Boundary Bushes and how to deal with the neighbours

Auto correct strikes again! Pick up not lick up !

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.

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

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!!

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.

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 ….

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Disputes like this confirm that my decision to live in an apartment was a wise move!
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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.

Get a quote for removal in writing and then pay him that amount. Tell him in future to present you with clippings.

I would have cut them down and placed in green bin over a period of time, as already paid for that.

My mum (a keen gardener when she was alive) told me that trees have roots 3 times of their height! No wonder big trees in suburban gardens cause such nuisance.

I think he might have checked with you first. Our neighbour cuts his side down, never asks for money but the bushes are ours. There is some legislation with regard to who does what and I think it is up to him if he wants to cut back or not and it is his responsibility to pay for his side.

No we are not neighbours as I don't have a Eucalyptus tree! Also I would like some comments about house extensions that are as tall as blocks of flats.

I assumed you could cut back or trim overhanging trees/bushes/plants, but usually to keep neighbourly peace, you dispose of them.

I think I read somewhere that the person trimming an overhanging has the right to chuck the trimmings into the owners garden, to dispose of.

If that was a way to sort it, you could dispose of the trimmings as you see fit, according to your budget or circumstances. Or bung them in your compost pile if you have one.

£100? Someone’s having a laugh.

Nobody spends my money except me ....the person who earned it .

I have to plead guilty here! We planted leylandii at the back of our garden to get some privacy quickly after moving in. Now they are very tall and I get them trimmed every 2-3 years.

The back gardens face east-west so the garden opposite ours at the back does not suffer shade because of the trees. The trees are trimmed on their side when our side is done.

What annoys me is that another neighbour allowed a sycamore tree to grow very near the corner of our house at the back. A bird dropped the seed for the tree to grow but she did nothing. When I see the same seeds in my lawn I pull them out straight away.

I was very worried about the tree roots damaging the foundations of our house and causing subsidence.

Fortunately a tree surgeon doing other work in her garden recommended that the tree be cut down because it would grow rapidly to 50 feet and cause a shadow over her south-facing garden. She agreed to this and the job was done.

IMHO people should not be allowed to plant or allow to grow specified trees or plants on their land within specific distances from the nearest building because of the root damage that could be caused.

It seems to be all done and dusted now, but I think I would have said something along the lines of being on a tight budget and would it be alright if I paid him back £20 per month He might then have the decency to withdraw his demand! I do feel grateful for my rural lifestyle though!

A skip costs £268.00 in my area. To go to the tip in your car you need a permit and might have to make several journeys which could mean waiting in a queue for every trip. The cost of labour and disposal at £100.00 sounds reasonable to me.

It's actually illegal to disturb nesting birds. You might want to remind your neighbour about that. He should have offered you the cuttings that he'd taken but taking it on himself to get rid of them himself is fine so long as he doesn't expect you to pay.

I am unlucky enough to have a neighbour with a leylandii hedge which I have to pay to trim on my side. I am sorry but I have every sympathy with your poor neighbour - 16 feet hedges ! Very inconsiderate.

Could you phone a company which removes garden waste and find out what they would charge. If it is less than £100 you could perhaps pay that Whatever you do you will probably find you have fallen out with your neighbour sadly.