You know you were tempted. You see a piece of ripe fruit hanging from a tree on someone else’s property and you want to pluck it from the plant and taste the goods.
But behind the allure of this sweet and delicious flavor lies a legal question: who owns the fruit hanging in public space or on your private property? In many New York communities, laws struggle to balance property rights and public access, raising questions about where admiration ends and appropriation begins.
Many don’t know that the simple act of picking a petal, an apple or a cherry can land them in legal hot water. That’s right. Unless you own the tree, no matter where the branches are located, harvesting the fruit can be considered theft.
O Los Angeles Times recently explored this question through a survey and received responses from 855 readers with passionate opinions. Here are the questions and corresponding answers – and what the law actually says:
When is it OK to pick fruit from someone else’s tree, bush, or vine?
According to New York State Urban Forestry Council, the overhanging branches and the fruits on them are the property of the tree’s owner. Of course, you have the right to trim branches and branches that cross your property lines, but picking overhanging fruit is another story.
For one, collecting the growing fruit that will inevitably land on your property is avoiding the delayed burden of collecting rotten and fallen fruit from the ground. But it’s also a safer choice to ask your neighbor to prune the fruit tree or ask your neighbor to harvest the fruit from the plant before it becomes a problem.
General feedback from the Los Angeles Times survey determined that it is acceptable to pick fruit from someone else’s tree if the fruit can be accessed without stepping onto the owner’s property or trespassing:
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50% agreed that there was no problem if the branches were hanging or accessible from a public road or sidewalk.
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49% agreed that it was acceptable for the branches to hang in their own yard.
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34% consider it acceptable when the fruit is hung in a public alley and is easily accessible.
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19% said it was never okay.
Is it normal to pick fallen fruit from someone else’s tree?
Whether it’s acceptable to eat an apple that fell from someone else’s tree is frequently raised on Reddit and online legal advice forums such as Avvo.
“If I supposedly continue to pick fruit that passes through the fence and into my yard from a tree planted in my neighbor’s yard, am I within my legal rights?” asked an Avvo user in 2016.
Five lawyers responded, all agreeing that it was legal to pick the fruit. Also note that fallen fruit has little value and the tree owner will likely not be able to retrieve it without trespassing.
That being said – unless you monitor the tree daily, you probably won’t know how long the fruit has been in the ground.
When interviewed by the Los Angeles Times, most respondents also agreed that it is acceptable to pick fallen fruit if it is not trespassing and under certain circumstances:
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62% if it is acceptable for the fruit to fall in your own backyard.
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51% when the fruit is on public roads or in gutters.
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30% if the fruit fell to the ground under the tree, but is easily accessible from the public road or sidewalk.
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8% said never.
What would you do with a tree loaded with fruit that no one is picking?
Few would suggest bringing a ladder and bucket to take fruit from someone else’s tree—and people often recommend asking before picking. Here’s what respondents said they would do in the Los Angeles Times survey:
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60% knocked on the door and asked for permission.
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28% would not take anything from the tree without a sign offering the fruit.
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21% would only take a few pieces of fruit that could be easily reached.
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11% would accept whatever they could get.
What about tree maintenance in New York?
In New York, a homeowner is responsible for all trees on their property – specifically, trees whose trunks are on their property. The property of the tree depends on where the tree trunk is located, regardless of where the branches are located.
If a tree trunk is located on a boundary line – sometimes called a “boundary tree” – that tree can be owned by both property owners, based on the percentage of the tree located on each property. Insurance companies sometimes use these percentages to determine who is responsible if a tree falls and causes property damage.
This percentage also applies to the fruits of any fruit tree. Just as the tree is jointly owned, so is the fruit. Tree owners will need to come up with a plan on how to divide the fruit.
A property owner can take down branches that hang over their property – all the way to the property line, even without the tree owner’s permission. However, the law also states that if a homeowner cuts branches from a tree and it causes harm to the tree’s overall health, that person can be held liable and may have to pay to replace it. Replacing some trees can cost hundreds and even thousands, and the liability can sometimes be greater than the tree’s actual value.
As for the leaves falling from your neighbor’s tree on your property: Sorry, you need to clean them up.
Contributing: Brandi Addison, USA Today Network Reporter
This article originally appeared in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Is it legal to pick fruit from a neighbor’s yard? What NY law says
