Standard Trees and Neighbour Law: What You Need to Know

Questioner

I want to plant standard trees in a garden to prevent the view into the garden or, as in this case, the neighbours behind have built a house with a steep black roof on which solar panels are to be placed. We want to cover the view with greenery. Normally a tree must be planted 2 meters from the property boundary. In this case the garden is 9 meters deep, so 2 meters is a lot. What about standard trees? Are these classified as a tree or as a hedge on legs? How far away from the property line should these trees be planted?

Lawyer

Standard trees fall under the qualification 'trees' and will have to be placed 2 meters from the property boundary. You will also have to take into account the height of the standard tree, 2 meters and it may not take away any light and view from the neighbors.

Questioner

The Civil Code states that standard trees are considered a hedge and may therefore be planted 50 cm from the property boundary. Furthermore, the Civil Code does not make any statements about the height of plants. This was communicated to me by the municipality of Valkenswaard. This concerns private law. The municipality itself has no provisions on this matter and therefore refers me to the statutory code. This does not match your advice. Now what is the real vision?

Lawyer

Article 5:42 paragraph 1 of the Dutch Civil Code states the following; 1. It is not permitted to have trees, shrubs or hedges within the distance specified in paragraph 2 from the boundary line of another person's property, unless the owner has given permission for this or the property is a public road or public water. Every municipality has its own APV. regarding trees. Now that you are going to place the Leiboom as a fence, you have to deal with the 2 meter height. In the Trees Ordinance a tree is defined as follows: 'A woody, perennial crop with a trunk cross-section of at least 10 centimetres at a height of 1.30 metres above ground level. In the case of multi-stemmed trees, the cross-section of the thickest trunk applies. In the context of a replanting or maintenance obligation, regulations can be imposed and measures can be taken for trees smaller than 10 cm in cross-section at 1.30 metres above ground level.' Below, I have some examples from case law about a 'tree'. A tree is defined as: - Conifer - Lime tree - Twisted Willow - Golden rain A shrub is a: - Holly - Hazel - Firethorn - Ivy/hedera - Rhododendron - Lilac - Laurel Is a standard tree a shrub or a tree in terms of neighbour law? Recent rulings of judges, reference date 2009, however point in one direction: A standard tree is in principle a tree and not a shrub. This means that in principle they must be planted two metres from the property boundary. Since this is regulatory law, you can protect yourself by asking your neighbour's permission in advance to plant trees less than two metres from the property line. Confirm this in writing.