hedges and neighbours

Helendupree1

Morning all hope you are all getting through this lockdown stuff.  

I have a large garden with a laurel hedge that surrounds the property.  I love the fact it is private.  The neighbour that is to the side of our property( I have a corn plot so have 4 people attached to the garden) has asked us to cut our hedges down to 2.5 metre.  These are in our garden and not on their land but obviously are part of the boundary area.  So we have a boundary but where they grow it hangs over their property.  They have seriously cut back out hedge thinning it and have asked us to drop the hedge to 2.5 metres.  Its our hedges and our land ….whats the rule 

B3

2.5 metres doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

Helendupree1

so there house is up high and over looks our house and the lady of the house loves her showers and we can see into their bathroom - it is gross"!

BenCotto

Your hedge, your land, your rules. There’s a fuller discussion here
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=408

That said, I think it is quite reasonable to ask you to cut it back to 2.5 metres. Unless your neighbours are over 8’ 6” tall you’ll still have privacy but the gardens will have more light and you will have a stock of goodwill if the time ever comes to ask a favour from them. Not compromising might lead to festering rancour on their part.

Posy

How tall is the hedge? Can you compromise?

GemmaJF

2.5 m is not unreasonable.

There is no 'law' when it comes to hedge height, however it is possible for a council to enforce on a hedge if it is more than 2 m height, if it impairs reasonable enjoyment.

So in all I would willingly comply with the neighbours request as they could take action, if they felt it necessary.

We have some laurel borders our property, growing on the neighbours side behind our fence. From my personal perspective, it's just a lot easier to maintain from our side if it is not too high.

Fairygirl

I thought the guidance was around 2 - 3metres for hedging anyway in the UK? It certainly is about 2 metres for fences, but any unreasonably high hedges can attract attention from local councils, and can become a problem if not addressed in a reasonable way. 
They are also perfectly within their rights to cut back anything overhanging their boundary. The regs state you should offer back the cuttings, but in reality, most people don't do that, which usually suits both parties.

Helendupree1

a compromise can be made but they already hacked into my hedge without asking me to obviously it has put my back up.  Rather than approaching me they just did it.  They also want a straight line.  what happened to hedge shaped hedges!!

Fairygirl

If the growth is own their side of the boundary, they don't need your permission to cut it back. 

GemmaJF

They have every right to cut anything that is overhanging their property. The only legal obligation is technically you still own the material cut, but as @Fairygirl has said, usually people assume the owner of the clippings will be happy that you dispose of them on their behalf. Law is a funny thing at times.

Posy

I'm sympathetic, but we all have to make allowances for other people's taste. Some like geometric hedges. In my neighbourhood, fairy lights and wind chimes are all the rage. It's the countryside, we have the sun and the moon and the stars for light. The birds sing, the wind whispers or roars, the leaves rustle. But we have fairy lights and wind chimes. That's what they want, apparently.