Smitty Reeves wrote:
One of my neighbors has a giant maple tree overhanging my side yard. At 72
years young, I still mow my own grass. I keep my own trees trimmed so I
don't have to do the duck & weave while mowing. I asked my neighbor if he
would mind if I trimmed his tree because of the obstacle it creates. It's
not like I'm going to be climbing on a ladder to trim this thing, but just
so it doesn't smack my glasses off. The young man let go with some four
letter words, with finishing he will sue me if I touch his tree. What
happened to the country we used to live in? Do I have to put up with this?


Hey Smitty. As the saying goes, don't wrestle with pigs, you'll only
get dirty and the pig likes it! Whenever I run into such a person who
is so tremendously rude for no apparent reason, I figure their homelife
must be pretty miserable and they feel compelled to take it out on
someone else.

Local statutes may very but the rule of thumb is that you may trim
branches overhanging your property as long as you don't trespass and as
long as you don't damage the tree. A trim to clear branches to mow
your lawn unimpeded isn't damaging the tree. Lopping off all the
branches on your side to make a point, and killing the tree some months
down the road, is.

This web page gives a pretty good overview of the issues if you want to
read up on it. http://tinyurl.com/88ehl

For a little levity on the same topic read this reply from the
_moderator_ of a legal newsgroup. Be forewarned, if you read the whole
thing you'll probably get a headache! http://tinyurl.com/ajg4j

R