Can I Cut My Neighbour’s Branches That Hang Over My Yard?

Yes. Under Ontario common law, you can trim branches from a neighbour’s tree that hang over your property, back to the property line, at your own cost. Two limits apply: you can’t kill or seriously damage the tree, and you need your neighbour’s permission to go onto their land or into their side of the tree.

The Limits That Matter

You can trim what crosses onto your side, within three limits.

Stop at the Line

You can cut only what crosses into your yard. Going past the line, even by a branch or two, means cutting your neighbour’s property without permission.

Don’t Harm the Tree

Taking off a few overhanging limbs is fine. Cutting one side of a tree so hard that it dies, or splits, or becomes unstable is not. If the overhang is most of the crown, trimming it all back to the line can do serious damage. That’s a conversation to have with your neighbour first.

Stay on Your Side

You need permission to climb into the tree from their side, lean a ladder on their fence, or bring equipment across. Most neighbours say yes when you ask.

The Vaughan By-law Still Applies

Ordinary trimming doesn’t need a permit. But Vaughan’s Tree Protection By-law 177-2025 counts “injuring” a protected tree, one 20 cm or wider, as something that needs a permit. Heavy cutting that damages the tree, or cutting large roots, can cross that line. If the tree is a City tree on the boulevard, don’t cut it at all. Call Public Works at 905-832-8585.

Talk to Your Neighbour First

You don’t legally need their permission to trim back to the line from your side. Telling them first still saves a lot of trouble. In Maple, Sonoma Heights and other neighbourhoods with tight lots, one tree often shades two or three yards, and the people next door may want to share the job or have their side done at the same time.

If the trunk sits across the line, the tree is shared, and the rules are stricter. Read who owns a tree on the property line before you plan anything.

Dead Branches Hanging Over Your Yard

A dead limb from your neighbour’s tree hanging over your patio or driveway is a different worry from a live one blocking the sun. Tell your neighbour in writing that the branch is dead and over your property. If it later falls and does damage, that note matters to both insurers. You can still trim the dead part back to the line yourself.

Branches Over a Shed or Garage

Limbs resting on a roof wear the shingles, fill the eavestroughs and let squirrels in. Cutting them back a metre or so from the roofline gives the branches room to move in the wind without scraping.

Why Hire It Out

Overhanging limbs are often over a fence, a shed roof or a garage, so a branch dropped from the wrong spot lands on something. Cutting flush to the line can also leave a bad stub that rots back into the tree. We make each cut at a proper branch joint on your side, so the tree heals and the branch doesn’t grow straight back over.

Hedges and Cedars on the Line

The same rule covers a cedar hedge planted along the fence. You can trim the side that grows into your yard, back to the line, without cutting so deep that the hedge browns out. Cedars don’t regrow from bare wood, so a hard cut on one side leaves a gap for years.

What We Do

When you book tree trimming for overhanging branches, we look at where the line is, which limbs cross it and how much we can take without harming the tree. If it’s a lot of the crown, we’ll tell you, and you can decide whether to talk to your neighbour about a shared trim. We lower the limbs with ropes where needed, haul everything away and sweep up.