Is It Legal to Take Fruit or Flowers from a Neighbor’s Garden?

As the spring weather in New Jersey gets better, people who have big trees in their yards are probably even more grateful for what the trees do for them.

People and pets can find a lot of shade under trees on a hot day. Some have both fruit and flowers, which can be used to make a tasty snack or a lovely flower arrangement for inside the house.

To make sure you don’t break the law, check a tree’s rules before you pick any food or plants from it. This question, which seems easy, isn’t so clear when the things fall from one property and land on another.

Before taking something from a tree, here are some things that experts say you should think about so you don’t get in trouble with the law or make your neighbors mad.

One of the main things that decides who “owns” a tree and can pick from it is where it is located.

A tree whose trunk is on the neighbors’ land goes to them, along with any fruit it bears, says Nolo, an online company that helps people and businesses understand the law. Therefore, it is small theft to take something from someone else’s tree without their permission.

FindLaw, an online law site, says the answer is usually the same even if a neighbor’s tree branches hang over another land. But the law is different in each state, so the site says to check the rules in your area before eating any fruit that has dropped from the tree.

Chamlin, Uliano & Walsh, a law company in Monmouth County, suggested that people who have property disputes look at their town’s zoning code. In some places, people may be able to pick berries and cut back bushes or branches that hang over into their neighbor’s yard.

It’s harder to understand the law when talking about who owns fallen fruit from someone else’s land. Nolo called this a “legal gray area” because the owner of the tree can’t legally go into the other yard to get a piece of fruit, but the neighbor can’t legally pick it up and eat it either.

The lawyers all agreed on the most sensible thing to do in this case, as with most involving picking things off of trees: talk to your friend about what works best for everyone. The Nolo story said that most people who are friendly with other people in the area will let them gather fruit, even if the law says they can’t.

The story said, “This isn’t something you want to be fighting with your neighbors about.” “A talk with your neighbors, perhaps accompanied by homemade cookies, will likely lead to informal guidelines about what everyone can and can’t do.”