Neighbor cut down my plants

[juthara]

I had several bushes planted near my property line. Some were on my side of my fence and two were on the other side of the fence but with the roots still on my property. Admittedly, the branches did hang over into the neighbors property on all of the plants. Yesterday I came home to find a pile of brush waiting to be picked up by the sidewalk and the bushes cut down. The two on the outside of the fence were cut down to the ground. Someone had reached over my fence and cut back the limbs on the other ones. Do I have any recourse (legal of course) in this matter?

[FRXL]

Your neighbor has a right to trim back any overhang onto his/her property, but not to reach over the property line and cut on your side of it. The location of the fence is largely irrelevant; what matters is where the bushes are/were. You may have an action for trespass, and if it succeeds you can recover the value of the bushes your neighbor cleared from your property along with the cost of labor to replant them.

You may need a survey to establish the exact property line and the exact locations of the bushes.