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Afternoon. My wife and I are looking to renovate the back garden of our new house so have got some guys round to quote for works. One of the jobs involves trimming back branches of conifers which overhang a shed and patio on our side. The conifers belong to neighbours behind us.
However, a tree surgeon has just been round and said it's a massive job as the trees have not been looked after previously and whilst we are fully entitled to cut the branches back to our border, such drastic action is required that it may kill the tree.
My question is: if we exercise our legal right to cut back our neighbour's tree to our border but it results in its death, are we liable for damages?
If we are, it seems that we're in a catch 22: exercise a legal right but risk liability for killing a tree; or leave it and risk further damage to our property as the tree continues to grow unabated.
Anyone got any advice???
Talk to the neighbours? They may be sick of the trees too?
Sorry, yeah I meant to say that we intend to go see the neighbour's this weekend after we get another quote but we're just keen to understand our position before we have that discussion.
If they want the trees gone then there's no issue.
following
Conifers, neighbours. urgh.
I have a similar situation going on.... Neighbour behind us has a hedge/row of trees, mainly made up of elderflower and hazel, which is around 20ft tall. It totally blocks all light to our garden and a lot to the house. We are going to talk to the neighbour about her reducing the height (its never been maintained in any way) but suspect she will refuse as she thinks she is saving the environment but not touching it.
At the very least I am going to cut back to the boundary, but there will be a massive amount of material to dispose of. I cannot chuck it over the hedge (as its 20ft tall) so how do I get give it back to her? Its a good £300 skip full and I`m damned if I am paying to dispose of her uncontrolled trees! If I need a tree surgeon to get the very high bits can I make her pay for it?
Bonfire?
I had the same problem.
Went round to neighbour, he agreed tree was out of control and needed to go.
We got a tree surgeon to quote, £300!
Neighbour said they couldn't afford it.
I paid, tree gone, problem solved end of.
I cannot chuck it over the hedge (as its 20ft tall) so how do I get give it back to her?
Legally, you have to return the cuttings to the neighbour, as it is her property.
I think.
If not, one of those garden incinerators will do the job?
I'm pretty sure thats a total myth and you just bin it.
It is easier just to return as means you don't have to burn or have the j=hassle of taking to tip
Sorry what i meanti think you might actually be on the wrong side by chucking it over.
I'd just bin it to save grief unless tensions were already high then i'd bring a chipper in and direct it through the hedge 😂
If not, one of those garden incinerators will do the job?
It's amazing how much you can dispose of on a fire if you can dry it out for a few weeks or months.
If it's green, it's a tip or skip job.
legally you have to offer what you cut to your neighbour. This is to prevent you gaining from it.
You cant just throw it into their garden.
I think chatting to them is the key
Wot, no clematis jokes ?
😟
Wasn't there somebody else on here a while ago - with exactly this issue, but from the other side of the literal fence? ie: neighbor had killed their hedge by trimming right back without letting them know?
I would say that if you engage with them from the start and be reasonable, they can't really complain if THEY let it get to the point where you are trimming their hedge "unsympathetically":
Opening position: have you ever looked into having your hedges trimmed?
Escalation 1: I'm happy to arrange it for you, but I've been told it will cost X
Escalation 2: I understand that you're not willing to pay to have them trimmed, do you have any objection to me doing it myself?
Escalation 3: Ok, I'm going to trim your hedges on Saturday, I'm just going to cut the branches back to the fence line - is that ok? Where would you like me to leave the cuttings for you?
I think if they refuse to get it done professionally, and you tell them what you are going to do before you do it - they really have no recourse at all.
All very sensible suggestions so thanks. Ill try to find that thread from the person whose neighbour killed their hedge.
We've had 2 quotes now, from £400 up to £1600!!!! I think we'll be getting a third...
Why do they think it will kill the tree? I'm pretty sure (having studied horticulture in my youth) that this would not happen if done properly.
We have a similar situation, our neighbour has a large (twice height of house) ash tree which has 4 large trunks coming from the base (so like 4 trees) and then a row of leylandii which are also taller than our house behind that, both overhang our garden and are only 15m away from the house.
We've already had 2 ash trees cut back at our cost (neighbour refused to contribute, they don't see the issue as the trees are at the bottom of their long garden. They said that they put the leylandii in because the previous owner of our house used to spy on their daughter sunbathing in the garden!
We're sick of the trees and have decided to pay the full costs to have the remaining ash trunks removed this winter(it's a scrub tree and self-seeds all over our garden). Will then notify the council of the Leylandii which is against the high hedge act, the only problem is that we have to pay several; hundred for them to investigate it! Nothing against trees but when they are so close to our house and overshadow our small back garden it's not on.
^^^ Because, as the OP said, it's pretty severe cutting back that is required which can cause irretrievable damage. It may not, but I am sure the tree surgeon is just covering themselves by telling them it could.
What percentage of the total tree are we talking about removing here? 25% or less and think it would not harm the tree. It wont grow back on the side you are cutting and might look terrible, but I doubt it will kill the entire tree.
Been through this but from the other side of the hedge, so to speak. Neighbour drastically cutting back on his side, leaving gaping holes in a nice beech hedge. A bit of discussion, and we will will be reducing the height in the autumn.
As for 'Chucking the cutting back over' You just have to offer them to you neighbour, ie, if you cut them off you might have to deal with disposal.
Search 'high hedges' on gov.uk website. Plenty of useful stuff there.
As for amount to be lopped off, it's probably about 3/5ths of the total width of the tree. They've clearly kept it trimmed on their side but not bothered with the rear. As such it extends over our property, including 2 wooden sheds, by about 12 feet. So yeah, it'll be a sizeable amount to take it back to our border.
It also turns out that a fence we though was ours is actually theirs. It's rotten through and leaning against our shed to stay upright. A quick check of the deeds and it's definitely their responsibility to maintain.
I'll be popping round this weekend with the good news so hopefully they won't be knobs about it. If they are, I've got no issues in getting the council investigate and / or small claims court, especially if the works required creep into the thousands of pounds.
hopefully they won’t be knobs about it
@greybeard: thanks for that, I'd not seen that website but it's got plenty of useful info.
Moved in to my house and seriously trimmed my leylandi tree, topped off the top couple of feet and trimed each branch to a 10" stub, all apart from two branches which go over the fence. 10 years on the tree is still alive with green needles on the two remaining branches, they are almost indestructible.
They’ve clearly kept it trimmed on their side but not bothered with the rear
It doesn't sound that accessible from their property? If you have hedges and trees bordering neighbours gardens do you go round to their side to cut them when you do your side? Surely the done thing is to maintain what is on your side whether or not it originates in your garden?
That would seem reasonable but when my parents get their trees cut they get the tree surgeon to go round to the neighbours to get it done from their side too, or at least offer.
Irrespective, from the little I've read, it is the responsibility of the owner of the tree to ensure that it does not become a nuisance to others and that includes being responsible for keeping it trimmed on all sides and not too tall.
The previous occupants of our house clearly never addressed the issue and whilst they are partly responsible for the oversight, I have no legitimate claim against them. Personally, I would have no issues doing it myself but the extent of the work makes it prohibitively complicated and more to the point, damn expensive. In addition, we have no side access at our house so all cuttings would have to come through the kitchen. But it's just been completely refitted a few months ago so I'm really reluctant to take risks I don't have to!
I don't think there's any legal requirement for your neighbour to look after your side especially if there is no access. My mum recently went halves with a neighbour though to keep relations good when he wanted her conifer hedge cut right back so none came over to his side even though it is miles from the house and doesn't cause much shade on his huge garden.
Let us know how it goes when you've chatted to the neighbours though. As a gardener myself I see so many disputes.
Like I said, my understanding is just based on a bit of reading. However, that link that greybeard posted above does contain the following:
"You don’t normally need permission to plant a hedge in your garden. And there are no laws that say how high you can grow your hedge. But you are responsible for looking after any hedge on your property and for making sure it’s not a nuisance to anyone else. You can help prevent a hedge on your property from becoming a nuisance by trimming the hedge regularly, both its top and all sides."
To me, that suggests that if we deem it to be a nuisance, they are responsible for doing something about it.
As for talking to the neighbour, they were out today so nothing was achieved. However, talking to the lady next door to us about the hedges, she said that they have been arses about in the past and flat out refuse to let anyone touch them. On the flip side, the lady has offered to remove a fence panel to give the tree surgeon access to our back garden without going through our kitchen. How nice is that?!
Legally you have the right to trim back vegetation to your property under common-law. However you only have that right if the work does not result in 'harm' If you cause 'harm' you can be held liable for correcting/replacing/damages. Also this right does not allow you to reduce the height.
What harm actually is remains relatively undefined and has not, as far as I'm aware, been tested in law. However if you remove a significant amount of vegetation and kill the hedge you could be held liable.
Material must be offered back to your neighbour, if they don't wish to deal with it it becomes your responsibility to dispose of it.
If your neighbour does not play ball, you may want to look at the High Hedges Act, both England and Scotland have a version. It will probably work out much cheaper than having the work done and as a High Hedge Notice requires preventative work in the future you can be sure that the problem won't repeat itself.