My Neighbor Mows Some of My Lawn

[Mosey]

Something just happened yesterday at my place to make me give the advice "keep him off your property!". It's your land, you should have control of it. As I stated earlier, there is a row of trees right along the property line between my neighbor and I and he usually mows it on my side as he mows around all of the trees (which he planted more than 5 years ago before I moved here). I mow it once it a while on my side, but never go on his side. The trees are about 7' tall now.

Well, yesterday he decided to trim the trees. I like evergreen trees (most of these are scotch pine) that have the branches all the way to the ground. I think they look better that way, plus they do a better job of blocking noise. His driveway runs along next to this row of trees, so I've been looking forward to these tress getting bigger so I would have more privacy, less dust, and less noise from people driving up and down his driveway (between his kids and other folks, his driveway gets a lot of traffic on weekends). He started trimming them so the lowest branches are about 3' above the ground. Since they're right on the property line, I feel like he should have talked to me about it first. But, apparently he feels that since he planted them and has been mowing around them, he can do what he wants without consulting me first. Should I go over and talk to him before he finishes the rest? The only reason he quit yesterday is because it started raining.

The more I think about it, the more I get irritated that he planted them right on the property line in the first place. It seems to me he should have planted them on his side. I'm in the process of planting a row of trees on my side already (I put in a row of white pines last year), because I felt like a double row of trees would be even better than the single row, plus he didn't plant all evergreen type trees and I want a "tree fence" year around, not just in the spring and summer. But, the way he planted his right on the property line forced me to plant mine farther into my yard, thus reducing the size of my yard. Maybe he got the OK, from the guy who used to live here, but if it would have been me I would not have agreed to it.

 

[riptides]

If the trees are on the property line, then the trunk and branches on your property are yours. The neighbor would have rights to maintain only what is on his/her property. They
cannot trim or cut what is on your lot.

-Mike Z.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Rip,

Your interpretation has both good and not so good elements in it. Let me explain.

If the property line literally runs directly though the center of the tree it's owned equally by each property owner. If the tree is on either side, then that property owner also owns the tree.

Trimming the tree becomes an interesting issue if the neighbors don't get along. The tree owner cannot go on adjacent property to trim the tree without that owner's permission. The neighbor who doesn't own the tree can trim branches and roots from that tree when they enter his property or the airspace above it. Property rights extend into the air as well.

That right to trim overhanging branches has limits, however. Such trimming may be done only to the extent that it does not harm the overall health of the tree causing it to die. If that occurs, than the non-owning neighbor may be held liable for damages to the tree even though he only trimmed portion which encroached onto his property.

I came to know this oddity in the law because I was involved in a situation with a neighbor in the city who wanted me to trim a couple huge old trees which were clearly on my property because they overhung his house and garage. He started on this campaign as soon as I moved in. I tried to be congenial about it and even got an estimate once and that stopped me cold. It was well into four figures and I couldn't see any advantage to me of trimming over his house at my expense so opted not to have it done.

Finally, he needed to put on a new roof (not because of the trees) and put his efforts into high gear. I told him I'd sign whatever authorization he or his tree trimmers needed to allow them onto my property so they could work but I was not paying for it nor allowing the trees to be trimmed so as to cause harm to them. He finally relented and hired the trimming done.

 

[rancar]

<font color=blue>If the trees are on the property line, then the trunk and branches on your property are yours. </font color=blue>

Not necessarily!! Are you implying if this is the case, then one can slice a tree in half right down the middle, leaving the adjoining property owner with half a trunk and half the foliage? /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

If the tree is right on the property line, who is to say who owns ownership of the tree, whether in whole or in part. Just about all loggers up my way will refuse to cut a tree on the property line because of potential legal disputes regarding ownership. They let these trees go because of the complexity of the issues. Just because one property owner's tree has his branches overhanging onto another doesn't mean the other owner has the right to cut those branches. There are also air rights issues that have to be addressed from a legal perspective. I've heard of too many legal disputes getting out of hand because of one neighbor chopping away at plant growth that is on a common property line.

Regards,
Bob Ancar
Cambridge, NY

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

<font color=blue>"Just because one property owner's tree has his branches overhanging onto another doesn't mean the other owner has the right to cut those branches. There are also air rights issues that have to be addressed from a legal perspective"</font color=blue>

As I mentioned in the post above yours, it's my understanding from having lived through a similar situation that a property owner does have that right. It is limited, as I stated above, by his ability to trim the tree without killing it, etc., but it is a right he has. The logic there is that not to have property rights extending above the ground you own would allow one to put building overhangs or even to cantilever entire sections of upper floors over the property of another with impunity.

Please understand here that I am not an attorney and don't believe that having fathered on give me superior knowledge here. Further, I'm speaking of a situation in Indiana based on the laws here. Your jurisdiction may be different. I'm only trying to give what I believe to be accurate information based on the law as I know it and on logic as I see it. My goal here is not to get into a debate over anything.

 

[Freds]

I see metioned of using pine trees as a sound barrier. I was thinking of doing this and wondered what works best, placing the trees close to the source of the sound, or placing them a ways away so the sound has time to dissipate before encountering the trees?
On another note, since we are talking about property lines, when I talked to my neighbor about where to mow the grass on my new property this spring he told me that part of his driveway was actually on my property. He said that the county enlarged his drive so it could be easier used as a school bus turnaround and the property line actually runs thru the part of it where it widens where it meets the street. He has been an excellent neighbor, we do each other favors and have a sort of "who cares where the property line is" attitude. I use his backyard when I hit golf balls and he used mine when the kids he coaches hit softballs, but if either one of us were to sell, it might present a problem.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Freds,

Those are the kind of neighbor's for which we all hope. I'm happy for you. Jealous, but happy. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Buster57]

“Fences make good neighbors” is true about half the time. My neighbor and I went in on a survey to determine independently where the property line would be. He wanted to raise llamas and I wanted to keep one of my dogs from running off. So when the surveyor came out, he extended the scope of his measurement to include the physical boarder of both of our entire proper lines. Free of charge. No problem with the neighbor with the future llamas, but the one on the other side was furious!

This guy is a retired ME from a large electronics company in Portland area where he used to be the manager of his department. Of course he knows everything.Seems he thought the property line was 36” in the wrong direction. I offered to split the difference (against my better judgment) and he refused! The line is about 600 feet long.

My wife told me to settle, as did everyone else. We went to an attorney who wrote up the offer to split the difference and after a year of very intense friction we settled.

Worse mistake I ever made in my life! Every time I see the old Bas_ _ _ _ I want to cap him with my Glock!

Moral of the story is if you feel you are getting cheated and the court is the last avenue for justice-GO THERE!

I have been in court several times and this is not a light decision. Anything can happen before a judge and if you loose it can have unforeseen consequences. I know what I am talking about here. Use your gut feel because ultimately it is you that will have to live with your decision. Sometimes it is worth the risk!

 

[jtcweb]

I bought 10 acres without a surveyed boundry. I pulled the areal photo with the property lines drawn on them and it showed the they were mowing about 50' on my property in the back, and they were not mowing all oth there property in the front. I went and talked to the lady and she admited she wasn't sure where the line was, and they just wanted it to be mown down. This was a year and a half ago, I have got a survey done and shown her the stakes and she didnt' dispute it.

I now have an ford 8n with a mower in the back. Just to be sure I "mow" along the property line every few weeks even tho the grass is too short for the rotery cutter to pick up, because they still run a finisher mower over part of it. I don't think I will be able to build until next year, but am forming a good relationship by keeping her informed, and I can't blame her for wanting the area near her house not to turn into brush.

 

[MDNY]

jtcweb,

Unfortunately for her, the land is not hers and therefore not hers to decide what it should look like. It is nice to keep neighbors, neighborly, but don't let them tell you how to run your own lawn mower if you know what I mean.

Good luck on the house building. It is fun, challenging and allot of work to get it done right.