Boundary Bushes and how to deal with the neighbours

Boundaries always seem to cause problems but to be honest he can cut down what he likes that overhangs his garden but if the tress or bushes grow from your side they are ultimately yours. Surely you/he can take all the clippings to a recycling centre for cheaper than £100 which seems a total rip off as whoever does it will probably use a chipper to get it to manageable size, at least that happens here. Tree surgeons are expensive if you want a tree removed or large branches taken off though.
Our problem came a couple of years ago at a house we rent out when a fence panel came down into our garden from next door caused by her overgrown bamboo. She claimed despite an expensive car and things she was very hard up and could not afford a fence panel even though she agreed it was her responsibility and anyway it was our tenants had obviously pulled it down!!! Over a cup of tea we calmly explained about the bamboo and offered to sever the roots to help a bit and if she paid for the panel( I think one like the one down was £10 from Wickes where we had to go anyway) we would put it up for her, and if she felt the tenants were a problem again could she ring us. All sweetness and light from then on and she let us put it up . A year later we changed tenants when the previous ones moved out and her whole fence was replaced and brand new and far more substantial, so small steps and try and work with the problem.

The law as I last read it stood that you are allowed to trim any overhanging plants that grow across your boundary, and those trimmings are the property of the person whose plant it is. You are obliged to return those trimmings to the land of the plant owner. So in a way your neighbor is doing you a favor by not just dumping them in your garden. On the other hand if you think you can have them removed more cheaply, ask the neighbor to throw them into your garden and you'll deal with them. That's the strict letter of the law. In fact most of us just deal with all our overhanging clippings in with our own garden waste. If there is really a huge load from your hedge though it would cost quite a bit. It's worth considering what one grows close to boundaries.

Posted to early. Any of you reading this please don’t throw stuff back into your neighbours without telling them you are going to do it first. I just inform my neighbour politely that I will be returning his property. If you don’t you can be fined.

Birds don't nest in conifers.

We had large conifers in our garden and the neighbours complained to the council. An official came round and said there was a maximum height and our trees were within that. We had them pruned once a year. I've moved now so I do wonder if the next owner has bothered to prune them, as going by how the front looks, I shouldn't think so.

I have many problems with my neighbours trees.
My understanding of the law is as follows.
You can cut back an overhang but it’s your responsibility to get rid of it.
If it falls in your garden you must tell your neighbours that you are returning it and you can throw it back. If you fail to tell them it’s actually regarded as fly tipping. ( totally stupid in my opinion).
I frequently remind my neighbour that he needs to sort his trees out. (He never will) and I also tell him that I will be returning his property. In winter months I easily clear two / three large wheelie bin full of leaves from his trees but put them all back in his garden. We have to pay for our garden bins. I don’t see why I should pay to have his rubbish removed. If he had his trees trimmed. There wouldn’t be a problem.

If they belong to you, you are responsible for them. Your neighbour if he cut them as they are encroaching on his property is entitled to put them back onto your property. Sounds as if this may be difficult to do though, how do you throw leaves, branches over shrubs. He should have at least told you what he was planning to do and offered you the opportunity to clean up. Otherwise, arrange for the cuttings to be removed.

Would it not be appropriate seeing as they are your bushes to ask your neighbour permission to have them cut back at his side when the tree surgeon comes?

I agree with other comments that say he is entitled to cut anything over his boundary but has to return the cuttings to you. There is something called 'a right to light' he might be interested in, but you don't owe him a penny. Have you put in for planning permission for the fence?

If we cut down tops from our conifers and they land next door they simply throw them back and we dispose, but as hes is suggesting you pay and its this amount, you could simply say throw back to your side and you remove them however you want to by getting much cheaper quote in any case i think this is steep. So rather than fall out say you are dealing with it yourself but first phone around to get 3 quotes, why should you go with who he suggests the firm/company of, or would the council take away with the green bin or is way too much greenery.

Bit harsh, if you read further you will see she is currently arranging for the hedges to be taken down and replaced with fencing ! She also pays every couple of years for it to be cut both sides and we don’t know how long or large their gardens are !

We had neighbours that would not cut there trees but new couple came in took lot down now we can see the sun. It is tricky question about the trees we was told you can cut them as long as you give them back.

I don’t think you should pay Betty65. There was no agreement that you would pay for disposal. You might have preferred to heap them up, rot them down or otherwise get them disposed of. The law says they should be returned to you, not taken away and billed to you. Not to mention that it is the wrong time of year to cut it down.
It would perhaps be better if you had your hedge, all of it, trimmed to a more reasonable height every year so everyone is happy but that’s your choice.

We have a hornbeam hedge, which has got way too tall this year. I had arranged for a tree surgeon, but it was cancelled due to the Covid situation. I can’t cut them now (birds nesting).

The neighbour (who I don’t know) has always cut back his side, and ‘posted’ the cuttings through the hedge. It seems a good solution to me, and they have never mentioned it as an issue. When I can get it cut next, I’ll ask if they want anything done on their side.

It has always been my understanding that, if it overhangs my property I can cut it back to the boundary line and I'm supposed to offer the "trimmings" to the "owner". However, I have never been in the situation like the OP with such a high hedge.

I will hasten to add that the ve only ever trimmed back the odd Rose bush stem or clematis, never interfered with anything during nesting season either.

The neighbour is a bit cheeky though, effectively spending your money without consulting you first. Personally, I wouldn't pay up and see where it leads.

I think you are incredibly selfish! We have neighbours like you, our once sunny cottage is now so dark I need the lights on during the day! Cut them down to 8feet!

Hetty 58 is incorrect, legally he has to give you back the branches he has cut. Ask for them back and then you can dispose of them, you can take them to the dump yourself for free then.

Tell him to take a running jump. He not only chose to cut back the trees but did so during the nesting season so broke the law. If he doesn't like the height of your trees he should contact the local council who will look into the matter and make a decision. We have very high trees behind our flat which belong to a neighbouring garden but what we lose in light is more than made up for by the abundance of wildlife.

If you know someone with a van or trailer ask them If they'd take it away. Even If you paid them petrol money it certainly wouldn't be £100.

I would have been shocked that he asked. He should have mentioned it before hand, even though it was overhanging his property.

We have one neighbour's tree that overhangs our carport, causing moss to grow. We check with her, but she has never minded the fact that we cut back our side. Certainly wouldn't expect her to pay for the waste.

Leylandi — what is the point of these things as hedges and in small suburban gardens? They cause so many unnecessary disputes, grow to rifuculous heights in quick time, block light and leach moisture from the soil. They are unattractive in every way
Do I have a neighbour who planted them along outer garden fence, a neighbour who refused to cut them back. Yep

These people are very selfish.

When I was house hunting I went to see a beautiful new build bungalow, I was a cash buyer and the first viewer and was ready to buy. Then I stood on tip toe and looked down the dividing fence about 1m from the side of the bungalow, yes I could see the wavy tops of a new row of lleylandii. The house sold that same day. I have driven past there since and they are now 12" above the fence, year one after planting

Our neighbour planted a row of lleylandii next to our fence. We have had to buy cutters with long handles to try and keep it back as our garden is quite small. We are unable to grow anything much in our border because of the roots.

He has an enormous garden and tried to get planning permission to have several houses built on it. The access road would be directly behind our hedge leaving nobody to keep it trimmed. The houses would be very close to our garden. Fortunately the application was rejected.

No more Mr Nice Guy now. We used to dispose of the cuttings. They can now get rammed into gaps so that he has to pick them up.

We bought a property with an extensive leylandii hedge. We take responsibility for cutting both sides once a year. If our neighbours offered to do it we would celebrate.? Even if they did dump the cuttings in our drive.

They have their house on the market and we are wondering if we can ignore the other side after they move. Although it’s about 8ft high they have acres of land so the height isn’t a problem.

In England if you cut a neighbour's hedge you should return the clippings to the hedge owner. In Scotland by law you are not obliged to return the clippings. Ih he chose to get rid of them himself hard luck on him.

it is not good to have 16 foot tall bushes so close to the fence that they overhang your neighbours property. Hardly anyone seems to make allowances for growing space. It would drive me bonkers and I would go a lot further than just asking for £100