ROBB, J.
. . . Surprisingly, this case presents an issue of first impression regarding whether an urban or residential landowner owes a duty to protect neighbors from damage caused by a tree which falls from the landowner’s property. In Valinet v. Eskew, our supreme court adopted the Restatement (Second) of Torts section 363 (the “Restatement rule”), which states:
(1) Except as stated in Subsection (2), neither a possessor of land, nor a vendor, lessor, or other transferor, is liable for physical harm caused to others outside of the land by a natural condition of the land.
(2) A possessor of land in an urban area is subject to liability to persons using a public highway for physical harm resulting from his failure to exercise reasonable care to prevent an unreasonable risk of harm arising from the condition of trees on the land near the highway.
574 N.E.2d 283, 285 (Ind. 1991).
At first glance, then, it would seem the Restatement rule forecloses the issue of whether the Marshalls owed a duty to protect Cain from the fallen tree. [Footnote omitted.] However, to so hold would leave urban or residential landowners essentially powerless in the face of a neighbor who refused to remove or secure an obviously decayed and dangerous tree simply because it was a natural condition of the land. With this in mind, several of our sister states have retreated from a strict application of the Restatement rule when an urban or residential landowner has actual or constructive knowledge of a dangerous condition. . . . .
We agree with the reasoning of our sister states in departing from the strict application of the Restatement rule in the context of urban or residential property. The Restatement rule developed when land was mostly unsettled and uncultivated. See Mahurin v. Lockhart, 390 N.E.2d 523, 524-25 (Ill. App. Ct. 1979)], 390 N.E.2d at 524. “The landowner, unable to keep a daily account of and remedy all of the dangerous conditions arising out of purely natural causes, was therefore shielded from liability out of necessity.” Id. (citing William L. Prosser, Handbook of the Law of Torts, § 57 at 354-56 (4th ed. 1971)). In urban or residential areas, however, it would not be an undue burden for a landowner to inspect his or her property and take reasonable precautions against dangerous natural conditions. See id. Living in close quarters with one’s neighbors in an urban or residential setting substantially increases the risk that a falling tree will cause damage to property or injury to persons, and, similar to the problem relating to a highway, the reduced size of property lots in an urban or residential setting makes the burden of time and money to inspect and secure trees on one’s property relatively minor especially as compared to the potential damage that could result from the tree’s fall. . . . Therefore, we hold an urban or residential landowner does have a duty to protect neighbors from the risk of damage or injury caused by a falling tree.
We turn now to what duty an urban or residential landowner owes. Comment e to subsection 2 of the Restatement rule states the duty a landowner owes to motorists on an adjacent public highway as:
no more than reasonable care … to prevent an unreasonable risk of harm to those in the highway, arising from the condition of the trees. In an urban area, where traffic is relatively frequent, land is less heavily wooded, and acreage is small, reasonable care for the protection of travelers on the highway may require the possessor to inspect all trees which may be in such dangerous condition as to endanger travelers. It will at least require him to take reasonable steps to prevent harm when he is in fact aware of the dangerous condition of the tree.
Illinois and Pennsylvania have adopted a similar duty of reasonable care. . . . We agree with their reasoning and extend our supreme court’s ruling in Valinet, which applied to the duty owed to passing motorists, and hold that an urban or residential landowner has a duty to exercise reasonable care to prevent an unreasonable risk of harm to neighboring landowners, arising from the condition of trees on his or her property. Whether the land in question is of sufficient population density to invoke the rule is a factual question for the fact finder. Valinet, 574 N.E.2d at 285. In addition, in determining whether the landowner exercised the requisite reasonable care, the fact finder must weigh the seriousness of the danger against the ease with which it may have been prevented. Id. In some circumstances, fulfilling this duty may require a landowner to conduct periodic inspections of his or her property. Id.
The trial court, here, applied a duty of reasonable care to the Marshalls with respect to preventing the damage caused by the fallen tree. In light of our holding above, the trial court properly applied a duty of reasonable care to the Marshalls, and therefore, it did not abuse its discretion when it denied the Marshalls’ motion to correct error.
BAKER, C.J., and BAILEY, J., concur.