollars paid out by the munici-

palities. In New York’s Central Park, several recent tree-related

events have resulted in signiﬁ cant settlements. In 2009, a father

of two was injured when a large rotted tree branch fell and

struck him in the head in Central Park. The case was settled

later that year for $11.5 million. Just three months after that,

another man was killed by a failing American elm, resulting

the city paying $3 million to his family. In both cases, the suits

claimed that the City of New York and the Central Park Con-

servancy were negligent, and should have properly inspected

and maintained the park trees. The Parks Department has

less than 100 climbers and pruners for more than 2.6 million

trees, so the expectation that each and every tree is structurally

sound is absurd, but the city is still held to this standard.

My neighbor’s tree looks like it’s going to fall on

my house. What should I do?

Homeowners are responsible for maintaining the trees

on their property. Legally, they have two duties: make

reasonable inspections and take care to ensure the tree is

safe. Therefore, if a reasonable inspection by an arborist

shows that the tree could be dangerous, your neighbor is

responsible for the tree removal. If your neighbor does

not remove the dangerous tree, and the tree does in fact

cause damage, your neighbor can be held liable.

If you have spoken to your neighbor about the tree, and

they have not done anything about it, the tree may consti-

tute a nuisance. You could ﬁ le a nuisance claim, and if the

court sides with you, they can order the tree removed by

its owner.

My neighbors complain that the tree in my yard is

blocking their vista view; do I have to trim it?

Usually, no. So long as the tree is not posing a safety hazard,

there are not normally laws that protect a person’s view. Certain

communities or homeowner associations, however, may have

height limits or view ordinances that may make you responsible

for keeping the trees short. If there are no legal guidelines for

tree height, talking with the neighbor about how much they

would like the tree reduced by and getting them to pay, or at

least split, the pruning costs may help resolve it.

Your clients will often look to you, as the arborist, to be the

legal expert as to what they can or can’t do with a disputed tree.

We are, however, tree experts and not lawyers. If there is ever