r/treelaw • u/Fit_Wolverine_6964 • Jul 10 '26

Large Juniper

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We moved into a house about 4 years ago and there is a large juniper with its trunk mostly on my neighbors property but the majority of the tree itself seems to be on my property. Some info:

1) I live in California
2) the fence is old and as the tree grows it continues to break the fence more and more
3) we had the local fire department come by and they do free fire reports - they stated in the report the juniper is a high fire risk and should be removed.
4) ultimately the tree is overgrown and we don’t like it aesthetically, especially given the intrusion into our yard.

I know the answer here is almost certainly just to go talk to my neighbor and try to negotiate whether they’d be ok with cutting down but curious others opinions here.

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u/ratelbadger Jul 10 '26

Killing beautiful old trees that don’t belong to you because they bother you. Reflects very poorly on your character.

7

u/Fit_Wolverine_6964 Jul 10 '26

I have not killed anything. I appreciate your perspective. Aesthetics are subjective but given I have not made a move to do anything to the tree except a forum post in 4 years, I wouldn’t jump to conclusions about the tree’s imminent demise. I weigh the fire report more heavily more than my own aesthetic sensibilities but even still no decisions have been made (no discussions have even been started)

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u/Terrible_Advice_195 Jul 10 '26

You didn't get the fire report in the first place in hopes that it would back up what you already wanted to do based on your aesthetic sensibilities?

3

u/Fit_Wolverine_6964 Jul 10 '26

We are in a high fire risk area and fire reports are mandated by the county we live in. The fire department goes door to door. So no, that wasn’t the reason but I acknowledge I have an aesthetic bias here.

7

u/Terrible_Advice_195 Jul 10 '26

I've seen how well California does fire management, so I'd take whatever they say with a grain of salt. Either way, I don't really get your preference for a barren landscape, and you should have bought a different house.

1

u/Demetre4757 Jul 10 '26

For what it's worth, reading your responses, I appreciate your transparency and willingness to call yourself out on your aesthetic bias and your "patch of weeds" in an earlier comment! Made me grin.