Boundary Bushes and how to deal with the neighbours

Pay for nothing AFTER the event, extremely inconsiderate of him not to approach you beforehand about any potential contribution toward HIS costs... would you do that to him ?!

This is on the RHS site :- What do I do with the prunings?
Once branches are cut off they should be offered back to the tree owner. If the owner doesn’t want them then you will be responsible for disposing of the prunings; you can’t simply throw them over the boundary into your neighbour’s garden!

Its you’re hedges and you should be maintaining on both sides, not making comments about him.
I think you should dispose of it not him

If there is no rule that obligates you otherwise, you have every right not to be taken advantage of....If your neighbor is cheeky enough to demand a hefty sum from you (amount set forth by him, no less) then it's OK for you stick up for yourself and to be assertive. When he asks again, let him know politely, that this kind of arrangement may work for him, but it doesn't work for you because he never gave you a heads up.

If he still has the nerve to insist, let him know in no uncertain terms that surprising you with a such a hefty bill without warning' is anything but 'neighborly' You could have reached a compromise with him, but since he blindsided you, he can now see the whole thing through on his own. Yes, he may get upset, but no more than you are with him. Fair is fair!

We have the problem of a neighbour who likes trees and bushes and complains if we dare to touch the very high hedge at the back of our property (which was there before we bought the house). I'd love to reduce it in height, but she complains whenever we cut it, usually saying we have cut "into" her side of the hedge. We don't know who the hedge "belongs" to. The same lady once demanded (on my doorstep) that I keep our gardener "Off her Property" in future. In fact, he had not been on her property at all - a neighbour she employs had trimmed a part of the big high hedge (on her side) between our gardens! I never received an apology! She has now planted a Laurel hedge at the boundary of the front part of the garden, which is already higher than the fence, and this grows through the fencing into our flower border all the time, as well as having lots of weeds in the base! We have front, side and rear gardens, which are lovely. Our house is now up for sale, and I wont be sorry when we move, despite loving the house we live in.

1. He decided to cut the hedge to suit himself and without discussion or agreement as to when or how.

2. He's entitled to do that, but cannot make you a party to a contract with someone disposing of the clippings. If it's £100 or £1.50 or £1,000 - no matter, his problem and he's definitely not being cheeky he's taking the proverbial and trying it on.

3.. The clippings are your property and he should have discussed this with you before cutting, in case you wanted to have the clippings to dispose of yourself.

4. The easiest way to dispose of clippings belonging to a neighbour is obviously to speak about it and hand them back over a boundary fence. Not possible perhaps because of the height of the hedge, but they remain your property so prior discussion was needed with you.

5. As it is your hedge, which he has trimmed on his own side before, if he suddenly has a problem with it, it's likely to be because he wants every available bit of space to park a caravan etc.,

6. A "normal" 2 metre hedge in a suburban garden can easily be turned into a much higher boundary hedge if it's properly maintained and does not affect neighbours' right of light or cause damage to their property. A hedge does not have to be an enormous height if it is clearly preventing light to a neighbouring property and complaints can be made to the local Council.

7. Cutting back of branches and leaves etc., which protrude from your hedging into a neighbouring property is perfectly acceptable for a neighbour to do at any time - except in the nesting season for birds. If you or your contractor normally cut the hedge, you can offer to have the neighbouring side cut at the same time - with you covering the cost of that as it's your hedge. Normally neighbours agree as to who will have the responsibility for the other side or agree an access time for a contractor to do the work.

8. Becoming involved in any kind of legal dispute will have to be revealed if either of the parties sell their homes. Not only is it a bad idea to row with neighbours, it's an even worse idea to threaten legal action since this may affect any future sale of either property.

The major problem with hedging such as Leylandii is that too often the little trees are planted and then left. For everyone who plants and cares for such hedging, cutting and pruning regularly to enable a green and frothy hedge to frame their garden, there are vast numbers of people who just plant them, like many other trees, and ignore them until there is no longer a hedge, just a row of extremely tall and ugly trees, which are usually brown and bare at the bottom. Affording no privacy; they grow too wide - take up huge areas of suburban gardens and are spiky and unattractive and mostly dead looking.

You owe him no money because you cannot be forced to pay for a (probably fictitious) bill for work which did not have your prior knowledge or agreement. You can offer to have your contractor cut his side of the hedge next time, or simply announce that it's your intention to replace the trees with fencing. He would have known this before engaging in any work if he had just had the courtesy to speak to you about the work beforehand. (Don't forget to smile!)

Tell him you haven't got any money. Then it's his problem

I had s tree surgeon in to trim back some branches and overhanging shrubbery. He had to physically climb up to do it.
He only charged me £100 for the whole lot, and he took away all the rubbish as well.

If the law hasn't changed, I believe he can offer the cuttings back to you but you do not have to take them or pay for him to cut them. Hope it still applies. I had an awful lot of trouble with a neighbour over that, so I looked into it. Hope it goes well for you.

depends if the bushes are on your side or is ? £100 is rather a lot.tell him you will take them to the dump the ones you cut .he can do what he likes with the rest on his side.

What are you shielding that needs such a tall boundary? He cannot make you pay (I personally could not afford £100). If possible cut your shrubs to a reasonable height and ask if next time he does something like that can he let you know as you before he spends your money!

over hanging branches can be cut back.They should be offered back to the owner and if they decline you should dispose of them. You should not (as our neighbours did) cut them down and throw them back over the fence. That is considered the same as fly tipping.Part of the hedge at the front of our house is on our property and the other is across the dividing line so is in next doors garden. That is the way the developers of the property had planted it, We are only cutting our side as we regard it on our boundary, He should have asked you and as he didnt I would say that the bill is entirely his.

leylandii hedges are the work of the devil, if you want privacy put in a fence, they do not grow huge, I've seen on some in a botanical garden 250 feet tall, and mine would be that tall, we have one, and over the years it has taken me so long to prune it and keep it a reasonable height. Some I've taken out, where there was already a fence and another lot where they were totally unnecessary. Last year I actually took 3 out as I wanted to put something nice in [intending to take out the lot eventually] and my neighbours were upset, so upset that he offered to keep it cut down to a reasonable height. Well, I guess I'm within my rights to ignore him, but taking down a few took ages and was difficult to dispose of so we agreed, and I've just cut back my side and planted in front of it. IF you have space for one, leylandii clippings burn very quickly, it's the resin in them, that's the best way to get rid of them [it's ok, it's a very very long back garden and no one minds a bonfire]. If for whatever reason he doesn't cut it in future, I'll have to rethink obviously, but if he is happy to take on the work, seeing as it's him who wants it, then fair enough.
Odd how some people like something so ugly

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.

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.

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.

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 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!

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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.