Limit distances: Distance from thuja hedges to the fence / neighbors

Neighborhood law is state law, which is why there are 13 different regulations in Germany (3 federal states have no regulations for border distances):

Baden-Württemberg
law on neighboring law  – § 12 hedges:

(1) With hedges up to 1.80 m in height, a distance of 0.50 m must be maintained, with higher hedges a greater distance in accordance with the additional height.

Bavaria
Law for the Implementation of the German Civil Code (AGBGB)  – Art. 47 Limit distance of plants:

(1) The owner of a property can demand that on a neighboring property not trees, bushes or hedges, vines or hops at a distance less than 0.50 m or, if they are more than 2 m high, at a distance less than 2 m be kept from the boundary of his property.

Berlin
Neighboring Law Act  – § 28 Limits for hedges:

(1) The owner and the person entitled to use a property must maintain the following minimum distances with hedges from neighboring properties: 1. with hedges over 2 m in height 1.00 m, 2. with hedges up to 2 m in height 0.50 m. (2) Paragraph 1 does not apply to hedges that are planted on the border in accordance with Section 24 sentence 2.

Brandenburg
Brandenburg Neighboring Law Act  – § 37 Limiting distances for trees, bushes and hedges

(1) With trees outside the forest, bushes and hedges (plantings) of more than 2 m regular growth height, such a distance to the neighboring property must be maintained that with fruit trees a distance of 2 m, with other trees a distance of 4 m and otherwise for each part of the planting is at least a third of its height above the ground.

Bremen

• no regulation
• recommended: 50 centimeters for hedges up to two meters, one meter for hedges over 2 meters

Hamburg

• no regulation
• recommended: 50 centimeters for hedges up to two meters, one meter for hedges over 2 meters

Hessen
Hessian Neighboring Law  – § 39 Limiting distances for living hedges:

(1) The owner and the beneficiaries of a property must observe the following distances when planting living hedges from the neighboring property – subject to Section 40:

• 1. with hedges over 2 m high 0.75 m,
• 2. with hedges up to 2 m high 0.50 m,
• 3. with hedges up to 1.2 m in height 0.25 m.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

• no regulation
• recommended: 50 centimeters for hedges up to two meters, one meter for hedges over 2 meters

Lower
Saxony Lower Saxony Neighboring Law  – § 50 Limiting Distances for Trees and Bushes:

(1) With trees and bushes, depending on their height, at least the following distances from neighboring properties must be maintained:

• a) up to 1.2 m in height 0.25 m
• b) up to 2 m in height 0.50 m
• c) up to 3 m high 0.75 m
• d) up to 5 m height 1.25 m
• e) up to 15 m in height 3.00 m
• f) over 15 m high 8.00 m.

North Rhine-Westphalia
Neighboring Law  – § 42 Limits for hedges:

There are with hedges – subject to § 43 –

• a) over 2 m in height 1.00 m and
• b) up to 2 m in height 0.50 m

Keep a distance from the border. This does not apply if public law prescribes other limit distances.

Rhineland-Palatinate
State Neighboring Law – § 45 Border Distances for Hedges:

Owners and beneficiaries of a property must keep the following clearances with hedges to neighboring properties – subject to Section 46:

• 1. with hedges up to 1.0 m high 0.25 m,
• 2. with hedges up to 1.5 m in height 0.50 m,
• 3. with hedges up to 2.0 m high 0.75 m,
• 4. With hedges over 2.0 m high, a distance greater than 0.75 m by the amount of the excess height.

Saarland
Saarland Neighboring Law Act – § 49 Limiting distances for hedges

(1) The owner and the person entitled to use a property must keep the following clearances with hedges opposite the neighboring properties – subject to Section 50:

• 1. with hedges over 1.5 m high 0.75 m
• 2. with hedges up to 1.5 m in height 0.50 m
• 3. with hedges up to 1.0 m high 0.25 m.

Saxony
Saxon Neighboring Law – § 9 Distance between trees and bushes:

(1) The neighbor can demand from the owner that trees, bushes or hedges are at least 0.5 m or, if they are over 2 m high, at least 2 m away from the neighbour’s property line within a built-up area.

(2) Outside a district with built-up areas, a boundary distance of 1 m is sufficient for all plantings.

Saxony-Anhalt
Neighborhood Law Saxony-Anhalt – § 34 Limit distances for trees, bushes and individual vines:

(1) With trees, bushes and individual vines, depending on their height, at least the following distances from the neighboring properties must be maintained:

• a) up to 1.50 meters in height 0.50 meters;
• b) up to 3 meters in height 1 meter;
• c) up to 5 meters in height 1.25 meters;
• d) up to 15 meters in height 3 meters;
• e) over 15 meters high 6 meters.

(2) The distances specified in Paragraph 1 also apply to hedges if the hedge is not planted on the border in accordance with Section 24 Paragraph 3. They also apply to plants that have grown without human intervention.

(3) A strip of 0.5 meters must be kept free of plantings at the boundaries of agriculturally used properties. This does not apply to properties for which a type of soil cultivation that requires the boundary distance is out of the question due to its location, size or other characteristics.

Schleswig-Holstein
Neighboring Law for the State of Schleswig-Holstein – § 37 Limits:

(1) The owner and the person entitled to use a property must maintain a distance from the neighboring property with trees, bushes and hedges (plantings) of more than 1.20 m in height that for each part of the planting the distance is at least one third of its height above the ground amounts to. The distance is measured horizontally and at right angles to the border.

Thuringia
Thuringian Neighboring Law – § 45 border distances for hedges

(1) Subject to Section 46, the owner and the person entitled to use a property must maintain the following distances with hedges from neighboring properties:

• 1. with hedges up to 1 m high 0.25 m,
• 2. with hedges up to 1.5 m in height 0.50 m,
• 3. with hedges up to 2.0 m high 0.75 m,
• 4. With hedges over 2.0 m high, a greater distance by the amount of the extra height.

Border distances of hedges: questions to be clarified

Before you reach for the spade, there are a few questions that need to be clarified:

1. Do exceptions apply?

In each of the neighboring laws, exceptions are regulated with different intervals, which are very different in terms of content.

Compared to land that is used for agricultural purposes, is used for commercial horticulture, viticulture or allotment gardening, double the distances must often be observed. Either double the distance or no distance at all is stipulated at borders to outside areas; Even hedges on a closed fence that do not protrude may often be planted directly in front of it. If the hedge is planted directly on the border with the consent or cooperation of the neighbor (which is expressly addressed in most neighboring laws), there is of course no gap.

These paragraphs are not only to be found in the paragraph on the exceptions, but are also hidden in completely different places in the neighboring legal acts. Often it is a question of greater distances; if the actual regulation is not entirely in your interest, the search for “completely legal loopholes” can also be worthwhile.

2. Thuja hedge and enclosure

Should the thuja hedge be placed in front of a fence? What does the Neighboring Law say about the relationship between hedge and fence (= fence)? Are different solutions regulated instead of the local fencing?

In general, you should also always remember that you can make different arrangements with your neighbor. Usually the neighboring laws mention the possibility of placing a hedge directly on the border instead of the fence; Deviating agreements can also concern the fence itself and the distance between the hedge and the fence.

Whether a different agreement with a neighbor makes sense does not only depend on the current quality of the neighborly relationship. Rather, considerations relating to the future also play a role in such agreements, e.g. B. when a new neighbor moves in next door.

3. Local statutes

Once the distance applicable in your case has been determined, it continues: Below the regulatory level of the Neighboring Law, local or municipal statutes or legally binding landscape plans based on state nature conservation laws are often issued. These deal with historically developed local features or contain special regulations that are intended to help compliance with nature conservation goals.

This can contain special rules for border distances, but also for the height of the hedge and the type of planting. Thujas offer hardly anything to the native wild animals, just nesting places for a few bird species; Such an “ecological zero number” may not (exclusively) be planted everywhere.

4. How must the distance be determined?

Border distances for trees are usually determined by measuring from the middle of the wood to the border line; for shrubs, the distance between the stronger shoots or outer dense foliage to the border is taken into account. However, this is not unambiguous in every federal state and not expressly regulated in every federal state, so in case of doubt, a request from the municipality is still pending if you need reliable evidence of correct action.

5. Willingly keep a greater distance?

The border distances for hedges are rather tightly regulated in neighborhood law, because the law also applies to very small gardens, in which every centimeter has to be reckoned with.

Depending on the situation, it may be advisable to keep a slightly larger distance from the start; for the following reasons:

• Thujas are shallow roots and develop dense, fine roots that spread out like a plate directly under the surface of the earth
• If it doesn’t work out with the neighbor, he may not complain about the distance, but because too many roots grow over to him
• Annual weeds and permanently only a few, competitive plants grow in the root area of ​​the thuja, which could also disturb the neighbors
• The thuja is supplied with water mainly via fine roots on the “outer edge of the plate”
• If the hedge is close to the border, you have to water the neighbors in case of doubt in order to supply the outside of the hedge
• And thujas need a lot of water, in a (too) dry soil they have to be watered often
• If a classic, dense, green box hedge is to grow, it needs a lot of regular pruning
• Experience has shown that it only receives it when nobody has to squeeze in unreasonable contortions between the fence and the hedge

If the space is available, it can be a relaxing idea to plant the thuja hedge a little further inside in the garden.

Maintaining Limit Distances: Why It Matters

If the hedge was planted too close to the border and the neighbor does not like it, he can request that the hedge be removed.

This does not mean that no hedge may be planted at all. The only thing that matters is that the hedge must not stand still, whether you create a new hedge at the correct distance is up to you. More generous natures may find it unlikely that a neighbor insists on a few centimeters more or less. The real statistics of the courts show otherwise:

Neighborhood disputes occupy the German courts to a large extent. If the neighborhood law of a federal state does not stipulate an express claim to removal, this can still be given in the event of non-compliance with standardized distances; The legal basis is then the general right of removal and injunctive relief contained in the owner’s law.

Once the dispute arises, it usually costs a lot more time than correctly planning the hedge within the framework of the existing regulations; The obligation to settle disputes out of court, which often precedes legal action, does little to change this.

Conclusion
Limit distances for thuja hedges are usually prescribed and should be chosen with care even in the federal states without express regulation. Not only because the roots and water requirements of the thuja could bother the neighbors, but also in their own interest (thujas need a lot of pruning in every form).