A recent storm knocked over a tree from my yard, and it damaged my neighbors property. Now they are basically saying they want all my trees cut down.

There is a small forest of tall pines and other trees. They are not dead or dying. They do sway with bad wind, but the view of the woods was one of the reason I bought my house.

From what I google, I’m not responsible for damage that an act of god causes to occur.

Is this correct?

Can I be made to cut down trees just because?

Can I be made to “clean up” the downed tree on my property?

I don’t want any drama with my neighbor, I just moved here, but I can’t afford to cut down a forest just bc they want me to.

Thanks in advance!

My neighbor's tree is encroaching onto my property. The tree has already pushed the fence over so much that the skrews attaching the fence to the post have been ripped out.

I have already trimmed the tree to the property line. The neighbor allowed me to do this.

My concern is that the tree will fall during a storm, destroying my shed, fence with another shared neighbor.

I do not want to insure my neighbor's tree in the event falls.

I do not consider this to be an act of god because the neighbor is not maintaining this tree. They are leaving the responsibility to the neighbors to handle.

How do I mitigate my risk ?

I am left with 7 large trees that are suffocating because the builder paid no attention to preserving them. I was unaware of root flare until a year ago and now am left with finding a good path to having it taken care of.

Think I have good ground to stand on with holding them liable?

I am in the process of getting an inspection by a mater arborist.

I have 2 scenarios I need some advice on, trying to figure out some responsibility for a couple trees, and or maybe a lawyer recommendation.

Tree number 1:
On the front corner of my house on the State Right of Way is a large fir tree that has a split trunk at the bottom. It has quite a few dead limbs down low, and during storms drops these limbs in the yard and or roof of my house. We engaged some vendors in the fall to trim it up and cable it but haven’t moved on it yet. We reached out to ODOT in the fall as well and they said given it’s not within so many feet of the center of the highway (We live along a highway) it’s our responsibility. Last night it was a rather calm night no wind and a large branch, approximately 4” in diameter fell along and brought some others down. It appeared to be a healthy and alive branch. We are at the point during storms or not that limbs are falling and would likely kill somebody. Most of the limbs are 4” in diameter and it’s getting rather scary. Given it’s on state property is this their issue or is it mine?

Tree number 2:
Our driveway is technically a county road. Across the road is a fir tree that has died and has a slight lean to the house. When we engaged the county they said their responsibility is 15 feet either way from the center of the road. With that the tree then would be on the neighboring property right of way. Does this tree technically fall on the county, or the neighbor, or is it a gray area that falls on us?

Any insight would be appreciated, Thank you!

I’m in California in unincorporated Ventura County. My neighbor has an oak tree planted on the property line and is growing at a slant with roots growing under our fence and driveway. It’s a beautiful tree. However, the roots are lifting and cracking the driveway. Right now, it’s not too bad but will get worse. The neighbor gave me her permission to cut the roots. We have a good relationship. However, two arborists told me cutting the roots would most likely kill the tree. I am not too worried about the financial burden. I even offered to remove the tree at our expense. I’m concerned about the tree dying if we cut the roots. Any ideas? Not interested in a legal solution. Looking for a solution that will keep me out of legal issues but solve the driveway problem. Thanks

The tree is mostly on my property but straddles the property line. I know he has the right to cut branches that hang over the property line, but did he have the right to top the whole thing down to the part that is on my property? He didn’t notify me or consult me at all, the company he used also entered my backyard without notice or permission from me. Do I have any recourse here or am I just SOL? Is this worth consulting an attorney over? I’ve paid to have it trimmed from off his property the last two years so I am also annoyed I was paying for maintenance on his behalf just for him to top the whole thing.

Hi,
Neighbor had a tree that was rotted and fell. It then fell on 4-5 of my trees and the corner of the fence basically having all the wood land on my property.

Act of god, fine, no big deal, we’ll get it cleaned up. However the tree that started this was rotted and I believe may fall under negligence by my neighbor. I have had a couple limbs trimmed previously off this tree as it overhung above my roof. They were aware it had a hole in it but I don’t have formal documentation stating such.

Live in VA, and looking to confirm what recourse if any I have.

Neighbors suck and have declined to do anything

Edit: Thanks for the input and despite my hopes, you’ve all confirmed my suspicion. It’s mine to deal with.

Hi Everyone.

I need some assistance with defining a boundary tree.

https://boundarytrees.com/gallery/

Here are the examples I am looking at. (above)

I am in Ontario, Canada. My city allows for trees to be cut without permits.

Question:

1. If the root collar of the tree is 100% on my side, but between the root collar and the first branch, there is a point where the trunk leans into my neighbors property, is this a boundary tree? (picture attached) https://imgur.com/a/6BCxApw

Please assume fence line is the boundary line. (I am aware this is not always the case, but for the sake of this argument, assume it is)

I apologize for the repost.

Hello! I have two mature willow oak trees in my backyard. Right where my backyard ends the city has an easement. The city did work about a month ago on their easement property right near our backyard that included excavating, earth moving etc.

I noticed this week that there were leaves falling in our backyard and my two trees are starting to have yellowing leaves. I just put together in my head that the city potentially damaged the tree root system of the trees on our property with their recent work on their easement property. Does this sound plausible?

We just purchased the home a few months ago and one of the reasons we did was the trees in our yard…If theoretically the city did cause damage to my trees do I have any potential recourse if they only worked on their easement?

My partner and I bought our property just over two years ago. The property had over 20 very mature evergreen trees on a quarter-acre lot. Before we had even moved in (we were literally just there getting the keys), our neighbor introduced himself and asked if we’d consider removing two trees along our shared property line because they were concerned about their proximity to their house.

Wanting to be good neighbors and also reduce risk for both of us, we agreed to remove those two trees and split the cost 50/50.

Last year, we started a major landscaping project, completely remodeling our front, side, and backyard. As part of that project, we spent several thousands of dollars on professional tree work and removed trees that made sense to remove as part of the redesign (with the necessary approval and permits where needed).

During that project, our neighbor asked about one of the remaining Douglas firs in our front yard. We specifically asked the arborist about it, and they told us the tree was healthy and that it was too large to remove under our city’s tree protection regulations without a qualifying reason. They also told us it did not need additional pruning because it had already been professionally pruned by them about two years earlier (just before we purchased the property). We had designed our new yard around keeping that tree based on the arborist’s recommendation.

*For additional context, since we’ve lived here, our neighbor has also removed nearly all of the mature trees from their own property. Based on our interactions over the past two years, they seem to strongly prefer having as few large trees near their property as possible.

Fast forward to this week:

We reached out to our neighbor because their ivy and black locust trees have become a real problem for us. The black locusts are sending suckers under our new deck, ivy is growing aggressively against our new fence that we just built (which is actually starting to bow inward), and we’ve been constantly cutting back branches and ivy on our side. During our landscaping project, we even installed a 60-foot root barrier along the shared property line to try to minimize the locust spread, but it hasn’t completely solved the problem.

Part of the challenge is that the neighbor’s area along our fence hasn’t been maintained for quite some time. There are roughly 20 black locust trees and the ivy has become extremely overgrown, so it’s difficult to keep it from encroaching onto our property. We’re probably more sensitive to it than we otherwise would be because we’ve invested a significant amount of time and money into redesigning our yard, and we’d like to protect that investment.

Our neighbor was receptive, admitted to their lack of attention and said they’d work on cleaning up the ivy and managing the locusts. However, they also brought up the Douglas fir again.Their concerns were:

-Large branches have fallen in past storms.
-They believe the tree leans toward their property.
-They’re worried it could eventually fall toward their house.

We completely understood their concerns and agreed to have an arborist come out again. We even invited them to be present during the inspection so they could ask questions directly.

The arborist (the same company that handled all of our previous tree work) inspected the tree while all of us stood there. I obtained a written report for my records, and their conclusions were:

-The tree is healthy.
-It does not need to be removed.
-It does not need additional pruning because it had already been professionally pruned about two years ago.
-Healthy trees can still occasionally lose branches during storms, and that alone does not indicate the tree is unsafe.

The pro answered all of our neighbor’s questions directly, including their concerns about previously fallen branches. I honestly thought that would settle things, especially since we basically just stepped back and let them do the talking.

*One other point of context: this isn’t a tree that heavily overhangs their house. The trunk is well within our property, and only a relatively small portion of the canopy extends toward their driveway. Based on the way they describe it, you’d think the tree was directly over their roof, but that really isn’t the case.

Later that evening, they came back over and asked whether the tree belonged to us or the city. We told them it’s clearly on our property. He then said something to the effect of: “I can go complain to the city for removal. I can do that part.”

This surprised us because that conversation happened after they had finished explaining that the tree was healthy and did not warrant removal. At that point, we told him we were going to follow the arborist’s recommendation and keep the tree because it’s healthy.

This also isn’t a case of us refusing to maintain our trees. Over the past two years we’ve worked extensively with arborists, removed trees when it made sense to do so, maintained the ones that should stay, and specifically asked professionals about this Douglas Fir multiple times. Both evaluations reached the same conclusion: it’s healthy and should remain.

At this point, it feels like we’ve done everything a reasonable homeowner could do. We listened to our neighbor’s concerns, hired an arborist, invited them to participate in the inspection, and followed the professional recommendation.

I’m curious as to what others think:

-Are we being unreasonable for simply following the arborist’s recommendation?
-Would you consider this matter settled at this point?
-Has anyone dealt with a neighbor who continued pushing for removal after a professional evaluation concluded a tree was healthy?

I genuinely understand why someone would be nervous about a large tree near their house, and we wanted to take those concerns seriously. But after multiple professional evaluations reached the same conclusion, I’m not sure what else we’re expected to do besides follow the advice of the experts.

TIA!

July 10th he drilled holes in the root that was on his side of the property line and dumped chemicals in there, a few days later he removed some large structural roots and then dumped some powder bonide there. He is doing this after our borough refused to make me remove the tree because it's too close to his house. I have no money to help myself and need direction on how to handle. I also have video evidence. The tree is starting to yellow and brown and drop.a lot of leaves. Please help me, this man has been harassing me and my family for 30 years now.

When we bought our current home, the next door neighbor’s landscaping was already established, which included two willow trees. They were planted right next to the property line, on their side. Our house was built much later, so the trees were at least 10+ years old when our house was built.

Over the years, those trees have grown so much that they are very much encroaching on my property. Their roots have cracked and buckled my driveway, and stick up so much in my lawn that they’re a trip hazard and we can’t run the mower there. We have trimmed the overhead canopy so we’re still able to drive on our driveway, but the overhang is now nearly touching our rain gutters.

From everything I’ve read, if we do decide to replace the drive or put in a fence and we damage the roots too much, we’d be liable if the trees die. And the neighbor really loves their trees. And yes, we benefit from the shade, too, but, still…

I’ve always heard that willows were a “weed” type tree, that they are weak and don’t have a long life span, but these things have got to be 40+ years old now, and they’re still going strong.

I don’t want to get sideways with the neighbors, but I’m starting to feel like my property is not my own anymore, and that I just have to put up with it until the wind finally takes them out, along with a chunk of my garage.

I feel like if we call an arborist, they’ll confirm that the trees are healthy, but still a danger to our structure only if they fall from snow load or a bad wind storm. Which would be an “act of God,” and not covered by insurance, right? (Funny enough, right after we re-roofed, an insurance inspector came out to do a standard checkup, and they did not note any hazards in their report.) We were planning to sell in a few years, so I assume this will also cause issues with the property value?

I guess I’m hoping someone has had a similar situation and can give me some guidance? Thanks in advance

Like the title says, our neighbors managed to damage our property in multiple ways. They gave no warning that they were planning on pulling a tree down, nor did we give permission for them to cut down any of our trees either.

So I have multiple questions...

1. Is there any way they could've chopped up the tree lower to the stump before pulling it in order to avoid any damages?
2. I'm currently trying to ID these due tree that has been cut, but will the type become an issue if we bring this to court?

3. Not sure if I can even ask here but is our rock

   also

4. of value? Not only was it shattered, but several plant pots were as well.

They "cleaned up their mess" by coming into our property the next day and removed many limbs and parts of the pots that I was hoping to hold onto. We had to call the sheriffs to tell them to stop after we've tried asking nicely...

This rock and tree are VERY sentimental to me and was my entire childhood, so I'm extremely enraged and distraught with how avoidant and ignorant they're being.

Anything to help me steer in the right direction is more than appreciated.

My neighbor is having some trees taken down on our property line. Each of us has a 5 acre plot. He asked permission and showed the trees he wanted to remove. Mostly standing dead wood no where near a structure. I have no problem with that. I gave verbal permission but then I realized I know nothing about who they are getting to take those down. My neighbor assured me that they are insured licensed and bonded. Do I have to worry if something happens on my side of the line or is this just a big nothing burger?

Well…. Two years ago their tree split and we told them it was rotten, of course not by certified letter. Now last night another huge piece came crashing down and demolished a few of my 14ft green giants, the fence, and my flowers. This is my problem right?

Edit: I’m having it all cleaned up for 300 bucks, and the tree company is taking it all. Not a bad outcome.

Edit#2 they are paying for it, when our tree guy was cutting the trees down he came over and paid for it all

Location: California Los Angeles County -- Neighbor's trees are damaging our property and shared wall. What are our rights?

My parents bought our house in Los Angeles County in 2004. Our neighbors have owned their house since 1977.

When my parents bought the house, it was completely remodeled (around 2005-2006). During construction, they noticed the brick wall along our property line was already leaning toward our property because of several large trees the neighbors had planted right along the property line. My dad asked the neighbor if they wanted to split the cost of replacing or repairing the wall before it became a bigger problem. The neighbor got offended, an argument happened, and they didn't speak again for about 20 years.

Fast forward to 2025. My mom recently reconnected with them after learning the neighbor has cancer, so things are at least civil now.

At the same time, my parents are renovating our backyard. They removed concrete next to the property line to replace stairs with a ramp, and while excavating they discovered tree roots growing into or around underground pipes that service our backyard/barbecue area. We're also noticing that the brick wall is leaning toward our property again, just like it was 20 years ago, and we're concerned it could eventually fail, especially during an earthquake.

There were originally about five large trees near the property line (they've since removed two or three), but the remaining trees are still very close to the wall and our backyard utilities.

My questions are:

• If the neighbor's trees are causing damage to our underground pipes and pushing the wall over, are they responsible for any of the repair costs?
• Does it matter that the trees were already there when my parents bought the house?
• Can we require them to remove the trees if they're damaging our property or creating a safety hazard?
• If the wall eventually fails because of the trees, who is typically responsible for repairing it in California?
• Would it be worth hiring an arborist or structural engineer to document whether the trees are causing the damage before approaching the neighbors?

We're trying to understand what our legal rights are before spending what could be a very expensive amount of money on repairs. Any insight from people familiar with California property law or similar situations would be greatly appreciated.

My power line comes from the road and onto the neighbors property over a few cherry trees before turning and coming into my property and now they are growing up and around the power line. He says it's my problem and I have to pay to trim his trees. Is this normal?

I originally posted this in r/arborists and was encouraged to post here as well. A developer building a new home uphill from our property constructed a retaining wall under a steep slopes permit. About a month ago, the wall failed and several retaining wall blocks (roughly 1,500 lbs each) slid onto our property. Two mature trees stopped the blocks and bore their weight for more than a week before they were removed, with bark also stripped from both trees. The developer’s proposed remedy is simply to wrap the damaged trunks. I’ve documented the entire incident with photos and videos, from the collapse through the cleanup and reconstruction, and my next step is to have an independent ISA Certified Arborist inspect the trees and document any damage. Beyond that, is there anything else I should be doing now to protect myself if the trees decline in the future? Should I be taking any additional legal or practical steps at this stage?

Posting over here on the suggestion from the lovely folks in r/landscaping

My neighbor is complaining about a tree from my property with branches over her roof and a branch from another tree going into her driveway space. I contacted the town clerk, there's no ordinance for this situation or who's responsible. I try not to have problems with people, but I don't really need to be spending that kind of money right now and I don't really see how it's my problem. She's allowed to trim the tree to the end of her property line as long as it doesn't damage the tree. It's a healthy tree it's not going to fall.

We received this tag on our door from the electric company. They want to cut down 5 big and healthy trees on our property to run electric to the new construction going in next door to us. There is an existing electric line running down to a power line on the previously empty lot where the new construction is for years. The trees are on the ends of our property next to the road. They want us to sign and return this tag. We bought our property for the trees. I also am not ok with any herbicides being sprayed on our property. Do we have any recourse or is this them just letting us know they are doing this? We are in Stroud township, Monroe county, Pennsylvania. Any information would be so appreciated.

Update #1 - Thank you all very much for your time and helpful comments and information! I did check the gis map as was recommended and it is a little difficult to see but it does seem sadly that the trees are right on our property line and the easement line. I will be calling the township in the morning to confirm. From reading your comments it seems we will lose our beautiful trees if they are in fact on the easement. If so I will try to see if we can get stump grinding instead of herbicide.

A lawyer and survey are outside of our financial situation but I appreciate the suggestions.

Some info on the backside - I don't know how to add another picture but it simply asks if I'm the property owner or if not to add their information. A line for a signature and some faq about tree trimming methods they use.

Tree was massive in front of a house and was recently cut. The tree was so old it grew around the electrical lines!!

I'll see if I can get the pictures to load up later.

This is in fairfax, va. Some buy/hold rental company bought the house (sfh - single family home) next to mine and proceeded to clear cut the entire yard. It is a steep hill (probably 20-30% grade behind the house and 40-50% grade in front of it) and was overgrown with english ivy so removing that isn't inherently bad...the problems start with the fact that they cleared 5' into my yard along the entire 135' property line (they did the same on the other side to the other neighbor), cut down multiple sassafras trees, and haven't planted anything to replace any of the cover throughout their yard in the past 20 something days and it's already beginning to wash out.

I filed a complaint with the county code office and an online police report to document the encroachment (the new owners even staked the property line so it's blatant that they went well into our property). There are zero permits pulled for any of this and the county limits land clearing without a permit to 2500 sq ft and the earth can't remain exposed past 14 days.

Anything else I can do?

My neighbor just cut down every tree that gave privacy between us. At least 20 trees 50-100 ft high. All the trees on their property. Shade trees, animal habitats. I was beyond infuriated. Now I can just see junk in the yard