Someone has cut my hedge

[MeltingSugs]

I got home yesterday to find that half of my hedge has been cut

For context, the garden has needed a tremendous amount of work here. I do not proclaim to be a super gardener, but the hedge has improved a lot since we've been here with the right pruning - I am always out in the garden. This year, I have been letting the top of it grow up to even out the height ready for cutting in the autumn. To get home and find (half) of the top of it has been cut right back, and wonky, has made me quite cross.

Neighbour on the opposite side has no idea what's happened, neighbour on the side with the hedge is (so far) ignoring my text.

So as not to drip feed, the hedge is entirely on my land, it is not 'on the boundary' and therefore on my neighbour's land. The half that has been cut actually protrudes into my garden as it grew wonky, meaning my neighbour has some of my front garden. Prizes for guessing how long it's going to stay like that now!

Providing it is the neighbour, how do I be firm but fair in discussing this with them? I want to make it very clear that they are not to do anything on my property ever, but I don't want to fall out. This neighbour has told me that they felt out with the people who lived in our house before us. I think the friendship is definitely dented now though

Feels bad?

The cow.

My neighbour cut my hedge for me last weekend. He offered and did a beautiful job. If I can just keep it the same shape he cut it back to, I'm gonna do well. Shall I send him round?

TBH, the hedge would be bad enough for me, but the fact that she disturbed baby birds would be the kicker and I would have been through the front door without her opening it.

Here's a CCTV still showing how tall my hedge was. Yellow was full height and red is where the top of it now is.

Bloody hell, she seems upset that she has committed criminal damage and you might do something about that. Plus the baby birds.

As someone told me, its better to ask for forgiveness, than ask for permission....I think this is what she did

And like I say I don't claim to be an amazing gardener. I was going to take some off the height in the autumn, but I would have left it a good 10-12 inches higher than it currently stands.

Funny she's text now but ignored your messages before going round

Wow! Get a quote from a qualified gardener and get them to pay for it to be rectified... either they pay or you will involve the police....It’s a no brainer!

I would call the non emergency police number and ask to log it as criminal damage. I think I would be very annoyed but get over the wonkiness but those poor baby birds won’t all survive.

I assume that she has had a viewing window cut to sell her house. The problem now is new buyers will be expecting that height/view too.

We have interesting neighbours who cut a viewing window and then complained they didn't like seeing farming machinery on our side

@Bluntness100
It would make no difference to her as where it is she can't actually see it, it's our light that's impacted, but I asked, I offered to pay and she said no. I simply have to live with that.

I probably wouldn't do it, but I'd be very tempted to get weedkiller and kill the whole hedge. Unless birds nested in it.

OMG I'd be FUCKING FUMING!!! What a cheek. I'm sorry but stress doesn't excuse anyone from being a total arsehole. What was she thinking??? So upsetting. I hope your neighbour never, ever does that again, and that karma bites randomer on the arse very very hard.

Well they are CLEARLY in the wrong, AND you have video proof! I'd not be too concerned about setting them straight. If you do not want to cause hard feelings, then just say what's done is done, but don't ever do anything on my property again without the decency of asking permission. They should respond with groveling apologies. If you don't care about hard feelings, then I'd say you're well within your rights to tell them off properly. I can't even figure out why they'd do it? It's not a good job, you don't have poor neighbor relations.....people baffle me sometimes.

OMG OP! Just catching up. Actually, with the evidence you have I would pit a call in to 101 and log it as trespass and criminal damage. I was advised to do the same and a PCOS/community PC had a word with my neighbour on their rounds. It needed saying as shes a CF who without a proper warning world have probably been in my garden again.

I left it that she is not to come on my property ever, not even to knock on my door, let alone touch my hedge. She is to text me if she needs to talk to me about something but still, she must stay off my property. I did say that I don't want to fall out, but this has upset me and I need time to try and get over it. She offered to buy me some shrubs and I said no, probably going to get rid of the hedge now because I can't bear to grow it up for another two years when some CFer will probably hack it down again.

I'm clearly in the wrong because everyone else is equally aggrieved but this seems like a bit of an overreaction to me? It's a hedge, it'll grow, she's not going to do it again and I don't see why it's so emotionally traumatising? Totally understand you being pissed off and having it out with her but to say she can't even knock on your door, you need time to get over it and you're going to take the whole hedge down... I don't mean it unkindly but sometimes I think MN gets people into a bit of a froth about CF neighbour threads and ultimately it's maybe not that helpful to the poster who has to live next door to said neighbour long term.

What were they thinking! There really are some assholes out there.

Also, this.

RSPB advice is also to log it with 101

I’d be careful with that cctv footage you have. The owner of it shouldn’t be freely showing you it and it shouldn’t be covering your garden without your express prior permission either.

I get that your mad op but frankly if she’s looking to sell I’d leave it because lodging a complaint may mean she can’t sell and you will be stuck with her and will affect you selling in the future.

i can give you perspective from a policing point of view.

for me, this is criminal damage. and you have cctv proof. i would ring 101 and get it crimed as such - an officer will then come see you (might take a few days) you can show them the boundary photos and the cctv.

i would be looking for restorative justice - ie - the person who cut the hedge pays for a professional gardener to come and tidy it and make it as neat as possible.

pm me if you want any advice. (im a neighbour hoods police officer used to dealing with neighbour disputes)

@peachgreen I haven't said I'm cutting the whole thing down.

As I said in my very first post, the boundary is currently wonky and in order to straighten that a good chunk of hedge is going to have to go. I've grown this hedge up and out for two years, I'm not happy losing part of my front garden but wasn't that bothered because I was tying to grow the hedge up and neighbour and I were pals. Now the hedge has been set back and neighbour has pissed me off, I'd rather sort the boundary out, and I don't care if that annoys her now because it's mine anyway.

She told me when I moved in that she didn't like my hedge because the roots look ugly and bare on her side. I spent half a day this summer lugging soil round to cover up the roots so it looked nicer for her and she was really grateful for it (and I asked if she would like me to before I did it, despite the fact I was actually putting soil on my own roots on my own land).

It's a hedge, it'll grow,

Do you know how long it takes for a hedge to grow? Did you read about the birds nests? Judging from the bird feeding table on OP's garden she cares about them.

Why should anyone come into your garden and hack away on things you've nurtured? Would you be happy with?

Also, it seems that the cow neighbour is selling her house anyway. Maybe she wanted the hedge cut so her garden seems bigger, lighter, whatever. She did it for her own benefit but OP should just accept it?

Yeah.

Please don’t take down the hedge, birds return to the same place to nest each year. Leave it and let it grow. Trim large shapes into the top of it to piss her off.

I reported my neighbour for disturbing the birds but don’t think anything came of it.

It's not even that they've just cut your hedge.... they've done a truly terrible job and now you have to live looking at it! Hedges take age to grow.

If the pcso advise is you could get restorative compensation I would consider it. A professional gardener may be able to sort it out so it at least looks better and then give advise on how to tend it so it grows the way you want....?

Agree with Funghi.

I have birds nesting in the same places year after year.