Baba Basra 2:11-12

Baba Basra 2:11

A tree must be distanced 25 cubits (about 38 feet) from a pit; carob and sycamore trees must be distanced 50 cubits (about 75’), whether they are higher on a slope or on the same level. If the pit was there first, the tree is cut down and the owner is reimbursed; if the tree was there first, it is not cut down. If there is a doubt as to whether the tree or the pit was there first, the tree is not cut down. Rabbi Yosi says that even if the pit came first, it is not cut down because one party is digging on his own property and the other party is planting on his.

Baba Basra 2:12

One may not plant a tree near his neighbor’s field unless it is distanced four cubits (about six feet); this applies both to vines and to any type of tree. If there’s a fence separating the neighbors’ property, each one may plant right up to the fence on his own side. If roots spread into the property of one’s neighbor, the neighbor may dig three handbreadths deep (about nine inches) so his plow can get through. If he was digging a pit, a ditch or a cave and is impeded by roots, he may cut the roots as deeply as necessary and he gets to keep the wood.