Tree Questions for Weymouth

Often not in the way that matters. A tree standing in the road layout, generally between the kerb and the back edge of the pavement, is a public shade tree and Massachusetts protects it separately from who owns the soil.

No. The statute is explicit that a public shade tree may not be cut, trimmed or removed by any person other than the tree warden or a deputy, even if that person owns the fee in the land it stands on.

A written permit from the tree warden, followed by a public hearing with at least seven days' notice, and the notice gets posted on the tree itself so the street can see it.

If one or more people object in writing at or before that hearing, the tree warden cannot remove the tree unless the select board or the mayor approves it. One neighbour is enough to escalate the decision.

Any living public shade tree of two and a half inches diameter at breast height or greater needs a permit from the Tree Warden or the Director of Public Works before it is removed.

Replacement trees have to be provided at double the diameter of everything lost. That is a materially worse result than the original job, which is why the boundary question is worth an hour up front.

On the South Shore a removal with workable access tends to land between $18 and $38 per foot of height. A narrow side gate, a roof underneath or a crane lift push toward the top. Below a certain size the minimum takes over. We measure and put it in writing.

A standalone grind generally runs $8 to $16 per inch of stump diameter, measured across the widest point at ground level. It costs less per stump when it follows a removal we are already on site for.

Because it trades crew hours for machine hours. A lift that takes an afternoon can replace two days of climbing and rigging, so the rate is higher and the total is frequently lower.

No. The same rate sheet applies in the week after a nor'easter as in a quiet February, and the scope goes on paper in a form an adjuster can read.

It does not. There is no general arborist licence in this state, which is worth knowing because it means a licence is not something you can ask to see the way you could in some neighbouring states.

Insurance, in writing, and the scope of work in writing. Massachusetts requires workers compensation of employers generally, and a certificate of liability cover is a reasonable thing to ask any contractor for.

Yes, for one category. Work on public shade trees has to be carried out or supervised by a certified arborist, which is one of the few places an industry credential is pulled into law.

It is worth a second question, because there is not one to hold for ordinary private tree work. Certification and licensing are different things and the difference is worth understanding before you sign.

Cut them back to the boundary line yourself, at your own expense. You do not need permission for the part physically on your side, and Massachusetts is the state that established the rule.

No on both counts. Under Michalson v. Nutting the self-help remedy is the only one available: no damages for the encroachment, and no injunction compelling the neighbour to remove or restrain it.

Even then, and that case turned on exactly those facts. Poplar roots interfered with sewer and drain pipes and cracked a cellar floor, and the owner still had only the right to cut them back.

Cut only what is on your side, and do it in a way that does not destroy the tree. Self-help is a right to trim at the boundary, not a right to kill something growing next door.

It achieves the opposite. Topping is condemned under the A300 standard. It removes the foliage the tree feeds on and forces dense regrowth attached only to the outer wood, which breaks sooner than the limbs taken off.

A root plate that has begun to lift, cracks in the trunk, decay pockets and cavities, deadwood in the crown, and two stems of similar size with bark trapped in the union. Then whether anything below is worth protecting.

Not on its own. Trees lean for many reasons and stand safely for decades. What changes the answer is fresh movement at the base, which shows as lifted turf or a soil ridge opposite the lean.

Because exposure is not evenly spread and neither is the age of the canopy. A run of houses built in the same year has a run of trees planted in the same year, and they reach the same condition together.