📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Neighbour asked us to trim the hedge

Options

Recently moved into our new house. The neighbour knocked our door on Sunday and asking if we have any plan of trimming the hedge in our front garden.

The hedge is about 1.4m high and it grown slightly over to my neighbours side, like around 5 cm. The neighbour is complaining that it affected them getting on/off from their car.

I checked a lot of information online but most of them repeating the same info that neighbours can trim the hedge on their side if it overhang in their boundary. I want to know if the owner has to trim the hedge on their neighbours side.

Do I have to trim the hedge on my neighbour’s side? Can I ask my neighbour to trim the hedge themselves but only the bits that is in their boundary? What’s the common rule?

«1345

Comments

  • CSI_Yorkshire
    CSI_Yorkshire Posts: 1,792 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    They can, but don't have to.

    You can, but don't have to.

    Seems like a trivial thing to start an argument about by refusing and asking them to do it though.
  • ThisIsWeird
    ThisIsWeird Posts: 7,935 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 29 June 2023 at 12:44AM
    As CSI says.
    Bear in mind that if you set a precedent for doing this, it'll be more tricky to absolve yourself from the responsibility later on.
    Your neighbour has presumably asked you to do this through ignorance rather than a sense of entitlement, but who knows. (My neighb expected me to repaint his side of my fence when I replaced it recently as I'd offered to do this the first time around 15 years ago. And his visiting ex-wife asked me - quite tetchily - to hurry up with my fence replacement as her dawg was getting through to our garden, but hey).
    Your neighbour has a number of options, including hedge trimming his own side or putting up a fence on his side. Or falling out with you over this. Or accepting the rules and remaining friendly.
    You have similar options :smile:  I guess a possible one is to inform them of the facts, but to offer to do it 'this time' since as a friendly gesture.
    I had to tell my expectant neighb - when I replaced my fence recently - that I no longer had the luxury of time to paint his side, like I did the first time around. The fact that the guy has his grown up families living nearby who visit on a near daily basis, both much younger and more able than I, and who do now't to help him, added to my decision to say 'soz-non'. And also because it was clear that he asked through a sense of expectation. I did, however, put a hurry-on with my fence replacement as his ex-wife is well scary...
  • secla
    secla Posts: 360 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Depends if you want to get off on the wrong foot with your new neighbours for the sake of a few minutes work
  • Just tell your neighbour that they are welcome to trim anything that is overhanging their side. See how they respond. They might assume that only you can trim it as it is your hedge. 
  • cymruchris
    cymruchris Posts: 5,562 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Will you be trimming your side of the hedge from time to time? Will you be getting a fancy hedge trimmer? If so, you could say to them they're welcome to borrow your trimmer for a couple of hours whenever they feel it's intruding too much into their driveway. 

    Of course - if you trim it - you have control - if they trim it - they might make a right hash of it. 
  • Jonboy_1984
    Jonboy_1984 Posts: 1,233 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Get a cheap corded electric hedge-trimmer and it probably take an hour to trim and clean up the trimmings for the entire hedge (assuming it’s not a 100m long monster). It is far easier to do a little often, then leave it and fight it.

    Also be careful if it is coniferous as typically only the outer 6” is green and if it grows to long over footpaths or driveways, then you trim back the leaves won’t regrow and you will ultimately need to replace.

    Don’t let them start overhanging any public paths, as they quickly obstruct wheelchairs and pushchairs.
  • Is the hedge blocking sight lines for them driving off their drive?


    Bottom line though, if your hedge is causing your neighbours problems the polite thing to do is to sort it.
  • housebuyer143
    housebuyer143 Posts: 4,265 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    If would answer with "yes we do plan to cut it back but not sure exactly when yet, but they didn't want to wait for you they they are welcome to cut their side, otherwise you will happily do their side the same time you do yours".

    This way you are saying you will maintain your hedge but nicely letting them know they can cut it back if it's bothering them. 
  • mi-key
    mi-key Posts: 1,580 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Just go and do it, it is the nice neighbourly thing to do, and will take you less than an hour. Who knows what favours you may need from your neighbour in the future, so it is better to start off being friendly and a good neighbour
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 351.1K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.6K Spending & Discounts
  • 244.1K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 599.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177K Life & Family
  • 257.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.