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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To build a fence and chop their hedge.

190 replies

Sportynotspice · 11/08/2021 21:42

There's a laurel hedge between our garden and next doors and it's only 5 foot at its highest; the garden slopes towards the back so there are sections even shorter and we can see straight into next doors garden and theirs ours. We have asked them politely to allow us to grow the hedge up as we'd like more privacy but they have refused and continued to cut the hedge ever shorter. They have extra long hedge trimmers and cut our half as well because apparently the previous owners never kept it neat enough for their liking and never protested when they started taking over the trimming. We've been polite but very clear that we don't like the height and would like it to grow up an extra foot but they have once again cut it too short and cut our side. The hedge actually sits much more into our boundary than theirs so DH, who has reached his final straw after coming home to yet another few inches off the hedge tonight, has declared he's ordering fence panels this weekend, chopping the hedge back right to the boundary and putting up the fence. The hedge will look utterly rubbish on their side because of how little actually encroaches their side of the boundary so I said to DH maybe we should just build the fence from when the hedge finishes now but DH, rightly, points out that means we lose a foot of our garden because the hedge takes up so much space as it is. As we have tried to be reasonable with them, DH doesn't care about upsetting them by chopping back so much of the hedge.
We have only lived here 9 months and they have been here 20 years plus and their argument for not letting the hedge grow is this is how its always been and no one that's lived here before has ever had an issue with it. But this is our home now and I really don't think it's unreasonable to have a proper barrier between our garden and next doors!
I will go speak to them tomorrow to advise that this is what we are going to do but we're not asking permission, just informing as a courtesy. Are we being unreasonable? I don't think they've really left us much more choice.

OP posts:
Bryonyshcmyony · 12/08/2021 07:49

Why would you want an ugly fence, so YABU

WunWun · 12/08/2021 07:51

I wouldn't talk to them about it. Just do it. It's only going to cause an argument and if you've made your mind up anyway there's no point.

Iminaglasscaseofemotion · 12/08/2021 07:52

Agree, I wouldn't talk to them either, just do it.

30mph · 12/08/2021 07:52

Well you can't do anything drastic until after August anyway (www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/plants-for-wildlife/garden-hedges/hedge-law/) so, you might as well put some more effort into discussing further with your neighbours, and thinking some more about creative solutions that work better for you :-)

Why don't you do some more research? Perhaps you could plant some complimentary hedging alongside, or 'under plant' with something attractive. Or, put up some 6' trellis panels and put climbers up such as honeysuckle.

Bryonyshcmyony · 12/08/2021 07:53

Will it cut a lot of sun out of their garden? We have a huge hedge and if its not kept low it cuts a lot of sun out. Its fine on the other side (so your garden)

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 12/08/2021 07:55

I would never buy a property with a hedge again, they are a nightmare for neighbourly relations!

We had a manky old privet in the front garden and decided to get rid as it was getting hard for DH to manage. We replaced it with a 3' fence but our neighbours were upset as apparently people could now see into their house. It wasn't on the boundary line, there was a footpath between us and them and the hedge was on our side of the footpath!

Original poster
Sportynotspice · 12/08/2021 07:59

No, it won't affect the light in their garden. I honestly have no idea why they want it kept so low. Their garden is much neater than ours anyway; ours is perfectly fine but theirs is practically a show garden so why they want to be able to see into ours is beyond me. But no, it doesn't in anyway affect their light as the sun comes up from the bottom of the garden anyway.

OP posts:
AbsolutelyPatsy · 12/08/2021 07:59

surely hedges are better for wildlife?

Hoppyfrog · 12/08/2021 08:00

@PinkSparklyPussyCat

I would never buy a property with a hedge again, they are a nightmare for neighbourly relations!

We had a manky old privet in the front garden and decided to get rid as it was getting hard for DH to manage. We replaced it with a 3' fence but our neighbours were upset as apparently people could now see into their house. It wasn't on the boundary line, there was a footpath between us and them and the hedge was on our side of the footpath!

So the future is fences and never mind about the UK becoming more and more depleted of wildlife, or doing what we can to help climate change, reduce air pollution etc?
JustJustWhy · 12/08/2021 08:07

Keep us posted please. I have a stupid short fence on one side, the only one in the whole street. I haven't got round to putting bamboo or something on it yet but I will. I'm fed up of neighbours peering over it and I have no idea why they too don't want more privacy.

AbsolutelyPatsy · 12/08/2021 08:10

can you put up a metal chain fence and grow honey suckle and other climbers up it?

Bryonyshcmyony · 12/08/2021 08:11

I'd rather have a nosy neighbour than a fence

MakemeaCake · 12/08/2021 08:18

You can cut back any growth that is on your side of a boundary but legally you give the cuttings back to the owner.

It's not complicated.

LookItsMeAgain · 12/08/2021 08:19

@Bryonyshcmyony

Why would you want an ugly fence, so YABU
They don't.

They'd be happy if their neighbours left the hedge to grow to a fence height but the neighbours just wont do that so the next best thing to give the OP and her family the privacy they have asked their neighbours for is to get and install a fence.

@Sportynotspice - if you do get a fence, can you leave a little dip in the ground below one fence panel to allow wildlife to roam between the gardens (an underpass if you will)? :)

Caspianberg · 12/08/2021 08:21

Could you leave hedge and plant pleached trees on you side. They are narrow and provide height

30degreesandmeltinghere · 12/08/2021 08:21

Surely a short to the point letter from a solicitor? They are deliberately encroaching on your boundary and causing unwelcome damage to your hedge - -
At their own admission it is because they want to knowing it's against your wishes!!

TurquoiseBaubles · 12/08/2021 08:28

Tell them you are getting a German Shepherd puppy and need a secure boundary.

But check where the main trunks and roots of the hedge are first, as if they are actually on the boundary you have a problem. If they are your side, you can dig them up. If on theirs you can cut back to the boundary. But if on the boundary you have to check who "owns" that boundary before you touch them.

IsItWorthTheHassle · 12/08/2021 08:32

I would let them know.
But you are within your rights to cut any plant in your garden. If it’s ‘their plant’, as in the roots of the Laurel are on their side, then you should offer them all the cuttings.

1frenchfoodie · 12/08/2021 08:37

If it is 3/4 on your side it sounds as though it was planted your side of the boundary. If you are not bothered about claiming ownership then just cut as close to trunks as you can and install your fence. Portuguese laurel (assuming it is that) is tough as anything and they can continue to tend the mini hedge their side.

JustGotToKeepOnKeepingOn · 12/08/2021 08:41

Not sure why people are getting concerned about you putting up a fence, the hedge will still be there!

Definitely do it! I'll be putting in new higher fences as soon as I can due to new neighbours constantly staring into my home. It's awful not to feel you have any privacy.

Fleurty · 12/08/2021 08:44

Yanbu, we moved into a garden with 4ft fences and one of the first things our new neighbour said to us was that she hoped we didn't want a private garden because she likes being able to see what is going on and she wouldn't be raising her fence Hmm

We've added screens and planted a hedge on our side and she isn't happy about it, but we've done it all in out side so there's nothing she can do about it.

Mummyoflittledragon · 12/08/2021 08:46

@Sportynotspice

I'm in no way anti hedge and fully appreciate the importance of it for wildlife. But if they won't let us grow it up so we actually have some proper privacy what can we do? We would plant our own hedge (not laurel but something native more likely) in front of our fence but at least the fence would be there as a clear barrier and we wouldn't have to see them in their garden and feel overlooked in ours.
They are legally not allowed to cut any part of the hedge growing on your side. You just need to assert your legal rights as I said earlier.
Monestera · 12/08/2021 08:46

Are they a bit older? I.e. they might not be able to reach and manage a hedge that's high for them. Perhaps you could offer to maintain the hedge

I think this is a pretty astute point.

Original poster
Sportynotspice · 12/08/2021 08:49

@Mummyoflittledragon I'm sure by the time (and cost) it'll take to hired a solicitor to send them a letter to assert my legal rights, we could have just built the fence already.

OP posts:
Original poster
Sportynotspice · 12/08/2021 08:49

No, they're not older. They're older than us but not elderly by an stretch

OP posts: