Hedge trimming at property boundary

eltisley98

So we have a fence in a newly purchased property, which has overgrown hedge.

It was probably planted by the neighbour many years ago for privacy, but it has grown wildly into our garden -- I think it is about 50+ cm thick on my side of the fence and only about 10 cm on the other side (though I can barely see it through the fence). We have been considering some trimming. 

I know that I have the right to cut the leaves and branches on my side off, but need to ask the neighbour if they want to take them back. We haven't communicated with the neighbour yet, as the properties belong to different estates so we don't see each other often. Actually going from our front door to their front door involves travelling along a big circle of about 1 mile!

My questions are:

1. Is it okay to just informally knock at their door to ask, or should this be more formally through a letter with all my contact details, to avoid any dispute down the line? We actually met the neighbours once (before we bought this property) on the road who didn't seem very friendly.

2. If I cut all 50 cm of leaves and branches in my garden, would it cause damage to the plant? Not sure about this as we are not garden persons. What are our rights here and how to avoid causing damages and becoming liable?

Thanks.


P.S., according to our solicitor there is a stretch of land on the other side of our fence which belongs to the building company, who is the leaseholder of that land. I think originally there was also a fence that separated this intermediate stretch of land from the neighbour's garden, but apparently they have removed that fence so that now we are "back-on-back" neighbours. I am not sure if we should get in touch with the leaseholder, since technically the plant is on their land. 

FlorayG

An informal enquiry would be fine unless you think they are going to be deliberately difficult in which case yes, put it in writing and say "If I don't hear back from you I will assume you don't want the trimmings". 99.9% of people don't want them anyway.
As long as you are not cutting the main trunk you won't kill the plant by cutting off one side, however, depending on what plant it is (do you know?) it may not ever grow back, leaving you with unsightly bare trunk and branches on your side and huge gaps you will be able to see through

eltisley98

FlorayG said:

An informal enquiry would be fine unless you think they are going to be deliberately difficult in which case yes, put it in writing and say "If I don't hear back from you I will assume you don't want the trimmings". 99.9% of people don't want them anyway.
As long as you are not cutting the main trunk you won't kill the plant by cutting off one side, however, depending on what plant it is (do you know?) it may not ever grow back, leaving you with unsightly bare trunk and branches on your side and huge gaps you will be able to see through

Thanks. According to PlantNet it is Persian Ivy.

We are not sure if the neighbours will be deliberately difficult. There was only one encounter, which happened a while ago well before we bought this property. My wife and children are afraid of dogs, and the male neighbour has a big one. My wife and children ran away from the dog on the road, which clearly offended him. They had no oral communications. 

Anyway, we are not particularly concerned by any gaps or unsightly bare trunks and branches. We are going to add another layer of fence on our side anyway, since we don't like the current one (and don't want to remove it as it may belong to the building company). But if the neighbour planted the ivy to cover the gaps, then I think there is good reason that they are unhappy.

FlorayG

'Persian Ivy' is a climbing plant ( an ivy) so can't be the whole hedge - that's probably just ivy growing through the original plant
Can you post a picture with a close up?

eltisley98

FlorayG said:

'Persian Ivy' is a climbing plant ( an ivy) so can't be the whole hedge - that's probably just ivy growing through the original plant
Can you post a picture with a close up?

Hi FlorayG, these are some pictures. Thanks.

Newbie_John

Inform the neighbour about your plan and cut it all off. It won't affect the plant, they may get some dead branches that will soon be overgrown again.

Only issue with that is that it will remain bushy on their side, meaning it will soon come back.

youth_leader

This ivy is the food plant of the holly blue butterfly caterpillar, and wrens generally like to roost in it.  Can you leave some of it for wildlife? 

Desmond_Hume

Yeah. On the other side of the fence…

sheramber

If it is ivy you will not kill it by cutting back on your side. 

It has probably rooted into the fence for support. 

Keep_pedalling

No one plants an ive hedge, so it will have that state all on its own and does not belong to anyone. You don’t need your neighbours permission to cut it back on your side. 

Grumpy_chap

FlorayG said:

'Persian Ivy' is a climbing plant ( an ivy) so can't be the whole hedge - that's probably just ivy growing through the original plant
Can you post a picture with a close up?

Ivy can climb on itself and hence become quite thick - we had that.
The OP can cut that plant back hard.  It will grow back.

FWIW - I understand the OP does not need to offer the cuttings back to the neighbour - that was a rule that relates to fruits / crops really.