Cut down a tree in your own garden? Only with the official stamp! The rules tighten

From last July, you can clear the trees in your own garden with almost no restrictions. The then Minister of the Environment Tomáš Chalupa (ODS) was benevolent and relied on the common sense of the owners. He enforced a decree according to which it is purely up to the owner of the garden to cut down the trees - with the exception of the memorable ones.

Stricter course. Soon

Barely a year has passed and the ministry - under new leadership - wants to reaffirm. When everything goes according to plan, you will not beat spruce, birch or oak in your garden in the autumn. So - without official permission. Minister Richard Brabec (YES) has prepared a decree, according to which you will have to apply for permission before cutting a non-fruit tree that has a trunk circumference of more than 80 centimeters at a height of 130 centimeters above the ground. For a better idea even for non-technical types: the circumference of 80 centimeters means a diameter of twenty-five and a half centimeters, a common school ruler tends to be thirty centimeters. Spruce, which belongs to relatively fast-growing trees, will grow to these dimensions plus or minus in fifty years, but in the forest, if it has space, it grows faster at the waist.

Reason? According to the ministry, you alone cannot sufficiently assess the aesthetic and ecological function of the tree. In addition, according to the department's management, the current decree is in conflict with the law and discriminates because it incorrectly defines the garden - in the past, the ombudsman also pointed this out.

The cottage defined the garden as a fenced plot of land near an apartment or family house in the built-up area of ​​the village. However, he forgot about the people in the cottage and horticultural colonies, who have to keep asking for felling permits. And officials get a little confused about judging what is and isn't a garden. That there is a need to clarify the definitions, so there is perhaps no dispute, but at the same time is it necessary to tighten the rules?

What is and what will be the garden

The current decree defines a garden as a plot of land near an apartment building or a family house in a built-up area of ​​the municipality, which is structurally fenced and inaccessible to the public. The new decree is to define the garden in principle formally as land that is registered in the real estate cadastre as a garden.

So far we have only talked about trees in the garden. However, you can also own other land, such as the area between the garden and the road or field. Without official permission, you can cut down a tree on them if its trunk, at a height of 130 centimeters above the ground, has a circumference of up to eighty centimeters. So the same regime applies as the new decree is intended to introduce for gardens. The rules are stricter for trees that are part of a tree line - you can't do there without a permit, regardless of their size.

Of course, another regime applies to forests or "tree plantations".

The ministry says it has a lot of reports from cities that unnecessary felling has occurred many times in the past year. He does not want to ban it, only to regulate it - according to the ministry, the protection of tree species is in the public interest. Defenders of landowners' rights are holding their heads.

Talk honey!

For a good word book

Last week we were in the section What do you think about that? wrote about how Minister Jourová puts her sleeves on dishonest sellers of real estate:

"I personally are incredibly irritated by the 'cotton wool' and the embarrassment in the advertisements. "what everyone else has been offering for several months now for the same, exorbitant price," he wrote in a debate under the MaraKM article. We sign and go wrap the book.

Everyone can be an esthete, but an ecologist?

No matter how aesthetic or unaesthetic the tree in your garden is, no one has anything to say to you - so far it is difficult to agree with the ministry. Logically, there is also the argument that one should have the right to defeat something that a parent planted years ago and that somehow grew over his head. (However, things do not always have such a personal level - a garden can, of course, be owned by a company, including those who will have no relationship with it, let alone an emotional relationship.)

On the other hand, it must be acknowledged that the ecological significance and function of the tree for the surrounding area cannot be evaluated by the layman himself. In addition to generating oxygen, trapping dust and shielding from the sun, the tree may, according to environmental experts, be important for regulating the water regime, may (co-) create a habitat for a protected species or plant community, it can be such a habitat itself. .

Before we start rebelling against the forthcoming decree, it is good to realize that a person with a saw does not get in his way very often. In the case of fruit trees, there is nothing to solve - no one will restrict and regulate you there. The same applies to other trees that do not grow to the higher parameters. And finally - even with taller trees, perhaps there could be a reasonable talk with officials. Unless they find that felling a tree could actually harm the environment, they probably won't have a reason to put obstacles in your way. According to the ministry, the decree should rather be a safeguard against excesses.

In addition, by law, if a tree is dangerous, you can beat it without permission - and report it to the office within fifteen days.

But there is one more question: If you are not able to judge your tree correctly in all contexts, the municipal official you are asking for permission to cut will be much better. Can we count on the city to have specialized environmental departments and common sense in the villages? But actually - it's only been a year and a bit back since that responsibility lay on them ...

Section partner

Partner of the section What do you think about it? is the publishing house Grada. From his offer, you might be interested in a series dedicated to the legal revolution - the new Civil Code.

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The effects of the new ordinance are difficult to predict in advance and may be counterproductive: for example, people will start cutting down trees in gardens "preventively" before they grow too much to avoid having to deal with officials.

What do you think about this? Do officials have the right to decide what you cut down in your garden? Shouldn't the rules be relaxed for trees on land other than gardens? And why differentiate between fruit and non-fruit trees? Isn't a century-old pear more beautiful than a polished silver spruce? Can't it be just as important for the landscape, water retention, or a prominent beetle? Write your opinions, observations and experiences in the discussion. We will reward the most interesting contribution with a book. So be sure to leave us an email - so we can agree on where to send it.