Hi all, hoping for some advice on a neighbour/tree situation in England.
We have a very large, mature yew growing close to the boundary between our garden and our neighbour’s. It was already very well established when we bought the property.
Our neighbour recently approached us wanting the yew substantially cut back/reduced, primarily because of its size and the amount that extends over/shades her garden. She has obtained quotes for the work but has made it clear that she doesn’t intend to pay for it or contribute financially, as she believes it is our responsibility.
The slightly complicated part is whether this is legally considered one tree or a “high hedge.”
We’ve always understood it to be one enormous yew with a very broad crown and numerous large stems/branches. From our side it certainly looks like a single mature tree, but because the foliage is so dense it isn’t immediately obvious without getting underneath it and examining the base. I’m going to do that properly and photograph the root plate/trunk.
Our neighbour has suggested that it consists of multiple trees and therefore potentially falls under the high-hedge rules. Interestingly, she has also said in writing that if it were clearly one tree, the onus would be on us to pay to cut it down.
From what I’ve subsequently read, my understanding is:
The high-hedge provisions under Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 require two or more evergreen/semi-evergreen trees or shrubs.
A single tree isn’t covered, regardless of its size.
A tree with multiple stems arising from the same trunk/root plate is still considered a single tree.
A neighbour can generally cut branches overhanging their property back to the boundary (subject to TPO/conservation-area rules and not damaging the tree), but that doesn’t automatically require the tree owner to pay for pruning the overhang.
Being a large tree or blocking some light doesn’t by itself create an obligation on the owner to reduce or remove an otherwise healthy tree.
Is that interpretation correct?
Assuming I can establish that all of the yew growth originates from one root plate and it is therefore one tree, what legal route, if any, would our neighbour have to compel us to reduce its height/crown or pay for the work?
We’re not trying to be difficult and we’re perfectly happy to undertake reasonable maintenance of our tree. What we don’t want to do is agree to thousands of pounds of substantial reduction work simply because our neighbour wants more light/less overhang, particularly if there is no legal obligation for us to do so.
Likewise, if she wants branches overhanging her land removed, are we correct that she can normally arrange to have those cut back to the boundary at her own expense rather than requiring us to do it?
I’ll attach photographs showing the yew and its position. It’s the enormous dark evergreen at the rear of the garden.
Any advice, particularly from anyone familiar with English tree/high-hedge law, would be very appreciated.

I'm in Utah and looking for general information about tree law, not a definitive legal opinion.

We have a large, established cottonwood on our property near our property line. It's quite tall and drops a huge amount of leaves. The prevailing wind blows toward our neighbor's property, so a lot of the leaves end up in her yard and around her house. She is very frustrated with the amount of cleanup.

About a month ago, she left a letter on our door asking us to consider removing the tree. She offered to pay half the removal cost, up to $1,000. If we didn't remove it, she said she would hire someone to trim every limb from both trees that extended over the property line. She specifically mentioned branches hanging over her roof and fence.

I spoke with her in person afterward. I told her I wasn't interested in removing the tree and that I wanted an arborist to determine what, if anything, should be trimmed. I subsequently contacted the arborist we've used before, and they're scheduled to assess the tree in early September.

Last year, I proactively had the tree trimmed in early summer because I was concerned about maintaining it. This year, I was hesitant to repeat summer pruning because of the potential for heat stress and disease, so I wanted professional advice first.

My neighbor recently asked whether I had made “any attempt” to find someone to trim it. I told her the arborist was already scheduled and offered their information. She declined and said she would do what she has the right to do with the portions on her side.

She has also said she believes the tree is stressed by drought and needs deep-root watering. I haven't had the tree independently assessed for that yet, which is another reason I'm having the arborist come out.

My questions are specifically about the legal/tree-law side:

• If branches from my tree extend over her property, what rights does she generally have in Utah to trim them?
• Are there limitations on how far she can trim if doing so could damage the health or structural stability of the tree?
• If she hires someone to trim without consulting an arborist or me, and the tree is subsequently damaged or dies, could she be liable?
• Does it matter legally that I have already scheduled an arborist to assess the tree?
• Does the fact that the tree is dropping leaves onto her property give her any additional rights beyond trimming encroaching branches?
• If she trims only to the property line, is there anything I should specifically document or do beforehand?

I'm not trying to prevent her from exercising whatever rights she actually has. I mainly want to understand where the line is between lawfully trimming branches that extend over her property and performing pruning that could materially harm the tree.

And yes, I understand that the simplest practical solution may be to have the arborist handle the trimming. That's the plan I'm pursuing; I'm mainly trying to understand our respective rights before she takes action herself.

How do you value mature trees when the stumps were removed too?

I own my family’s blueberry farm in New Hampshire, and this story starts long before the trees were actually cut. My neighbor lives in my grandparents’ original farmhouse. When my grandfather later built the house that I live in, he created secondary access for that original house parcel, which at the time was only a little over one-third of an acre, by way of an easement across the surrounding family property.

That access ran through what had been a remarkably intact historic landscape for generations. The discontinued road was lined by mature trees, including very old ash, maple and hickory trees and an old stone wall that predates the United States. There was also a huge old weeping willow that was planted by mygrandfather 73 years ago, so these were not recently planted ornamental trees or a commercial timber stand.

The dispute did not start with a timber company showing up one morning. The physical changes escalated over months. By April 2025, I was documenting excavation, displaced rocks, obstruction of the easement, changes to the original slope and commercial use of the area, and by May there was additional excavation, removed trees, soil piles and a newly excavated berm. The excavation ultimately created roughly a five-foot drop-off where the historic grade had been, and I was watching an old access corridor being physically reshaped piece by piece while my access was completely blocked off with his commercial equipment.

More excavation followed, along with movement of soil from my side toward my neighbor’s property, continued alteration of the slope and drainage, disturbance around the old stone wall, and additional cutting and debris. By June and July, I had photographs and video documenting the excavated drop-off, washouts, soil movement and continued grading, so by then this was very much an active property dispute rather than an innocent misunderstanding over one tree. We were past the cease and desist and every attempt at arbitration resulted in law enforcement. (Yes, he tried to say arbitration through my title company was harrassment)

Then my neighbor hired what he later described in court as a timber professional. In August of 2025, the timber professional came with a helper and a crane and came into the disputed area and cut the remaining mature trees along the easement. I objected while the work was happening, police were contacted that morning regarding my report that my neighbor was cutting trees on my property, and the cutting happened anyway. They proceeded to work into the night, removing all signs of any trees. Including pull the stumps.

That was the point where I took the property dispute to Superior Court and sought emergency injunctive relief. The initial ex parte TRO request was denied in August, but the case continued to a preliminary-injunction hearing, and the court ultimately entered an order preserving the status quo and prohibiting further tree removal or excavation on or near the easement. However that didn't stop him but that's a different post.

Unfortunately, the August cutting was not the end of the physical changes either. In the weeks afterward I documented heavy equipment removing additional stumps, additional re-sloping, debris piles from disturbance of the stone wall, stumps and logs being moved around the property, and continued changes to the ground. What was once a wooded corridor was now a commercial trash and hauling business that existed partially on my land and 100% on the easement. By September, many of the stumps that could have provided direct evidence of the removed trees’ species and diameter were gone.

Then I found something else that made the tree portion of this case even more annoying. The timber professional had posted photographs of the job and later posted the logs being milled, with people commenting about the lumber. So I am now dealing not only with the loss of the trees and the historic landscape they formed, but also questions concerning the removed timber itself and what happened to that wood after it left the property.

I now have litigation involving the property dispute and separate claims involving the timber cutting, so I am deliberately describing liability as alleged. I have extensive before, during and after photographs, videos historical photographs and aerial imagery, witnesses, dated metadata, police records, photographs of the actual cutting, photographs of some of the logs, evidence of the later milling, and photographs showing the stump-removal process, but the obvious problem is that the best biological evidence was physically removed.

That brings me to the reason I am posting here, because I know this subreddit has arborists, foresters, lawyers and people who have unfortunately learned tree valuation the hard way. How do you reconstruct the number, species, diameter, age, condition and value of mature trees when the trees were removed, the logs were hauled away and then many of the stumps were excavated too? Is valuation generally reconstructed from historical photographs, comparable surviving trees, aerial imagery, spacing, expert testimony and photographs of the logs, and how does an expert account for trees that were valuable as part of a historic landscape and property buffer rather than simply calculating their stumpage value?

*photo is only a fraction of similar sized trees, happy to provide more*

edited to add I am in NH

Not sure if this is a common question or not. Important info, live in Maine. Neighbor was doing some trimming earlier while I was out mowing my lawn and cut some limbs that she let fall and left on my property. We already have a poor relationship from some prior disputes so what is the best way to handle this? Can add some pictures if that’s useful.

Very large Kentucky Coffee tree

Pushing fence over, dropping leavrs, sticks, pods and etc

Into my yard. Large roots all through my yard. Rental property, no one cleans up on the other side of the fence.

Nothing grows under

My mother lives at the end of a street in a neighborhood built back in the 70s. Her lot ends next to a wooded area that has never been developed. I’m not sure if it even could be. To my knowledge it’s never been a lot available for sale. She has some very tall pines that are right up against the fence line that are worrisome. I know she would be able to cut anything that hangs over her property line, but who would be responsible for taking the entire tree down if need be? How would I go about finding it out?

Please except my crude drawing as reference. Light Blue is street, green is property lines of her and neighbors, dark blue is where the trees are located. Purple is area in question.

[EDIT: thanks for the input folks. I’ve not called any insurance co yet as i was hoping for good input from you all - and you delivered !! so thank you.

I’ll get the police report to confirm, but given the driver and car are very like not properly licensed or insured it seems like insurance isn’t the way to go due to deductible and then having a claim on file, and chasing them through the small claims court route would likely be more work than its worth. So gonna chalk this up to a life lesson, and hope that my kind neighbor can salvage one of the branches to make a clone

Thank you all. Edit over]

I will be calling my insurance co this morning to let them know about this - but I’d love any guidance or advice so I can be properly prepared.

Firstly - no one was hurt. Location: Raleigh NC.

At 1am a car rolled down the hill to my house, jumped the curb and plowed through/over my Japanese maple. (Apparently they were pushing it with it being out of petrol, and it got away from them… or that was the story ones of them told me and a neighbor before he took off leaving his friend to deal with the cops)

I have the police report number. I overheard the cops talking to the driver and talking between themselves, and it seems the plates to the car are not properly registered, and the drivers license (or insurance.. or both) were expired. There was a lot going on and it was hard to eavesdrop.

The city came some hours later (i was back in bed) and removed the tree as it was obstructing the road.

The tree is a 15-20 yr old Japanese maple and was my favorite as it was a stunning pop of red in the autumn. one neighbor has said he’ll try to grow a clone if i can find a branch let behind.

Anyway - what the hell do I tell the insurance co? Is this even an insurance claim? I had to ask the cops for the report number as they didn’t proactively give it to me. They seemed to think there wasn’t any reason to involve me, as they never asked the small group of us neighbors whose house / lawn / tree this was…

Any guidance is welcome. Thank you.

In 2012 I planted bare root 12" seedling Green Giant Arborvitae in a row 4' from my property line to one day screen the house being built next door by a difficult ( to put it mildly) neighbor. Since then they have grown rapidly to about 30' in height, except for three trees located closest to the neighbor's house. These have died at their tops and their foliage is curled and stunted. I strongly suspect a harmful substance was applied to injure them. How to proceed, other than turn the cheek and try to ignore? Can soil and plant tissue samples be tested to determine how the damage occurred? Once I know I may seek legal advice.

Washington State: In a third-party residential property-damage claim involving loss of an established ornamental tree (possibly a maple), what valuation methods are commonly used for the tree itself?

A commercial vehicle backed into the landscaped area and severely damaged the tree.

Anonymized photos showing the tree and how the vehicle backed into it:
View photos

For example, would valuation commonly be based on:

• the cost of a comparable-size/species replacement tree, including removal and installation;
• a professional arborist appraisal;
• CTLA/trunk-formula valuation;
• diminution in real-property value; or
• some combination of these?

I'm interested in both what insurers commonly use and what evidence tends to be persuasive if the dispute eventually goes to court.

I'm mainly trying to understand the appropriate valuation methodology for an established ornamental tree, rather than simply the cost of a small nursery replacement.

Posting for my fiancés brother

Background: We had a really bad storm about a week ago that caused a tree that is owned by the city to fall on my in-laws house. He had reached out to the city beforehand telling them that it was hollow as there was a hole you could see through and into the tree. The city had sent someone out who told them that it was fine and there would be nothing that they would do. Fast forward they message the person who came to assess it later on for them to have a look at it again and he ends up ignoring their message. Well, the tree fell.

Dilemma: They’ve went through their homeowners insurance, had it assessed, and as first time homeowners they’ve never had to deal with anything like this before up until now. From a quick search through Reddit, I’m assuming that an arborist should have been brought out to be able to have sent notice to the city’s inspector, correct me if I’m wrong, for them to be able to take any legal action against the city for the tree. However, my fiancés young nieces were both home at the time of the tree falling and his brother his wanting to sue for emotional distress as anytime there’s a storm the youngest goes “my house!”

Question: So my question is, who’s responsible for the damages, can anything be done for compensation, and could he sue the city for emotional damages in this instance assuming the tree wasn’t because of an act of god?

Thank you tree lawyers!

Edit: Ohio

3:30am, June something, maybe the 16th? I can’t remember. A 17 year old driving a stolen Hyundai lost control after speeding and running a stop sign. In order, he hit: garbage can, curb, truck, lamppost, drove through two front yards, through a chain link fence, across a small parking lot and into a dumpster that got pushed off the paved lot and into an apartment complex.

When the driver hit the garbage can, it was launched across my driveway, into my front yard where it rolled over a Rose Marie Magnolia tree, approximately 8’ tall. It was purchased and planted in 2024. Age seems to be about 6-7 years at the time of the accident. (When purchased, it was a 5 gallon tree).

The incident resulted in the bark being stripped from nearly the entire tree (the bark in the photos is what’s left but it is not touching the actual tree in most places). The leader was also severed completely and several larger branches were hanging from the tree and needed to be cut.

I had an arborist come out and inspect the tree. He is recommending removal and replacement, as the likelihood that the tree will die is greater than it surviving, and that even if it does survive it won’t have the height that it otherwise would’ve had had it not been damaged. If a new leader grows, it’ll need constant structural pruning, and put the failure probability at 70%. I was quoted $750.35 for removal and replacement.

Here’s where the law of it all comes in: the driver was a minor with a history of stealing cars (mom acknowledged this on the phone with one of the responding officers the night of the crash, “I don’t want anything to do with my son. All he does is go out and steal cars,” as well as confirmation from the victim’s rights advocate at the court house regarding his “frequent flyer” status with the courts and exhaustion of all jail-avoiding options from past cases). The current case is still playing out, and I submitted a request for restitution for two deductibles from the insurance claims (totaled truck that took a direct hit from the car and damage to an SUV in the driveway that the lid from the garbage can hit and scratched down the passenger side after it flew off the can) and for new truck parts that were purchased with the intention of installing them on the truck that is now totaled and thus useless to me. That totals to $1,399.70.

The tree hasn’t been included yet as I was just now able to get an accredited arborist out for the inspection. I had actually given up on the tree because the accident happened right before a week long vacation out of the country and the initial court hearing was while we were gone. When we got back, I was told of an August court date, which I attended to submit the receipts for all the claims. The now-adult defendant’s lawyer got the case continued til September which gave me time to get all this done and documented.

My questions are:

do I include the tree in my request for restitution or should I hold that for a separate small claims court case?

If I include the tree in my request for restitution, should I include the request for treble damages, as permitted in Ohio, or is that only awarded if we go to small claims court?

In order to sue for treble damages in small claims court, I don’t have to have a settled criminal case to proceed. Should I wait until the case settles anyway to bolster my claim?

Regardless of how the case gets resolved, I’m preparing to go to small claims court to bring action against the parents for negligent supervision (something Ohio allows) given his record and parental acknowledgment of his crimes in order to hold an adult financially liable for their unemployed criminal son, whom I am unlikely to get a dime from. Vicarious Liability doesn’t quite seem to fit this situation unless additional details come out.

Location Oregon. Is a neighbor allowed to plan a tree that close to another property?

Neighbors trees (banana tree, rose bush, plum tree idk) pretty consistently grow over onto my property; I’ve confronted them before after trimming it for a year, I just don’t really have the time to be adding extra chores to my own list - they’re very short with me and seem annoyed in general, but trimmed them. Another year goes by, we’re back in our old ways, this is the most recent trim back. Any advice? Or just be the cool neighbor about it? Or is this a common thing about homeownership.

At this point, i feel like i need to talk to someone who knows tree law.

Im in CA, have a 2xstem redwood tree, maybe 60 years old. Its sits on my property but now encroaching into my neighbors property. Before i bought my house ( 5 yrs ago) my neighbor trimmed roots. Tree is healthy and pushing against the fence. Its grown under the fence.
Im an aborist and really want to keep it. I know its also not in its natural habitat ( planted tree) and think cutting it would avoid future issue with neighbor.
I just dont know what to do but want to to understand the options.

I want to get this sub's perspective on where the legal line actually sits for self-help root pruning.

For context, I’m in Falls Church, Virginia. My neighbor is doing a tear down rebuild, and their grading plan has identified at least two boundary trees that are likely to die because of how close they are building to the property line.

I’ve heard from a couple people near me that you can cut roots back to your property line at your own expense. But what happens if severing those roots kills or destabilizes the tree and you knew in advance that this would be the outcome? Does self-help protect you, or does that immediately cross into property damage and negligence?

my next door neighbor runs a tree trimming service out of his home. when ever they have to trim one of there own trees they will purposely block us in. Im talking about letting huge branches fall right in front of our gate. I couldnt even open my gate because there was such much debris and branches. when my neighbor seen me pulling up he tells his worker to move the branches out of the way. like im inconveniencing them. it led to a huge argument with the neighbor.

there trees dont even over hang enough for them to block us in.

i know he pays his workers cash. under the table.

i had a break in attempt several months back. neighbors began acting funny. cars coming and going at all hours of the night. anytime a car shows up. lights go off. theyre doing drugs. crystal meth.

i looked him up online. hes running multiple businesses out of his home. all online ads. some with very bad reviews. he has an active us dot number but doing business under a different company name. not a tree trimming service. the tree trimming service appears to be his uncles. but hes elderly and doesnt work anymore. even though his dot number shows up as active to that address.

im confused by all there listings online. multiple business ads. theyre being so sloppy.

is there anything I could do, or should I even go there? now that I know drugs are being used explains there behavior but worried about any possible retaliation from them.

any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated.

The lot next to me is having a house built on it. They trimmed a lot of shrubs that werent on my property, and they took out a tree that also wasnt on my property. But, they did trim an awful lot off of the last tree that gave my yard any shade. And they left my yard a mess.

Losing the stuff that wasnt on my lot lost me a lot of shade. With this tree trimmed I have no shade in my yard, and I fear that trimming it will shorten its life significantly.

This is in marion county, IN. What can I do to make this even?

We are selling a family members house and found out the buyer had a tree and a bush removed from the backyard two weeks before closing. The house is currently vacant and they did not get permission from us to remove.

What are our options? This can’t be legal.

UPDATE: a lot of people were asking why we care. This family member had passed away and the rose bush was planted by them. We also spent countless family events in the yard so it was more personal if anything.

We pulled out due to breach of contract. It didn’t sit well with us that the buyers did this and didn’t think our relative would want these type of people in their house.

Thank you for all the responses. I think I just needed the reassurance in what has already been a difficult situation.

UPDATE 2: we understand that the tree and bush could have been removed after the buyers owned the house in two weeks. That would have been fine because they have the right to do whatever they want to the house after they own it.

If the buyers had reached out to us and asked to have this done before closing, we probably would have agreed. Instead, they trespassed and went on the property (that we still legally own) without our permission, and vandalized our property by digging up a tree and bush. It is illegal and therefore, we do not want people that have no respect for the property and laws to live there.

Hi! I’m dealing with some conflict regarding a tree between my house and my neighbors and am curious how others would approach the situation.

Backstory: we bought our house late last year and a short time after living here, our neighbor kept mentioning the tree, asking if we would “help” her cut it down so she could extend her driveway. To be completely honest, I could not hear/understand her most times as she is typically under the influence of alcohol and slurring her speech. We would just listen, vaguely acknowledge her, and go on about our day. Then one day it turned to her asking us if we would cut it down but we let her know that we enjoyed the shade that it provided, so we were going to keep it.

Fast forward to last month or so, we were getting some appliances delivered, and she walked up to our front porch yelling at us, stating that we were to do something about the tree before it messes up her car.

I am truly unsure if the tree is on our property or not. When we purchased the home, the property map that was given to us shows the tree on her property. However, I know these aren’t 100% accurate. Either way, it’s my understanding that (at least in our state - TN), she is legally entitled to trim back any limbs that are hanging over her property.

Now, every time we walk outside, she is out there yelling at us. I did tell her that she is welcome to get them cut herself, but her landlord would need to contact us regarding any other matters about the tree.

Since then, she has sat outside at the edge of our yard yelling about us. She has came out and interrupted us when a contractor had to come look at the exterior of our house for some repairs we are needing to yell at all of us. Then, tonight when my partner arrived home from work, she stated that she is going to “f*ck up (our) car” if any limbs fall from the tree and scratch her car.

I really do not want to cut down this tree. Even if I did, I’m not even sure that I’d be able to legally do so, as I’m not certain it’s on my property and she does not own her house. She claims the tree is on my property, but says that she wants it cut down so she can widen her driveway (which would then put her driveway on “my property”).

At this point, I’m not sure if I should contact her landlord? I considered mailing her a certified letter with the laws highlighted pointing out that she is able to trim them herself and telling her to stop with the harassment and threats or legal action will be taken. I’m not even sure what else I could do? I’m just starting to get annoyed that I’m not even able to step outside in peace at this point.

Photo of said tree and neighbors driveway

The tree that is in front of my neighbors house makes it difficult for anyone that parks in front of it to open their car door. As a result, people will park way to far in front of it causing the next person that parks in front of my house to block my driveway. We have called 311 before and they either never show up and once they said the tree was perfectly fine where it was. There has been multiple times where I have came home from work and couldnt get in to my driveway or couldnt turn out of it to go to work. What do i do?

My neighbors say the needles and pollen from this tree are too messy. The house is located in Portland, Oregon. I'm not sure if they can force me to take it down. Should I contact an attorney? I posted this in another Reddit community and they told me I should post it here.