Is it ever OK to pick fruit from your neighbors property? Here's what Texas law says

Brandi D. Addison, USA TODAY NETWORK
Updated ·4 min read
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The temptation to pick a freshly ripened apple from an overhanging tree on someone's property is strong.

But behind the allure of that sweet, delicious taste in that first bite lies a legal question: Who owns the fruit hanging over public space or over your own private property? Across many communities in Texas, ordinances grapple with balancing property rights and public access, prompting questions about where admiration ends and appropriation begins.

Many are unaware that the simple act of plucking a petal or a grape could land them in legal hot water, as Texas cities navigate the growing issue of vegetation encroaching on public spaces and the complex laws that accompany it.

The Los Angeles Times also explored this issue and asked its audience through a survey, and it received responses from 855 readers with passionate opinions.

Here are their questions and the corresponding responses — and what law actually says:

When is it OK to pick fruit from someone else's tree, bush or vine?

Most Texas cities do not have ordinances specifically addressing the harvesting of fruits from others' properties but do mandate that property owners maintain encroaching vegetation, which would effectively prevent the debate over fruit harvesting.

The general feedback from the Los Angeles Times survey was that it is acceptable to pick fruit from someone else's tree if the fruit can be accessed without stepping onto the owner's property or trespassing:

  • 50% agreed it was OK if the branches are hanging in or accessible from a public street or sidewalk.

  • 49% agreed it was acceptable if the branches are hanging over their own yard.

  • 34% consider it acceptable when the fruit is hanging in a public alleyway and easily reachable.

  • 19% said it was never OK.

But those opinions might not reflect the law.

"If the trunk of a fruit tree is on your neighbors' property, the tree and the fruit it bears belong to them — even if fruit-laden branches overhang your property," the late attorney Jedediah Mannis wrote in an article on Nolo, a self-described legal encyclopedia that the official Texas State Law Library cited in its neighbor law guide.

Typically, property owners do have the right to trim branches that hang over their property line, but harvesting the fruit off those branches without permission could still be considered petty theft. However, the fruit tree owners also don't have the legal right to trespass onto private property that their fruit fell on.

"This is anomalous: On the one hand, you can't legally pick up and eat the fruit. On the other hand, your neighbors can't legally enter your land to retrieve it," Mannis wrote.

He further explained that if the trunk of the tree straddles the property line, it's classified as a "boundary tree" — and Texas law agrees that this means all property owners sharing the tree have ownership rights to it. This includes the fruit growing on branches extending onto each property. However, this arrangement could potentially raise issues of trespassing when accessing fruit on the neighbor's side of the tree.

Is it OK to pick up fallen fruit from someone else's tree?

The question of whether it's acceptable to eat an apple that has fallen from someone else's tree is frequently discussed on Reddit and online legal advice forums, such as Avvo.

"If I allegedly keep picking fruit that's coming over the fence into my backyard from a tree that's planted in my neighbor's backyard, am I well within my legal rights?" asked one user on Avvo in 2016.

Five attorneys responded, all of whom agreed that it was legal to take the fruit.

When surveyed by the Los Angeles Times, most respondents also agreed that it's acceptable to take fallen fruit if not trespassing and under certain circumstances:

  • 62% if it's acceptable if the fruit falls into their own yard.

  • 51% when the fruit is lying in a public street or gutter.

  • 30% if the fruit fell onto the ground beneath the tree but is easily accessible from the public street or sidewalk.

  • 8% said never.

Rather than delving into legal complexities when dealing with a "boundary tree," Mannis suggested talking with neighbors to establish boundaries on such matters instead.

"A talk with your neighbors, perhaps accompanied by homemade cookies, will likely lead to informal guidelines about what everyone can and can't do," he wrote. "Most people allow neighbors to pick or gather fruit that is on the neighbors' side of the property line, regardless of the law in their own state."

What would you do with a fruit-laden tree that no one is harvesting?

No one recommends bringing a ladder and bucket to take the fruit off someone else's tree — and people generally recommend asking ahead of picking. Here's what respondents said they'd do in the Los Angeles Times survey:

  • 60% would knock on the door and ask for permission.

  • 28% wouldn't take from the tree at all without a sign offering the fruit.

  • 21% would take only a few pieces of fruit that can be easily reached.

  • 11% would take whatever they could reach.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: What Texas law says about picking fruit and flowers from others