The right to a leaf pension
Leaves from neighbors: Who should throw them away
Updated 11/10/2025 – 12:12 pmReading time: 2 minutes
Your neighbor’s tree could become a nuisance if its leaves fall off and cover your property. Should your neighbor save this for you?
Raking leaves isn’t much fun. While there are many methods that make your tedious work easier (more on that here), there are still fun things to do in the garden in the fall. It’s even more annoying if the leaves and needles on your property don’t come from your trees, but from your neighbor’s garden. Because you’re basically cleaning up your neighbor’s mess. Or does he have to do it himself?
In most cases, you’ll have to clean up the leaves yourself, even if they come from a tree on a neighbor’s property. However, there are some exceptions which may mean that the neighbor must cover the costs and at least pay you financial compensation (the so-called leaf pension, see § 906 BGB).
If the effort used to clean up and dispose of the leaves exceeds reasonable limits, then the neighbor may be held responsible. This person must then regularly pay a certain amount to the person concerned, who uses it to finance their own work or the services of a garden maintenance company.
If the leaf fall is only minimal and the clean-up work is limited to a reasonable amount, you are not entitled to a leaf pension or a neighbor who removed his own leaves.
Additionally, the claim will end if the trees on a neighbor’s property are too close to the property line, but you haven’t seen this as a problem for many years. If you have complained when planting a tree or when you move because the distance between the tree and the property line is too small, then the tree must be removed (exclusion period). Instead, silence is seen as a kind of consent.
In most cases, you will have to remove leaves from trees on your neighbor’s property yourself. However, if the required cleaning work exceeds reasonable limits, the neighbor must financially compensate you for your work.
