Leyland cypress hedge

WeAreGhosts

my neighbours have cut well into the brown wood of the hedge that borders out gardens - there's 60 foot of it which is now completely brown on their side.
we tried to have our side cut as it is a bit straggly [although i quite like it like that anyway, but we have to keep it under 6' 6"] and the bloke who came to do it said he couldnt as the other side was cut too far back.

am i right in saying to them that it will not grow back from the brown, old wood? i have looked online and it appears so but they really do not believe me.

will their brown side affect my green side?

cyclonebri1

No, it won't really affect your side, other than it will grow much more vigorously towards yours in future.
Once those Triffids get away it is game over.

WeAreGhosts

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

No, it won't really affect your side, other than it will grow much more vigorously towards yours in future.
Once those Triffids get away it is game over.

oh wonderful. i dont mind it really, it is nicer than a fence, but it costs a lot of to have it pruned.
neighbours said they wanted it to be 'neat'. not sure i have ever met anyone who likes looking at 50ft of bare, dead wood. all the other houses have lush green, thick hedges and they keep chopping loads off so it is now really skinny. got holes in it too which i am not happy about as it doesnt stop the noise as much as it did and we can see straight through.

I_have_spoken

Correct, it'll be dead, brown and hideous for ever. Only yew will grow back from bare wood.

moneyistooshorttomention

I'd interpret they want it "neat" to mean "neatly gone". Sounds like they've decided they don't want it there and are making sure it doesn't intrude at all into their garden and hoping it will just die and get removed.

I saw that done to a house near me and the hedge-owner must have duly decided it looked appalling (it did!) and removed it.

Davesnave

The neighbours will be looking at brown forever, unless it's western red cedar or something similar.

My neighbour's landlord did the same and took them down to 6' but my side is still nice & yellow 2 years on. I'm quite OK with that...30 minutes with a hedge trimmer twice a year. Still private.

What will it all cost when the time comes for these to go?:eek: There is no legal obligation on either of you to replace them with anything.

WeAreGhosts

Davesnave wrote: »

What will it all cost when the time comes for these to go?:eek: There is no legal obligation on either of you to replace them with anything.

the neighbours will want it replaced/fenced as they have small children, we do not. i made it clear yesterday that we will not be paying for anything if they kill it. this was after they got stroppy when i started talking about the state of the hedge. i did it as politely as i could, dont want to fall out with them.

they still insist it will be fine and 'there are green bits growing' .. yes, from OUR side, not theirs. theirs is brown, dead twiggy bits, no leaf at all.

weird.

Mojisola

WeAreGhosts wrote: »

they still insist it will be fine and 'there are green bits growing' .. yes, from OUR side, not theirs. theirs is brown, dead twiggy bits, no leaf at all.

A neighbour did this and after about twelve years, his side was green again as bits grew through from the other side but it was an eyesore until then!

WeAreGhosts

Mojisola wrote: »

A neighbour did this and after about twelve years, his side was green again as bits grew through from the other side but it was an eyesore until then!

12?! thank goodness i dont plan on staying here 12 years

Davesnave

WeAreGhosts wrote: »

they still insist it will be fine and 'there are green bits growing' .. yes, from OUR side, not theirs. theirs is brown, dead twiggy bits, no leaf at all.

weird.

People get confused by conifers and don't distinguish between those that will take a severe haircut and those which won't.

They always say something like, "Uncle Bert did this to his and it soon recovered," without recognising that Bert's trees aren't leylandii.

Mojisola

WeAreGhosts wrote: »

12?! thank goodness i dont plan on staying here 12 years

I could see it from our upstairs windows and it looked awful - I couldn't have lived with it on my boundary.

If your neighbours start to complain about the way it looks, suggest they put up a fence on their side - that will hide the eyesore and keep their children in their garden.