Rules regarding tree removal

Our neighbor's VERY large tree limb has fallen into our garden. This happened in December, and my neighbor is claiming (among other excuses) she needs permission from the city of Munich to have this fallen limb removed. I believe this could be true if the tree is still standing and she wishes to cut it, but not the case regarding a fallen tree. The limb is a hazard to my small kids, and as the limb is too large to be physically moved in once piece, it must be first cut in pieces to be removed. Otherwise I would have moved it myself. Any advice? Thanks in advance...

Technically, she's probably right. Trimming of any tree over 3m requires permission, and I guess she's worried that even though the branch fell off, she could be accused of illegal "trimming" if caught carrying a large branch out of the garden. However, I'd also say she's being unreasonable - she will need some professional to chop up the branch, and I'm sure he can help her get around the need for permision, e.g. by certifying himself it's a fallen bough. There are exceptional circumstances when a tree can be moved - when it's a danger to others, or when it's fallen over a road for example, so thiy may be your argument here. I'd suggest a quick call to the Bauamt or better the Naturschutzbehörde, Blumenstraße 28 b, 80331 München, Tel. (089) 233-28484 to check the rules, and at the very least a formal letter (this is Germany, remember) to her warn her of your concerns. (If your kids did have an accident then she is clearly liable)

Would a picture suffice...it is obvious by the way the tree splintered that is was caused by a fall???

I have a customer who is a Tree surgeon... PM me if you need his number!

G

I am a treesurgeon, arborist, aka baumpfleger and work for the city. PM me with details and I can get you a better answer.

If it is a limb that has broken off, seperated from the tree, then you are free to do what you want with it. If it damaged your property , that can be more complex.

Seems like a perfect solution. TT wins again...

[url=http://-jE[/url]

YL6...u got that right...BIG cheers, guys...A

Out in the sticks it probably wouldn't be such a problem.

About 18 months ago, a building company removed four large (approx. 10m tall) pine trees from behind our house in order to "develop" the field they were in by slapping a load of houses in (improving our view no end!), despite the fact that these trees were right at the very edge of the field (up against people's fences) and despite their reassurances that they'd only remove trees that were in the way.

Needless to say they removed everything that looked even vaguely organic as soon as (or before?) the planning permission had gone through and left it that way for six months (until spring). Apparently they were well within their rights as our town doesn't have a Baumschutzverordnung.

And ironically (and/or cynically), they renamed this area "Klostergarten".

But that sort of thing isn't limited to Germany: In the UK, my sister lived in a property development called "Greenfields". You've guessed it: the last field in the area had had to make way for "progress".
</rant>

are all trees protected here or is it similar to the uk where individual trees or groups of trees have Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs)?

Asq, you talk about your town not having what looks to be the equivalent of an area TPO, is this the case in some towns?

the reason i ask is that we have a dirt great hybrid bitch of a cypress (as are so popular around here and totally inappropriate for garden sizes) in our garden which i'd quite like to lop to a reasonable height (with the landlord's permission). would i also have to look into whether this brute has a TPO equivalent too?

@ grazzenger

I assume that this Baumschutzverordnung is similar to a TPO, although the Verordnung seems to be on a Gemeinde level, i.e. it applies equally to all trees in that town/area. So (I think) the Verordnung could state, for example, that all trees above a certain height or circumference cannot be cut down.

Trimming is a different matter, IIRC. Sometimes you have to cut trees back if they're taking too much light from your neighbours.

Your local Bauamt should be able to give you pointers on this.

If you live in Munich, I found this useful snippet of information in MunichFound:

asq, many thanks for the feedback, i'll get hold of them. i can't really see there being a problem. from what you've copied in above, it sounds fairly similar to uk laws regarding trees bounding your property. and i'm sure this cypress doesan't have a dbh of more than 80cm.

cheers!

Where I live in Unterschleissheim, the trees are protected. You can't take one down that has been marked as such on the town plan without approval and then, probably, you will have to plant another one to replace it(maybe somewhere else on your property). We're about to have a word with our elderly neighbors because several of their trees that are sitting on the property line are either dead or dying and are sitting much closer to our house than to theirs and could potentially damage our house if they fall. So, we're looking at the rules at the moment.