Protecting Your Trees and Their Surroundings

The 2025 Atlantic Hurricane season will begin in two weeks. If you own a home with large mature trees, it would be wise to give some thought to the health of your trees and whether they present any threat to persons or property.

That risk may result in liability to you. This not only includes threats on your own property, but also to adjacent properties or public rights-of-way.

To limit personal liability, you need to keep your trees healthy. The owner has a duty under the law to manage them so they do not create or constitute a hazard to the public.

Traditionally, assigning liability for property damage or injuries caused by trees depended on if the accident was considered the result of an “Act of God” or from an act of “Negligence.” To avoid the charge of negligence, one must simply be reasonable.

Owners have a responsibility to examine the trees on their property and determine if each is safe. This pine has a gall on the trunk which could break and potentially damage property or injure a person. With hurricane season soon arriving, it is time to evaluate trees in the home landscape.

Plainly stated, when a tree fails and results in property damage, personal injury or death, the law looks to see if a reasonable person, acting with reasonable care, knew or should have known that a tree on their property had visible, apparent and patent signs of internal decay, disease or structural defect and could fall.

The only duty imposed upon the landowner is that of a reasonable person.

In other words, if the problem with the tree was not one a “Layman” could reasonably be expected to recognize, then the assumption was usually that the event was an “Act of God.”

However, if the tree had obvious and observable defects which the owner had ignored, or the owner had done something to knowingly or carelessly render the tree unsafe, then liability could be assigned based on the owner’s negligence. This has not changed.

But now, due to recent court rulings, the liability exposure of persons owning property with trees on it has significantly expanded off the property even though the trees may be quite sound and healthy.

For example, in the past, it was standard procedure for the owner of public streets, roads, highways and utility easements to be the responsible party for maintaining proper tree and sight clearances on the rights-of-way. This included maintenance of interfering limbs originating from trees on adjacent properties owned by private individuals.

While that responsibility may continue to exist depending on the circumstances, now, should one of your tree limbs be the cause of damage to a vehicle or its passengers, you may well be held liable and responsible for not having maintained the proper road and sight clearances at intersections, driveway entrances, crosswalks, etc.

So, what do you do to protect yourself from a tree related liability claim? There are several basic requirements which go beyond the two most common maintenance practices of watering and fertilizing.

The owner can have a “documented inspection program” of trees on the property designed to identify any structural problems of the crown, trunk or roots. The “inspection” requirement may be a simple “Drive By” or “Walk Through” observation of the property.

If no compromised trees are noted, simply making a note of the time and date you checked on your trees may be sufficient for “documentation.” If, however, defective trees are noted or something looks suspicious, then a more thorough review should be performed by a qualified person and the results noted.

This may require removing hazardous weak trees or limbs noted in the inspection, or if possible, correcting these deficiencies by appropriate structural remedies such as cabling.

Pruning or removing limbs identified as diseased, dying, or dead to promote safety and the health of the tree may be necessary. Weak limbs which cannot be corrected by pruning or cabling should be removed.

Also, pruning or removing interfering or objectionable limbs that fail to provide safe sight distances and adequate vehicular clearances, as well as limbs which may constitute a threat to vehicles or persons on public rights-of -way adjacent to your property.

While most people can maintain and avoid damaging the observable portion of the tree above ground, what about maintaining and protecting the hidden tree roots under the ground? These roots keep the tree alive and anchor it structurally.

Most trees in Florida soils have a root zone extending outward two to three times the height of the tree. These generally grow in the top two feet of the soil which is where the roots can find nutrients and oxygen.

Obviously, a root zone this close to the surface is very susceptible to damage from many common site improvements. Damage from construction operations such as homebuilding, installing irrigation, trenching for utilities, site grading and many other operations can all cause root damage which may put your trees or trees on adjacent property at risk, making them unsafe.

To preserve and protect the tree’s roots in a healthy and safe manner, determine the “Critical Root Zone” and protect it with a fenced barricade when planning site activities which could damage or destroy the tree’s roots. One foot of radius, from the tree’s trunk, for each one inch of trunk diameter measured at four and one-half feet above the ground is a good rule of thumb.

Avoid “Root Raking” as a site clearing procedure whenever possible. “Root Raking” is just that, raking, or ripping the tree’s roots out of the ground, often right up to the trunk of the tree, causing major damage which can result in structural instability, decline or even the death of the tree.

Tunnel under the root zone rather than trenching through it. Even shallow trenches can cause major damage to large roots just under the surface, roots which provide structural support, water and nutrients to the tree.

Avoid chemical spills, including paints, solvents, and alkaline concrete tailing washed from cement mixers in the tree’s root zone.

Monitor soil moisture levels. Remember though, too much water can force air out of the soil and can “drown” the tree.

Soil fills over root zones can suffocate your trees’ roots by not allowing the soil to rid itself of excess carbon dioxide, a by-product of tree root respiration. However, mulching two to three inches on top of the affected root zone will help to retain soil moisture.

Avoid soil compaction of the root zone. Storing fill dirt, vehicular driving and parking, heavy construction equipment, and the like can compact the soil to the extent that air and water may become unavailable to the roots for use by the tree.

Even three or four trips with a loaded pickup truck can compact soil and crush roots to the point of causing root loss, tree decline or even eventual death.

Finally, if the above suggestions seem beyond your ability to personally work out a solution to keep your trees safe and healthy, the best advice is to call a professional “ISA” (International Society of Arboriculture) “Certified Arborist” to develop a “Tree Management Plan” to assist you in managing and maintaining your specimen trees.

Remember, not only do properly maintained healthy trees add value and enjoyment to your life and benefit the entire community, they may also keep you out of the lawyer’s food chain.