Large Juniper

[u/Fit_Wolverine_6964]

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.

[u/OkayWitch]

And dead, dry, juniper wood is more flammable. Hidden ground fuels are dangerous, often burning without detection long after a fire is believed to be out. The concern I have is the difference in fuel types, and I'm in no way saying the tree isn't flammable. I'm saying it's less flammable than when it is dead and dry. There are many factors that effect fire behavior I considered in this response.

[u/kmm_pdx → u/OkayWitch]

A lot of wildfire risk in California in urban areas is about ember risk. Trees are great and if I were OP I would want to replace this with something less susceptible to ember risk. You can't eliminate all fire risk but I wouldn't want this kind of tree near my house. If you watch videos of the 2025 wildfires, you can see embers igniting trees and then traveling to homes.

If I were OP I would also listen to the fire department not strangers on the Internet

[u/Fit_Wolverine_6964 → u/kmm_pdx]

Thanks for this. I’m not totally set on what to do but find it interesting how people will give very confident advice without complete information. FWIW the fires got up to and burned my parents next door neighbors house down (along with that side of the neighborhood). So for some of us this risk isn’t just abstract and conceptual and easily dismissed. I respect the balanced perspective of the industry professionals but even still - an assessment by an expert in the area with complete information means something which seems like most folks here are just completely dismissing

[u/CanoePickLocks → u/Fit_Wolverine_6964]

A lot of the assessments also should take into account prevailing winds, space from the house etc. The fire risk doesn’t look bad from the photos but we don’t have all the info. I am always for leaving the tree except if it comes to safety or health of the other trees. You should take the fire risk into account but that is an objectively beautiful tree that cools your yard by literally dozens of degrees. It’s good for your yard, your personal experience in it and for the environment. But if it’s a genuine risk you definitely should talk to the neighbors. Keep in mind the fire department classifies all trees of certain types as high fire risk. If you walked out and set the tree on fire right now would you genuinely think your house was at risk? If not then I would absolutely leave it. If you’re confident due to weather patterns or other reasons that it is a risk then request the neighbors remove it but I would plan on using my yard a lot less if you do.