neighbour's high hedge, who is responsible for costs of trimming our side?

erik85

Will make another picture with a coin for scale, really silly of me not having done that in the first place. However if it is either privet or laurel, I am 99% sure it is the first as I can recognise a laurel and it is definitely not one!

@MalMonroe I think it makes a difference to what specie it is as someone mentioned that some hedge specie can have their growth slowed by spraying some substances?
We have been to the "source" and the first times common replies have been "yeah no I know you are right will do" and nothing ever happened; then, having become evident that nothing was happening from their side, we have to call a gardener ourselves and when we asked to split the cost, of course the answer has been that they don't have money (even though of course their lifestyle suggests otherwise, but hey!)
Thanks for the suggestion that in their contract it might be stated that they need to keep garden to satisfactory levels, perhaps we will ask the HA if that is the case,  if they can share with us.
I assume also having abandoned sofas and furniture for a year would be part of that clause, if that is so then very great, as besides the ugliness, we keep finding sofa bits in our garden that are chomped away by foxes..

erik85

RAS said:

Privet, cut it back now but in the spring again, maybe 2 foot lower that you want it, then trim the new growth each time it makes 3 inches to bush it out.

That is what we are doing, at least to an extent. Gardeners come in twice a year to give it a good trim, then we are advised to give it a small trim every so often, but the crook of the issue is that we can only do half of the hedge as the other half is too tall for us to reach due to hedge being on a slope away from our garden!

Mojisola

erik85 said:

Gardeners come in twice a year to give it a good trim, then we are advised to give it a small trim every so often, but the crook of the issue is that we can only do half of the hedge as the other half is too tall for us to reach due to hedge being on a slope away from our garden!

As you're paying gardeners to cut your side, would the neighbour agree to them going into their garden and reducing the height?

Alfrescodave

goldfinches said:

RAS said:

Privet, cut it back now but in the spring again, maybe 2 foot lower that you want it, then trim the new growth each time it makes 3 inches to bush it out.

I think it looks more like laurel, though I could be wrong due to nothing to give a sense of scale in the photo.

My vote is also for laurel.