Tree Work Guide

Goal of a tree inspection

An overview of the tree’s condition, and the timely detection and resolution of potential hazards.

Benefits of a tree inspection

• Support in fulfilling your obligations as a tree owner with regard to public safety
• Avoidance of larger damage and future costs
• Early detection of risks to people, buildings and traffic

Common tree safety measures

Depending on the tree’s condition, the following measures may be advisable:

• Removing deadwood
• Keeping buildings and structures clear
• Ensuring a branch-free clearance of 4.5 metres above roads and paths
• Shortening or removing rubbing or cracked branches
• Assessing hazards from fungal or insect infestation
• Installing crown bracing for unstable trunks or major limbs
• Developing the crown so that a stable crown structure is formed

Do you have your own wishes for your tree, or a specific goal in mind? Below you’ll find an overview of common situations and how we can help. If your concern isn’t listed here, feel free to contact us directly — we’ll discuss your options with you in person.

Too little sun in the garden

Possible measures:

• Thinning the crown
• Reducing the crown — a reduction of up to 30% of the leaf volume is professionally sound

Benefit: The tree keeps its natural shape while more light reaches your garden.

Dispute with neighbours

Possible measure:

• Cutting the crown back as far as possible towards the property boundary

Benefit: The tree is preserved and can be better adapted to the local situation.

Of course, the respective rights and obligations around neighbouring trees also have to be considered.

Storm damage

Possible measures:

• Reducing the tree
• Removing the tree

Benefit: The situation becomes safe again for you, your property and your surroundings.

Untidy or overly dense tree

Possible measures:

• Crown care
• Thinning the crown

Benefit: Targeted crown care keeps the tree stable, vital and safe in the long term.

The tree is getting too big

Possible measures:

• Reducing the tree
• Removing the tree

Benefit: The tree is preserved but brought into a smaller, better-fitting shape. Or: a new tree with a suitable mature size can be planted in the right spot.

Important: Professional crown reduction means removing up to 30% of the total leaf volume, depending on the tree’s condition. Radically cutting back branches (“topping”) leads to higher costs in the long run and increases the danger.

Not every tree can be preserved. In some cases a tree is severely weakened, has died, or already poses a safety risk. Depending on the location and condition, there are several options: from a crown safety cut to tree felling to controlled sectional dismantling.

Crown safety cut

For a severely weakened or (nearly) dead tree, a large part of the crown is removed to reduce risks.

Goal: Strongly reduce the crown to make the tree safer for the time being.

Benefits:

• Increased safety
• In some cases the tree can sprout again
• In other cases it remains as a habitat for nature
• Often a sensible solution when the tree doesn’t have to be removed completely right away

Tree felling

If there is enough space, we prefer to fell the tree in one piece. This is often the most efficient and economical solution.

Goal: Remove the tree quickly and safely when there is enough space.

Benefits:

• Less effort
• Usually lower costs
• Fast execution
• The area can then be put to new use

Sectional dismantling

If there are buildings, beautiful plants or other sensitive areas around the tree, we remove it piece by piece using climbing techniques. This avoids damage to the surroundings.

Goal: Remove the tree in small, controlled sections without damaging the surroundings.

Benefits:

• Ideal for tight spaces
• Protects buildings, plants, paths and fences
• Precise and safe way of working
• Particularly suitable for sensitive locations

After a tree has been removed, the question often arises: what happens to the remaining stump, and how can the area be put to good use again? Depending on your wishes and the location, there are several options — from stump grinding to planting a new tree.

Our goal is to make your space safe, clean and usable again.

Stump grinding

We grind the stump down to about 20 cm below ground level. Grass or smaller plants can then usually grow in that spot again. Replanting directly in exactly the same place is often not immediately possible, however, as the root system reaches deeper than the ground-out area.

Goal: Remove the remaining stump after felling so the area can be used again.

Benefits:

• The area can usually be greened again with lawn or smaller plants
• The old stump no longer gets in the way, visually or practically
• A clean finish after tree removal

Replanting

We are happy to help you choose and plant a new tree. This turns the removal of an old tree into a fitting, sustainable new solution.

Goal: Choose a suitable new tree and plant it professionally.

Benefits:

• The area stays green and alive
• The location is put to good long-term use
• You get a site-appropriate solution with a future

A tree brings a lot of joy, shade, oxygen and quality of life — but it also brings responsibility. As an owner you have certain duties to ensure safety and avoid conflicts with neighbours.

Here is a short overview of the most important points (status: Austria, in particular Salzburg and the surrounding area — regulations can vary slightly by federal state or municipality):

Duty to maintain safety (§ 1319 ABGB and general liability)

The tree owner is obliged to regularly check trees for hazards (e.g. deadwood, cracks, instability). If there is a danger to people, property, roads or neighbours, action must be taken immediately (pruning, bracing or felling). If the owner fails to act, they are fully liable — including for storm damage.

Duty of preservation (per the Salzburg tree protection ordinance, BSVO 2024)

Protected trees may not be damaged, destroyed or removed without a permit. Pruning is allowed for care and safety, but must not “ruin” the tree (no radical crown reduction or complete cutback).

Important note: This is only a general, non-binding overview and not legal advice. We accept no responsibility or liability for the currency, completeness or accuracy of this information. The exact regulations can change regionally and over time. For binding legal advice or in concrete conflicts, we strongly recommend consulting a lawyer specialising in neighbour or construction law, or a certified tree assessor — or talk to us, and we’ll gladly help clarify things or put you in touch with the right person.

Rights and duties of tree owners towards neighbours

For trees on or near the property boundary: neighbour law in Austria is governed primarily by the ABGB (§§ 364, 422, 423). There is no nationwide uniform minimum planting distance for trees on private property (apart from some building codes for new construction). The most important rules are:

1. Overhanging branches and intruding roots (§ 422 ABGB)

The neighbour’s rights:

• The neighbour may themselves cut off branches protruding over the boundary and remove roots from their soil → right of self-help
• They must proceed professionally and spare the tree as much as possible (no radical cutback or killing of the tree — otherwise damages may be owed)
• As a rule, the neighbour bears the costs themselves
• Exception: In case of acute danger (e.g. rotten, falling branches), the tree owner usually bears half of the costs (established case law)

The tree owner’s duties:

• In principle, no obligation to remove the overhang themselves
• Exception: in case of acute danger, the duty to maintain safety applies (§ 1319 ABGB) → action must then be taken
• You may not simply throw the cut branches back onto the neighbour’s property
• Fruit hanging on overhanging branches may be picked and kept by the neighbour

2. Shade / loss of light and air (§ 364 para. 3 ABGB)

Shade must in principle be tolerated (as long as it is of a normal, locally customary extent). Action against the neighbour (injunction) is possible only in extreme exceptional cases, namely when:

• the shade clearly exceeds the locally customary extent, and
• normal use of the property is significantly impaired (example: garden almost completely dark, vegetable patch or terrace practically unusable)

In practice this is very rarely granted.

3. Boundary tree (trunk exactly on the boundary)

• The tree belongs to both neighbours jointly
• Neither may fell it, cut it back heavily or significantly alter it without the other’s consent
• In case of acute danger, action must be taken jointly

4. Planting distance from the property boundary

There is no general statutory minimum distance for trees on private land. Exceptions can only arise from:

• local building regulations (for new construction)
• local ordinances of individual municipalities

Practical tip: The closer to the boundary, the greater the potential for conflict. For tall trees, a distance of 2.5–4 m is often recommended (not a hard rule).

5. An additional important point in Salzburg

If the tree is protected (trunk circumference ≥ 55 cm — Salzburg tree protection ordinance 2024), then:

• Even when cutting overhanging branches, the work must be done professionally
• Radically altering or damaging the tree is prohibited
• Felling requires a permit from the owner in any case — regardless of the neighbour

Further information

• Salzburg tree protection ordinance 2024 (German, PDF)
• Tree felling — application (German)