Boundary Bushes and how to deal with the neighbours

We had a neighbour with that size hedge .... it totally ruined our south facing garden.... I gave up on trying to make anything grow! I do know ( having looked into it)...that he is entitled to throw the hedge/tree clippings into your garden for disposal.

Disputes like this confirm that my decision to live in an apartment was a wise move!
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My rear boundary is half Leylandi and half Laurel. The Laurel belongs to the property behind it. I have my trees and Laurel topped and trimmed every year and do not bother the Laurel owners. They in turn cut their side. We each deal with our own clippings. I must admit they are quite tall but this is to give me privacy from a three storey flat block. Luckily the trees provide shade in my garden and not the other side. Your neighbour should have advised that he was going to cut his overhang and offered the clippings back to you. Its a cheek to ask you for £100 and I would not pay.

My elderly father lived in a lovely block of apartments but the neighbour had huge Leylandii trees which blocked out the light in the lower apartments. The residents committee asked him to cut them back but he wouldn’t so they contacted the council. The council eventually issued an ASBO on him and he cut down the trees! 5 years later my father died and I had to sell the apartment and had to declare the neighbour dispute on the legal papers. We lost two buyers because of the ASBO even though the trees had been completely replaced by low fencing! My father lived on an upper floor on the other side of the building and wasn’t affected by the trees. It took me a year to sell a very desirable apartment.

I think people should really think seriously before planting beside adjoining fence
On one side we have a neighbour that has planted an apple tree right beside the fence so we get apples banging down into our garden and onto our garden table all the time. Drives me insane

If it was me I would politely tell him I had no idea he was intending to cut the trees and though you completely understand it his right to do so however had you known he was intending to charge you would have agreed there and then on paying half the cost and so you are sticking with that view.

It's not your problem, does he pay for your clippings to be taken away?

Difficult when we get neighbours for whom nothing is right! I had a neighbour who complained about my hedge ….I said feel free to come in and cut it for me (I lived on my own)….so he did, and took the bits away in his works van ! Another time my neighbour from 'the bottom of the garden' said my security light was shining in his lounge and could I move it ...I said no, but if you have a ladder please do so ...so he did ! my answer is the same for anyone ….and if they say no, then I say well, sorry then ! try it ….

CardiffJaguar. I think you are incorrect in saying you can dispose of hedge cuttings by putting the back into the hedge owners garden. This is counted as “wilful litter” and whilst you are legally obliged to offer them to the owner, it is your responsibility to dispose of them in an environmentally safe manner.

Betty65 you are lucky you just have trees - we have a retaining wall which has been pulled away my neighbours ivy - she doesn't see it's anything to do with her, but if we want to do anything about it, that's OK as long as we don't damage her shrubs beneath the wall. Since there is a 3ft drop to her garden, impossible. We have been in stalemate for about 2 years now, she can't afford it so had an extension built on her house. I'm just waiting for the wall to collapse on her shrubs!!

This is the permanent solution to hedge problems with neighbours and it works, because we used it successfully to get a huge leylandi hedge reduced to 3 meters from about 20!,

www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-hedges-complaining-to-the-council/high-hedges-complaining-to-the-council

Anything hanging over your boundary can be cut back by you as long as you do it professionally. The cut offs are legally owned by the owner of whatever tree/bush you cut off. You should 'hand' them back to the owner which often means simply putting them over their boundary wall/fence or whatever.

Usually nobody wants those cut-offs and it becomes your responsibility to dispose of them.However in the aim of good neighbourly relations the person doing the cut off should ask the owner of the cut-offs if they want them or should you dispose of them.

There is no responsibility for you to pay for the disposal.
This is a try-on and you should handle it carefully to avoid any dispute.

Auto correct strikes again! Pick up not lick up !

I can relate my experience. Our neighbours have huge conifers which really block our light. We put up with it to remain on good terms. They get them trimmed about every three years and ask permission to come into our garden to lick up any fallen branches. So in effect, the tree owners are taking care of both sides.

As a guidance? If you're in housing association houses- who is responsible for any bush overhangs/growths sticking out into the shared path/walkway area for everyone? You, or the housing assoc? They usually trim our 'fronts' down each year, but now its grown out into path, they are still doing agricultural work around here, so who does this bit?

The legal position on this matter is clear - any foliage that overhangs from your garden into your neighbour’s remains your property but as it is encroaching upon your neighbour’s property s/he has the right to prune it whenever s’he wishes and is not obliged to inform you. However, s’he does not have the right to retain the pruned material so in theory the neighbour should return it to you for your disposal. The neighbour is within his/her rights to simply throw it back into your garden but That’s obviously not very neighbourly unless you agree that and it’s better to communicate and come to an arrangement.

The neighbour is definitely not trying it on by asking for £100 as long as he’s not making a profit out of you so in order to be sure you should ask to see the receipt.

If your trees are almost 5 metres high I can imagine they cast a long shadow into his garden at certain times of the day which would be most unwelcome if his garden is small and if especially in lockdown he has wanted to get out into the sunshine.

You would be surprised how many people plant fast growing Leylandi close to a fence or wall without giving a thought to what this screen will do to the neighbour’s ability to enjoy sunshine.

Perhaps to avoid this situation again you should agree a tree pruning timetable with the neighbour who may feel that you are not doing this often enough.

I thought a few have said the neighbours have NO LAW that allows them to demand payment?

Liz46, is your neighbour Ed Sheeran by any chance??

Reading this I get the feeling that there is a lot of doubt as to what the law actually says on this point.

So I suggest that OP checks that first.

Then, depending on how willing she is to risk offending her neighbour, she can either refuse to pay for the removal of the cuttings, and risk a feud with him, pay the amount he is demanding, or pay less.

It might be as well to pay this time, if he is legally entitled to demand payment, but to tell him that in future, you would prefer him to tell you in advance when he intends to trim the hedge.

I think, I would ask him whether he would consider suggesting what height he would like it to be, then cut it down to that height.

Out neighbour let’s his plants grow through into our garage which drives ( no pun intended) my husband round the bend . Every year - surprise surprise they grow back and it starts over again. He gets so annoyed when we ask him to cut them back ! Does anyone knows better solution?

Our council wants £700 to Consider if my complaint about the row of leylandi At my boundary - neighbours side are too tall at over the height of my two storey house - is justified or not . They won’t cut them because they like them

Good advice Elegran.
We ask neighbour if she minds us cutting her trees, just to be polite - and she always says yes. We cut just our side and dispose of cuttings ourselves.
I have heard of neighbours (not ours) cutting and dropping the branches back over the fence where the roots originate, but I think that would be a cause of discord.

@nannan2

You are entitled to cut back to the boundary. If you remove any overhanging branches you should return them to the owner of the tree or obtain their consent to dispose of them. If you fail to do so it will amount to theft. So it would seem he hasn't got a leg to stand asking for £100

Maybe vickymeldrew, but he should show them the bill with the charges on clearly marked, and as hes not given them chance to offer to remove them themselves then he should accept half! Tell him next time he must put them back over your side for you to dispose of, its the law. Then let tree surgeon dispose of them with the rest.