Do you plan to prune or cut down trees in your yard? You have until mid-March

Do you plan to prune or cut down trees in your yard? You have until mid-March

As spring approaches, residents of both individual and apartment buildings are starting to plan their landscaping and preparations for the warmer season. Rūta Aglinskaitė, works manager at Civinity Namai, reminds you that if you want to prune or cut down trees on the private territory of an individual or apartment building, you must take into account the requirements for doing so, and you must do it no later than 15 March.

Work can only be carried out during autumn and winter

As spring approaches, Civinity Namai, the management and maintenance company for apartment buildings, receives more and more requests from residents for pruning or felling trees in their yards.

It is advisable to hurry to carry out this work, as it is prohibited in urban areas from 15 March to 1 August due to bird nesting.

“As this is the period when birds breed most intensively, pruning and felling of trees can only be carried out with certain exceptions or after first checking that there are no wild birds breeding in or near the trees and obtaining a certificate from an ornithologist,” says Aglinskaitė.

Certain exceptions apply

The ban on pruning and felling applies to all trees in urban areas, regardless of whether they grow on the private property of an individual or apartment building.

However, there are certain exceptions, which allow for tree management work. One of these is where the trees pose a threat to human life, health, property, traffic safety, the safe resumption of the supply of electricity, heat, gas, oil and its products. The ban on pruning during the warm season also does not apply if the branches to be pruned do not exceed 5 cm in diameter (at the point of cut).

The general procedure also excludes all dead trees, trees affected by natural disasters, such as those toppled or broken by storms. Such trees must be dealt with immediately in order to protect the public.

Some trees require a permit

Despite the fact that the tree is growing on private land and is scheduled to be felled by March, some trees require a municipal permit.

If the diameter of the tree is more than 20 cm, this permit is mandatory, regardless of the type of tree. If the diameter of the tree is smaller, whether a permit is required depends on the type of tree.

For protected trees such as oaks, maples, ash, elms, hornbeams, hornbeams, sycamores, beeches, elms, pines, larches, birches, limes, felling requires a municipal permit. Other tree species, such as invasive trees and shrubs, do not require a permit.

“It is important to note that even if you want to cut down an invasive tree, you need to assess whether it is more than 20 cm in diameter. To do this, the trunk of the tree should be measured not anywhere, but at a point 130 cm from the ground,” says a Civinity Namai specialist.

Trees in the courtyard of a block of flats are decided by the majority of residents

There are times when a tree in the yard blocks the light coming through the windows or otherwise obstructs or puts at risk the occupants of a particular apartment.

“Civinity Namai reminds you that even if a tree is growing next to one of your apartment’s windows or terrace, it is necessary to get the neighbours’ consent to remove it.

“Pruning or cutting down any trees in the courtyard of a block of flats will require the consent of the majority of the residents: 51% of the owners of the flats in the block of flats need to give their written consent for this work,” says Aglinskaitė.