History

• Common law accorded a property owner absolute right to everything situated above and below the soil, which California courts interpreted as a strict "prune at the fence" requirement. If a homeowner did not trim his trees at the property line, the next-door neighbor could whack off the foliage himself.
  
  

Considerations

• More recent law, however, tempers this absolute with the rule of reason. The 1994 case of Booska v. Patel requires landlords to act reasonably and not endanger neighbors' trees unnecessarily, even if branches or roots encroach.
  
  

Effects

• The Booska decision muddied California law on encroaching growth. A neighbor's right to prune tree branches crossing into his yard remains unclear; still, a wise homeowner prunes her trees at the property line if doing so does not injure the tree.