Messing around with anything that belongs to your neighbor is tricky. One of the most commonly contested topics with those that live next to you are trees and their limbs that sometimes dangle over your yard. But, is it OK to trim them in Missouri? The short answer is sometimes.

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Big time disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. I'm not even very good at dressing myself in the morning so to say that you should consult a real lawyer if you have a serious question is an understatement. But, I find topics like this interesting and thought I would share some resources.

Can you legally trim your neighbor's trees in Missouri?

Find Law says that you can, but...only the tree limbs that extend onto your property and you can't destroy the tree or go onto your neighbor's property to do the trimming.

What if my neighbor's tree has fruit on it? Can I eat the fruit on my property if it's from his/her tree?

Sorry for the pause, but I had to stop laughing after writing that. The law is very iffy regarding whether any fruit from a tree would be edible by you if it happened to be over your property.

Let's disregard the law for a second and talk about common sense.

I have been blessed to almost always have great neighbors who also ended up being friends. Only on rare occasions have I had an adversarial relationship with someone living next to me. No matter what the law says, I would first go talk to that neighbor before I did anything. If I had a neighbor with a tree limb that interfered with my property, I'd just ask him or her about it. Probably work it out easily with little fuss. However, if there was a real problem and no agreement to work it out, it's lawyer time.

I can highly recommend the Find Law article about tree issues with neighbors. It's a helpful guide to help resolve arbor issues.

Complete List of Trees and Bushes That You Can Make Bloom Now

Ready for fresh flowers without having to buy them? Snip a few branches from the following trees and bushes, place them in hot water and watch things start to come to life.

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