To build a fence and chop their hedge.

[Sportynotspice]

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.

They’re being the unreasonable ones, I would absolutely go for the fence in your situation and then plant a hedge on your side. Keep us posted on how the conversation goes!

Laurel hedges are not good for wildlife, so don't worry about that aspect. All hedges are definitely not equal.

Don't spend £200 to have a solicitor write a letter when you could just talk to them about the plan. I'd want a clean conscience that I was courteous by letting them know -- it's building work, after all.

I would check the boundary line carefully & who owns it.
Technically if hedge is planted on boundary & OP owns boundary then OP owns hedge... Would be a huge hassle to take down their hedges, although dug-up Laurel does transplant well.

Are you going for concrete bases or just wooden posts (fence)? Concrete is a better solution for permanent fence.

Portuguese Laurel? Common or Cherry? - i did not know there were so many types of Laurel. Most of the laurels are ugly, imho, but that's another discussion.

Our common Laurel hedge was large & a deadzone for wildlife. Similar to the neighbour's Leylandii hedge (which they appreciate for blocking north winds). The overgrown nettle patch in my garden is much more use to wildlife.

Our native hedge is mix of 5 or 6 species, dogrose, hawthorn, hazel etc, a self-set ornamental cherry. We have 2 self-set oaks for some reason. I am thinking to dig up the oaks & sell them, though, there's no room for big trees to be there in 50 yrs.

[quote Sportynotspice]@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.[/quote]
I didn’t mention a solicitor. My comment was for you to do it yourself. But a letter is a couple of hundred. Far less than a fence.

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?

Why on earth would we keep a half dead hedge that was getting too much for DH to manage? As I said, I wouldn't buy a property with a hedge as people are so bloody precious about them. I love seeing them in the countryside but I want as low maintenance garden as possible!

Put the fence up.

But I would tell them that you're doing it first, and how much of the hedge you will be removing. I'd also check the boundary line on your deeds... it costs around £3 on land registry to do so if you haven't got a copy. Showing them that may at least stop any arguing over it.

There’s a massive hedge in my garden that’s obviously been there years. In Winter it drops its leaves and I can see that the people behind us have put a wooden fence up on their side. No issue. I imagine it gets damp and pushed out a bit by the hedge as it grows though.

Definitely check who owns the boundary/hedge first and where the boundary actually runs.

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

I'm sure this is what is behind it. If they are garden "neat freaks" (I am too - not meant disparagingly) 5ft is a much better height to keep a hedge - once it starts getting above that it becomes a really difficult job to maintain. You're working with the hedge trimmers above your head/ shoulders which is hard work. Also, it will look really weird to have one "side" kept at say 5ft and then the other side (your side in effect) really long, and potentially not squared off just left to grow. As neat freaks no doubt they want the whole thing kept neat, square and a uniform height. BTW, I am not saying they are being reasonable, I'd hate my neighbours to be able to see into my garden too, OP.

Of course the fact that their hedge has encroached width ways into your garden isn't "their fault" as such - it's up to you or your predecessors to keep the sides trimmed so it doesn't get wider than you like. They can hardly come round and do that?!

NB If you do go for a fence, remember you'll only gain a foot as fences are not allowed to be more than 2m in back gardens. They might not even mind, as long as it looks tidy.

Don't get into this, Cut back what is over on your side and erect a fence if you want to.

Boundary disputes are awful...we had a neighbour who insisted she owned 6 inches of our garden all the way up the 120 foot length, we just let her have it, I couldn't be bothered to argue over such a tiny amount...but it grew until she was insisting it was a foot. Then she would object to anything we did in the garden even if it was nowhere near the boundary...you know like having sunflowers. She was a complete cow.

Be firm in the first instance, trust me!

Surely they’d rather look at a taller hedge than a foot of fence poking over the hedge?

I’d give them a chance to agree.

I’d also work out whose hedge it is. If it’s yours I’d be telling them not to cut it, beyond the part that grows over their boundary.

Sorry - also meant to say that maybe the reason they’re keeping the hedge lower than you’d like is because it’s easier to cut at that height? Mine needs professionals with ladders and planking and is a real pain (I can’t remove it as I rent the property).

Nt sure what your budget is, but could you plant some pleached trees on your side instead of a fence or a new hedge?

It will give you privacy and they cannot moan about it.

I would definitely talk to them first about your ultimatum simply because the hedge is much more pleasant to look at and so important environmentally etc.
If you keep cutting the hedge on our side we will cut it back to the boundary and install a fence. This isn’t our preferred option and the preferred option is that you stop cutting our portion of the hedge. The status quo is not acceptable to us, we aren’t the old owners.

@Bryonyshcmyony

I'd rather have a nosy neighbour than a fence

I'd rather have my privacy.

I'd put the highest fence I can and plant things in front of it.

Don't give up your land but tell them what your plan is and why, and suggest they leave it to grow 6 foot. If they refuse the fence goes up

The hedge bordering my garden is at the mercy of my ghastly neighbour. I’ve now planted a type of bamboo that grows 5m tall at strategic points to give us privacy.

They are going to hate it but after their behaviour I owe them no consideration

Privacy is so important, I'd hate to feel like I'm sharing my garden with next door. You're not having raves every night, you'll be putting up a fence on your side. Perfectly legal. Failing that, if everyone likes the green, plant some leylandii there, it grows very quick and very tall.

I don't mean to be rude but I wouldnt have bought the house purely because of this hedge. I know that sounds silly but hedges /fences /boundary problems can cause huge problems between neighbours.
My parents live in a semi and their hedge in the back garden sounds exactly the same. It's about 3 foot. I have always been absolutely hated it and feel so overlooked, and I'm sure their neighbours do too. But my parents love it and are horrified at the mention of a higher fence. I would only buy a house where my privacy is already guaranteed

Tell them you’re getting a dog so you need to make the garden secure with a 6foot fence as advised by the rescue (they always ask for 6 foot fencing). Easy.

Laurel is an invasive species, so I wouldn’t want it anywhere near my garden.

Fence and your own hedge if necessary is the way to go.

PS the RSPB advise that hedges aren’t cut til October due to nesting birds.

Be careful to find out who the hedge belongs to. On which side of the boundary is it actually planted. If it is planted on their side it is their property and you can only cut it back to the boundary - so only touch anything on your property and you can't damage it.
Or if it is planted on your side it is your property etc.

Either way, you can do what you like on your own land/property. So if it is their boundary, you can still put up a fence in your property (but not on the boundary).

We have the opposite problem. Our neighbours are responsible for one boundary. They have a knackered fence. We have a massive hedge planted on our property to hide their knackered fence and give us more privacy. The neighbours can't understand that only the fence is the boundary. They can only cut our hedge to the extent that it overhangs their property. They can't lower the height of it because it is planted on our property, not the boundary (fence) and so is not the actual legal boundary and so not their responsibility but ours.

btw the massive hedge was there before they moved in, it was not imposed on them after they chose to live there.

Establish who is responsible for the boundary and who the hedge belongs to so you know where you stand legally, then tell them about your plans for a fence. Be courteous so you don’t lose the moral high ground - I understand you like the hedge to look neat in your lovely garden, but we value our privacy so we would like something higher and easier to maintain from our side/we want to grow climbers up it/fence in our new puppy/whatever. Try to keep relations civil - metaphorically mending fences in acrimonious neighbour disputes can be much more costly and arduous than putting up an actual fence in your back garden.