Hedge Removal to Build Fence

Ratandfiddle

I arrived home 22June to find the owner of the property next door had totally destroyed our boundary hedge. He lets the property and is between tenants so he obviously decided to remove the hedge whilst the house is unoccupied, the tree trunks/main stems stand on his side of where we generally accept the boundary to be, but he didn't think to tell me of his plans in advance or give any warning. Now I find (through his workmen who are doing the work) that he plans to hire plant machinery to remove the hedge altogether roots and all and replace it with a fence. The hedge is very mature probably planted when the house was built 100 years ago, my patio and other features such as garden retaining walls, borders, shrubs I have planted etc come close to the base of the hedge (within a few inches). The roots of the hedge will lie underneath my patio etc  My worry is that he is likely to substantially damage my garden, and there's nothing in law I can do to stop it as his argument will be (as relayed to me by his brother) it's his hedge and he can do as he likes on his property. Any suggestions welcome on how to proceed so he gets his fence and I get to carry on enjoying my lovely garden.   

DE_612183

Personally I'd try and speak to him, as getting into an argument is not going to be worthwhile.

Can you get a phone number from the workmen?

If it does get nasty, I'd make sure you tell him ( via letter to him and hi workmen ) that under no circumstances is he to damage or come on your side of the boundary - get some CCTV camera installed to record everything that happens.

You could also of course put a fence up yourself a foot or so inside the boundary so he does not have to ever come near your side again - I know it would be a pain moving all the borders, but at least you can then enjoy your garden.

ArbitraryRandom

It's tricky because he is entitled to do what he wants with his hedge on his property... but he is not entitled to damage your property.

If I were you, I'd write a friendly letter expressing your 'concern' his hedge removal could damage your patio and ask if he's available discuss it. Then if there's a problem down the line you can show you were trying to be reasonable and that the problem was not unexpected/unforeseeable. 

Then get lots of pictures of the before/after  

35har1old

Ratandfiddle said:

I arrived home 22June to find the owner of the property next door had totally destroyed our boundary hedge. He lets the property and is between tenants so he obviously decided to remove the hedge whilst the house is unoccupied, the tree trunks/main stems stand on his side of where we generally accept the boundary to be, but he didn't think to tell me of his plans in advance or give any warning. Now I find (through his workmen who are doing the work) that he plans to hire plant machinery to remove the hedge altogether roots and all and replace it with a fence. The hedge is very mature probably planted when the house was built 100 years ago, my patio and other features such as garden retaining walls, borders, shrubs I have planted etc come close to the base of the hedge (within a few inches). The roots of the hedge will lie underneath my patio etc  My worry is that he is likely to substantially damage my garden, and there's nothing in law I can do to stop it as his argument will be (as relayed to me by his brother) it's his hedge and he can do as he likes on his property. Any suggestions welcome on how to proceed so he gets his fence and I get to carry on enjoying my lovely garden.   

Is there any evidence of the roots beneath the patio ie is there any uplift in the surface
If there is no uplift in the surface after a 100 years it would suggest that the hedge hasn't a very invasive root system
What type of hedge was it?

Dustyevsky

A digger will probably be used. In April, we used a large digger to remove a section of elm hedge next to a tarmacked lane. On our side, some roots travel the length of a bus underground, so we presumed they'd travelled under the lane too, to some extent.

No damage to the road occurred. Our digger driver is experienced and made sure roots were severed before lifting. Provided someone experienced with the right equipment does the work for your neighbour, your patio will be fine. If not, they will be in trouble, because you will have taken many clear photos prior to the hedge removal and noted the registration numbers of their vehicle.(s)

TLDR: You can't control this situation, but you may take steps to protect your interests, including what Arbitrary Random said.

Ratandfiddle

35har1old said:

Ratandfiddle said:

I arrived home 22June to find the owner of the property next door had totally destroyed our boundary hedge. He lets the property and is between tenants so he obviously decided to remove the hedge whilst the house is unoccupied, the tree trunks/main stems stand on his side of where we generally accept the boundary to be, but he didn't think to tell me of his plans in advance or give any warning. Now I find (through his workmen who are doing the work) that he plans to hire plant machinery to remove the hedge altogether roots and all and replace it with a fence. The hedge is very mature probably planted when the house was built 100 years ago, my patio and other features such as garden retaining walls, borders, shrubs I have planted etc come close to the base of the hedge (within a few inches). The roots of the hedge will lie underneath my patio etc  My worry is that he is likely to substantially damage my garden, and there's nothing in law I can do to stop it as his argument will be (as relayed to me by his brother) it's his hedge and he can do as he likes on his property. Any suggestions welcome on how to proceed so he gets his fence and I get to carry on enjoying my lovely garden.   

Is there any evidence of the roots beneath the patio ie is there any uplift in the surface
If there is no uplift in the surface after a 100 years it would suggest that the hedge hasn't a very invasive root system
What type of hedge was it?

Mixed, privet and holly mostly with wild rose, honeysuckle, sycamore, blackthorn and ash in there too. The patio is only probably around 30 years old, and only for the last 5m or so nearest the house. Hopefully he will get professional contractors to remove it, but based on previous form I'm not holding my breath. I have many pictures ! My hope is to collar workers when they do turn up and point out they have to be a bit careful on that section.  

Niv

Ratandfiddle said:

35har1old said:

Ratandfiddle said:

I arrived home 22June to find the owner of the property next door had totally destroyed our boundary hedge. He lets the property and is between tenants so he obviously decided to remove the hedge whilst the house is unoccupied, the tree trunks/main stems stand on his side of where we generally accept the boundary to be, but he didn't think to tell me of his plans in advance or give any warning. Now I find (through his workmen who are doing the work) that he plans to hire plant machinery to remove the hedge altogether roots and all and replace it with a fence. The hedge is very mature probably planted when the house was built 100 years ago, my patio and other features such as garden retaining walls, borders, shrubs I have planted etc come close to the base of the hedge (within a few inches). The roots of the hedge will lie underneath my patio etc  My worry is that he is likely to substantially damage my garden, and there's nothing in law I can do to stop it as his argument will be (as relayed to me by his brother) it's his hedge and he can do as he likes on his property. Any suggestions welcome on how to proceed so he gets his fence and I get to carry on enjoying my lovely garden.   

Is there any evidence of the roots beneath the patio ie is there any uplift in the surface
If there is no uplift in the surface after a 100 years it would suggest that the hedge hasn't a very invasive root system
What type of hedge was it?

Mixed, privet and holly mostly with wild rose, honeysuckle, sycamore, blackthorn and ash in there too. The patio is only probably around 30 years old, and only for the last 5m or so nearest the house. Hopefully he will get professional contractors to remove it, but based on previous form I'm not holding my breath. I have many pictures ! My hope is to collar workers when they do turn up and point out they have to be a bit careful on that section.  

If you have real concerns that the neighbour wont give full consideration to your patio I would be more involved than simply taking pictures and speaking to the workers - I would be severing those roots along the patio myself - any I can get to before they start I would do without delay (i.e. the first foot or so deep), deeper ones I would be in the garden when the workers are doing that section and 'help' them by severing the roots as they become evident. 

To my mind, its all well and good knowing your 'rights' and having evidence of the damage caused, but it can be a massive headache to get it rectified in the manner you would be happy with. Best approach is not to damage the patio in the first place.

Dustyevsky

Niv said:

Ratandfiddle said:

35har1old said:

Ratandfiddle said:

I arrived home 22June to find the owner of the property next door had totally destroyed our boundary hedge. He lets the property and is between tenants so he obviously decided to remove the hedge whilst the house is unoccupied, the tree trunks/main stems stand on his side of where we generally accept the boundary to be, but he didn't think to tell me of his plans in advance or give any warning. Now I find (through his workmen who are doing the work) that he plans to hire plant machinery to remove the hedge altogether roots and all and replace it with a fence. The hedge is very mature probably planted when the house was built 100 years ago, my patio and other features such as garden retaining walls, borders, shrubs I have planted etc come close to the base of the hedge (within a few inches). The roots of the hedge will lie underneath my patio etc  My worry is that he is likely to substantially damage my garden, and there's nothing in law I can do to stop it as his argument will be (as relayed to me by his brother) it's his hedge and he can do as he likes on his property. Any suggestions welcome on how to proceed so he gets his fence and I get to carry on enjoying my lovely garden.   

Is there any evidence of the roots beneath the patio ie is there any uplift in the surface
If there is no uplift in the surface after a 100 years it would suggest that the hedge hasn't a very invasive root system
What type of hedge was it?

Mixed, privet and holly mostly with wild rose, honeysuckle, sycamore, blackthorn and ash in there too. The patio is only probably around 30 years old, and only for the last 5m or so nearest the house. Hopefully he will get professional contractors to remove it, but based on previous form I'm not holding my breath. I have many pictures ! My hope is to collar workers when they do turn up and point out they have to be a bit careful on that section.  

To my mind, its all well and good knowing your 'rights' and having evidence of the damage caused, but it can be a massive headache to get it rectified in the manner you would be happy with. Best approach is not to damage the patio in the first place.

I think you might be forgetting the digger driver, whoever they are, also has the right not to have some untrained person interfering close to the bucket. Personal injury claims are potentially more expensive than patios!

twopenny

"Our digger driver is experienced " therein lies the point. It sounds as though this is unlikely - but if it's possible to speak to them they should know a bit about what they are doing.

I'd agree to notifying him in writing (keep a copy dated) even if it makes no visible difference it's back up.

Know for sure where your boundaries are.

I'd get photos of his side and yours as well. If the workmen see you so much the better. I did this when a neighbour put scaffolding on my roof without permission. I felt a bit of an idiot taking photos of them but there was a lot of muttering with the owner and they were darn careful after that.

I know your feeling as I had a bit of a do in two properties where neighbours thought they could do as they liked and I had to take a stand letting them know I had the knowledge - they didn't and they recognised that without saying as much.

Say only what is necessary to let them know that you understand their rights - and yours.

However miserable and worrying it is at the time things usually work out ok.

Ratandfiddle

Thanks all, the work is now complete and no damage done to my garden or patio. I made sure I was around the whole time just in case and spoke to the neighbour, though he didn't want to speak to me I made myself impossible to ignore and eventually we started the conversation and reached agreement on where the fence was to go how high it would be etc and he even agreed to let me plant climbing roses my side and pin them to it. I suspect he'll lose interest now, he actually lives elsewhere and lets out the house anyway. Once the tenants are in I don't expect he'll come round. I must admit rather grudgingly it looks nice and is a lot less work (for my son) to maintain.  

twopenny

Well done

Nice to know what happens and yes, sometimes things happen for the best.

Once it is full of climbing roses you'll get the benefit.

Just don't plant New Dawn. It was my only choice during the pandemic and it's a thug.

Do you have other roses in mind?

Perhaps that's another thread

I have a gorgeous one that blooms most of the year and is evergreen. Easy to prune and not too many thorns.