Key Takeaways
Ah , the sounds of autumn : birds boisterously migrating , marching ring cheering on the home team , and of class , the plain whine ofleaf blowersas the neighbors — or their landscapers — ruffle junk into your grounds at what seems like a million miles per minute .
Leaf blower etiquette may not be as all the way - slue as ethnic niceties like keeping your elbows off the board or refraining from swearing in populace . But the law is jolly clear . Turns out , the leaves that pass onto your property — even if they spring up from a tree on neighboring property — become your job . The law broadly speaking consider leaves a " natural product , " and even if your neighbor ’s leaf clog up your habitation ’s gutters or put out your eatage , a legal title is n’t typically available as damages .
Even the people who own a tree are n’t usually held responsible for for the leave-taking . The affair of leaves and trees typically fall to res publica and municipal statute rather than federal constabulary . Tennessee’sLane v. W.J. Curry and Sons , which in 2002 went all the way to that state ’s supreme court , ended with the opinion that bedding material from trees , such as parting , sprig and minor leg , is considered a natural , general nuisance and has no particular owner . Therefore , landowners are not expect to clear this eccentric of rubble . But what if they do clear it — properly onto their neighbor ’s lawn ?
As long as they are n’t really setting foot on your property , which could be consider trespassing , the blowing of leaves is a gray field that may be interpret by municipal code or province legislative act . Your local city hall or a lookup of state statutes may hold the answer for where the responsibility lies for leave-taking and their supplanting by leaf blowers . Keep in judgment , however , that blowing leave into the street where they will impact wastewater drainage is another thing . Many cities have enactedmunicipal codesthat prevent place owners from bluster leaves into the proper - of - way . The action is considered illegal dumping and can carry fines up to $ 500 and/or six months of immurement , reckon on the locale .
