For more than 30 years, Arbor Age magazine has been covering new and innovative products, services, technology and research vital to tree care companies, municipal arborists and utility right-of-way maintenance companies
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/368734
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.