Boundary Bushes and how to deal with the neighbours

Betty65 (having read your update) having the hedge replaced by fencing is a very good idea.

As for the caravan and restrictions on the deeds, I'd say they carry little weight legally. Unless your house is fairly new, it's probably impossible to enforce the rules.

Here, the deeds say no fences over six feet tall, no buildings (fixed or on wheels) in gardens - and residential use only. The houses were built in 1935, though, and all the rules are ignored.

Is Caramac and Gagsville neighbours then?

The clippings from a ‘16ft boundary of tall trees’ would be a considerable amount. By the time they had been loaded onto a vehicle and disposed of (queues for the recycling centre are at least two hours round here), £100 would be a bargain !

I have a neighbour who had let a climbing plant/small tree? (Not even sure what it was,she has all sorts on other side of tall fence) grow & snake its way up my drainpipe and wrapped itself around my sky dish.it had gone off & my equipment insurers sent a cable guy, who had to hack some back& shouted over fence to her to get it trimmed- she pretended not to understand as they're chinese (but some of them have chatted to me&sent xmas cards in english) she let it grow back again this year,so last week my sons reached up on a step ladder& hacked a good bit back,it fell over her side.it had rooted itself in my 'leaf catcher' attached to drains, and wrapped around sky dish again! Theres usually a call-out charge if the guys to come for that so i was lucky he'd put it down as a 'reset' last time.or id have taken her the bill. BUT, as for your neighbour, he shouldn't have arranged its pick up without asking you first if you would pay towards it, if its a high price, and £100 seems a lot- has he even shown you the bill?? If not or he wont, then id tell him no- if he showed me it and its genuine, then id offer him £50, as its only half& half on your properties- & tell him next time you will get tree surgeon to trim his& remove debris.(or could you get tree surgeon back this year to try sort out your side so it 'trains' it to grow away from his side more? Or cut so much down from your side its not an overhanging problem any more, then put some form of fencing high on that bit next to the bush, to push it back towards your side over time?

He could legally just throw it all back into your garden.

I hope you sent him away with a flea in his ear!
As others have said, he is actually supposed to cut the overhanging branches and return them to your side of the boundary.
It was his choice to pay for someone to take them away, so he can pay for it!

The leylandii, house height, and much taller eucalyptus tree my neighbours have in their garden have blighted my use of my garden.
I cannot understand why they think it acceptable for us to pay for a tree surgeon to cut their bloody trees as they are so tall. They are both planted too close to the border according to house deeds.
Our lovely south facing garden is no longer sunny for much of the day and the leaves shed by the eucalyptus have killed the fish in my pond.
Last Autumn they agreed to trim the height but not until Spring. Covid seems to have given them an excuse to not do so and now it’s nesting season so another shadey summer for us.
Sorry for the rant but I cannot put into words how much I detest those damn trees. The eucalyptus is taller than my house and we are higher up then their house. Only bout 20 feet is shared boundary but 90% of my garden is in shade in the afternoon.

It would probably have been cheaper to hire a wood chipper, then the chips would be useful to feed the garden.

Maybe one solution is to ask your yearly surgeon to cut your neighbors' side too (with their permission for access)

Betty65
If the trees /bushes are 'yours' planted on your side by yourself or your predecessor advise your neighbour when it is your intention to have them cut back and at the same time suggest the tree surgeon cut them back on your neighbours side. removing all cuttings making it clear you will meet the costs. If refused then he is not in the position to charge you when he himself cuts them down. For the present situation, neighbour having already cut the hedge, on their side it is up to your neighbour to remove the cuttings not expecting you to pay.

Your neighbour is entitled to cut any branches that overhang his property. And he us also entitled to put any cut off branches into your land as they belong to you. I found this out through the council about a neighbours tree. So that’s what I did. I put all the branches onto his side of the fence

I think the law says you can cut overhanging branches off next door’s trees or hedges but you should put the cuttings back over the fence. I often cut an overhanging tree from my next door neighbour and put the cuttings in my recycle bin. If he ever complains the cuttings will be going back over the fence.

We have to keep our Leylandii very tall as it is the only way we can have any privacy. Our neighbours are constantly adding extension on top of their house. If we cut it down more, we would be constantly overlooked. One of our neighbours trims his side right back so that the light can get through to his garden. We don't mind as it must be a pain when it doesn't allow much light through. When we bought this house we could keep them trimmed down much more. Not anymore unfortunately.

High hedges are for privacy and yes birds do nest in them and provide shelter for wildlife. Why do I know as a neighbour trimmed his and nests with birds in them landed in my garden. The right to privacy is another factor if someone takes down a hedge or to a low level they must replace with a high fence which is not so attractive to look at and no good to any wildlife. I do not want to see into my neighbours gardens or the peering into mine

The neighbour is entitled to cut your bushes from his side and deposit the cuttings in your garden. He is not entitled to arrange collection and then charge you

If it's your hedge, surely it's your responsibility. Your neighbour can indeed return the cuttings from his side to you but a 16 foot high hedge would produce rather a large amount of 'clippings'. Why do you have such a tall hedge in the first place? Must block out the light.

He is obliged to return the clippings to you so I would have removed them. Sounds like the hedge is your responsibility so how about making it a more manageable size and regularly maintaining it. That is what I do with mine and happy everyone?

Just re read the posts. Does that mean you will now see his caravan? If so don’t put the fence up but keep the hedge at a height so you can’t see it! Think he’s being a bit cheeky !

Think you should offer half £50 as he didn’t ask you before he organised the removal sadly always will be problems here Next house as other person suggests fence is the way forward no arguments Mumstheword x

Legally as has been said your neighbour should return anything that he has cut off. So I wouldn’t pay but point that out to him. If you trim his side regularly then in that respect you are being a good neighbour. I wonder why he has done it if he knows you look after the trees? 16ft is very high and not really manageable without outside professional help so I would be tempted to cut them down to a manageable size. At a previous house We owned the neighbours wanted the trees cut down as they ruined their garden. We negotiated which trees and then went half on the price. They weren’t trees that should have been planted there anyway. So maybe consider having work done on the trees but you don’t have to pay his £100. Tips are open now.

We have conifers behind us and they're full of nests. They're also home to the squirrels, wood mice and millions of little creatures.

Goodness what a cheek.

Our neighbours have a laurel hedge which encroaches into our garden by approximately five feet. Because it faces south, our side grows whatever is done to it, whilst their side is neat and tidy. It drives me mad as our borders are dry and denuded of nutrients by this hedge, however, the alternative is a fence and I don’t think that would look as lovely as the green hedge which is alive with birds. So, my border will suffer!

We used to have hedge of Leylandi trees on the boundary. We never let it grow higher than 6ft and my husband trimmed it both sides without every year, and we disposed of the trimmings . We considered it our responsibility as they were our trees. When we couldn't be bothered with the upkeep any longer we paid to have them taken out. Our trees our responsibility

I moved to an idyllic retirement property only for the new occupant at bottom of garden to plant Leilani. Being a very keen gardener, which I wanted for health, keep fit reasons to pursue. Suddenly I lost 6’ of garden to dense shade and arid conditions little sun and a depressing sight. Sadly without falling out as the chap was not going to trim in any foreseeable future, I no choice but to move, and with the eyesore wasn’t easy to sell.
Whenever I plant anything along a fence I move it into my garden with a big enough gap to trim the back, my tree my task.
Please think what tall hedges are like on the other side.