Home › Forums › Open Discussion › Cutting neighbor’s tree.
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October 18, 2009 at 10:21 pm #592718
AshleyMemberI live up a hill off Delridge and the person whose property butts up to my backyard has a whole bunch of trees, ivy and blackberry growing. Much of the property is on a steep hillside so I suspect they don’t care much about what grows there. However many branches of one big tree hang over my backyard. I am allowed to cut these branches off?? As long as I don’t hurt the tree? Should I let them know what I am planning to do? And who should I get to help me cut them down. Any suggestions??
October 18, 2009 at 10:31 pm #680070
sam-cParticipantOctober 18, 2009 at 10:59 pm #680071
WSBKeymasterYou are allowed to cut up to your property line and not a millimeter over. I agree it would be nice to let them know – but if you don’t, just make sure you don’t go even a hair over the line.
October 18, 2009 at 11:30 pm #680072
AshleyMemberAs a first time home owner this stuff is all new to me. I just wrote a letter and put it in their mailbox so we will see what happens.
October 18, 2009 at 11:41 pm #680073
AshleyMemberAnd as long as they allow me to do this I assume this is my financial responsibility??
October 18, 2009 at 11:57 pm #680074
WSBKeymasterYup. I know this from experience as the neighbors have trees that grow over our line and vice versa. I have never cut theirs but they’ve cut “ours” and it’s within their rights – but it’s nothing we’re obliged to pay for or make happen.
October 19, 2009 at 12:22 am #680075
AshleyMemberI figured as much. Some of these huge branches hang over my roof so that’s what I am really nervous about. Do you know of any companies who do that kind of thing in West Seattle?
October 19, 2009 at 3:29 pm #680076
sam-cParticipantAshley- In the past we have used Urban Element Trees.
206.274.6262.
We used them to cut down two dead/dying alders on our back slope. they also cut down some limbs that were hanging over onto our neighbor’s yard.
they were really nice to work with and their prices very reasonable (especially compared to what some other neighbors paid to have their alder cut down).
we called them to get an estimate right before that horrible November windstorm that downed so many trees a few years ago. they called to make sure we didn’t have any emergencies and asked if they could help others that had downed trees. when they got back to us, they apologized for taking a while and gave us a discount. we’d call them again
October 19, 2009 at 4:16 pm #680077
squareeyesParticipantMy neighbors hawthorne tree hangs over my house. I’m good friends with them so, when I asked them if I could have the tree professionally pruned (at my expense), they had no problem signing the waiver that the arborist required in order to go on their property and climb/prune the tree.
They have a couple of smaller trees that hang over my fence that I trim myself up to the fenceline.
You’ve started the dialog by writing your neighbor a letter. If the tree is that big that you can’t do the work yourself, let’s hope they’re good neighbors and amenable to allowing a professional to work on the tree.
For professional tree service I’ve used Seattle Tree Preservation http://www.seattletree.com. They’re great.
October 19, 2009 at 9:37 pm #680078
flowerpetalMemberI think we had this discussion before, and I remember one additional caveat. You may not cut over-hanging trees or shrubs to the point of doing irreparable harm to the tree. It is possible that a tree may grow crooked and more than 75% of it (for example) might be across a property line. Cutting that much off would be irreperable harm. You have definitely done the right thing by communicating with your neighbor. You might have to catch them in the yard or have a front porch chat if they don’t respond to your note in the mail box.
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