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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to not trim my hedges - neighbour says they are too tall

38 replies

Otins · 13/08/2023 16:13

I rent out a house that I used to live in. It's been 10 years since I lived there and 17 years ago I had the garden totally landscaped and replaced the fence between me and my neighbour. The old fence was really low - around 4ft- and I wanted it to be 6ft. We compromised on 5ft with a trellis on the top - they agreed as long as the trellis was concave topped so it dipped down in the middle. I agreed by thinking shrubs etc would eventually grow taller anyway.

The shrubs planted along the fence line were young plants back then. They are now mature and taller than the fence.

The neighbour is now complaining to me that the shrubs are too tall. I have seen photos and they are taller than the fence, but not unreasonably so. They are neat and tidy. The agents carried out an inspection last week and noted that the garden is being kept in very good order by the tenants. They are retired tenants and they told me it was the garden that sold the property to them as they love gardening.

I don't have a measured height for the shrubs but I would say they may be over 6ft. I have had a look at the guidelines for nuisance hedges and being over 6ft is the first requirement if they were to launch an official complaint. (There are many other things they take into account such as proximity and angle to the house, etc but it has to be >6ft for it to even be considered.)

The tenants want the shrubs to be kept higher as they prefer the greater privacy that the taller shrubs give (it stops the slightly nosey neighbour looking over when they are in the garden)

The neighbour has previously complained about a silver birch tree putting their garden in the shade, and I did get that cut back as I agreed it was getting a bit big.

Am I being unreasonable to ignore them (at worst) or (at best) reply saying that I won't be getting the shrubs cut back as the tenants are keeping the garden in good order, and they have recently trimmed them to a height they are happy with. I have asked the tenants to contact me if the shrubs get unruly or to a height they can't maintain and I will then get a gardener in.

OP posts:
Quisquam · 13/08/2023 16:17

Hedges should only be trimmed between October and March anyway. It’s an offence to disturb nesting birds.

Changethenamey · 13/08/2023 16:17

You are under no obligation to trim them just because the neighbours don’t like them. it would be polite to keep them to a reasonable height (I say this as I have a neighbour who does NOT and it’s annoying) however it sounds as though they aren’t that bad. What exactly are the shrubs? Is there any risk of root damage to any of the neighbours property? Do they drop leaves all over neighbours garden? Or is it just the height they object to?

Original poster
Otins · 13/08/2023 16:17

PS The shrubs are a smoke tree, spirea, calicarpa, pittosporum - so we're not talking leylandii.

OP posts:
Original poster
Otins · 13/08/2023 16:22

@Quisquam Yes, I'm aware. If the inspection report had come back showing them as being unreasonably tall/unruly then I would have arranged a gardener, but advised the neighbours it couldn't happen til after nesting season anyway (and it would take that much lead time anyway in my experience of booking in gardeners)

OP posts:
MintJulia · 13/08/2023 16:23

If they are two metres or thereabouts, your neighbours haven't got a leg to stand on.

I'd reply, simply saying that 2m is in line with local authority guidance, and that your tenants are maintaining them at that height. That you will keep an eye on them and intervene if they get any taller but you will not be reducing the height.

maybebalancing · 13/08/2023 16:25

I wouldn't annoy good tenants to keep their nosey neighbors happy.
Unless we were talking a very tall hedge, which you don't seem to be.

Original poster
Otins · 13/08/2023 16:25

@Changethenamey When they complained about the silver birch tree, that complaint was primarily about leaves dropping. This time, they just mentioned the height. They consider them to be "overgrown considerably" and want them "cut back to the height of the fence"

OP posts:
GOODCAT · 13/08/2023 16:25

If over 2m get the hedge cut, if not be clear that you will get the tenants to cut back once it exceeds that.

LakieLady · 13/08/2023 16:25

That sounds like a lovely combination of plants, OP and I wouldn't want to give more than a gentle prune all the time they're healthy and not getting straggly.

FictionalCharacter · 13/08/2023 16:26

The tenants want the shrubs to be kept higher as they prefer the greater privacy that the taller shrubs give (it stops the slightly nosey neighbour looking over when they are in the garden)

So the neighbour wants the hedge kept lower so that they can be nosy. Nope!

ScribblingPixie · 13/08/2023 16:28

You don't need more privacy than a 5ft fence with a trellis on the top. Your neighbour doesn't want it trimmed in order to see into the garden, but to get more light and sun into their garden so they can enjoy it. YABU.

MzHz · 13/08/2023 16:28

As long as they aren’t a nuisance in being over 6feet tall there is no issue with them.

their nosiness doesn’t trump your/your tenants privacy or the law

if I were you I’d ignore. I was going to say write back, but it may only encourage them if you engage.

you know there’s nothing wrong, you know the tenants are happier with them at that height and that’s all that matters at this point in time.

let the tenants know perhaps and be clear that you won’t be engaging with the neighbours on this but to let you know if they need any help if the hedges do get too much and they need any help to trim them.

we had similar with our psychotic neighbour, they trim hedges every couple of weeks. We’ve told them there are nesting birds they couldn’t give a shit. The other week her gardener can round to ask us to trim the end of the hedge on our side. We said “if you agree to stop trimming hedges during nesting season” he said he wouldn’t because he only does as he’s told. So we told him no then, the hedges aren’t going to be cut until much later in the year

i fucking hate busy body neighbours!

HappiDaze · 13/08/2023 16:29

Just be a decent human being and trim them down as per your neighbours request

ZeldaWillTellYourFortune · 13/08/2023 16:31

ScribblingPixie · 13/08/2023 16:28

You don't need more privacy than a 5ft fence with a trellis on the top. Your neighbour doesn't want it trimmed in order to see into the garden, but to get more light and sun into their garden so they can enjoy it. YABU.

Nonsense. OP's shrubs sound perfectly reasonable. Neighbours can move if they want a sunnier garden.

xyz111 · 13/08/2023 16:32

What's the actual complaint? If they're too tall, what's the impact on them? My neighbours have bushes along our fence and they're really tall, but doesn't impact me apart from leaves falling into my garden, which I can deal with 😀

CharlotteStreetW1 · 13/08/2023 16:33

From the other side of the fence...

Our neighbour has two trees/shrubs that between them manage to cut out our last hour of sun at both ends of the garden. It makes me quite sad, especially as it means there's no sun now when I get home from work.

They've not always been this tall and she mentions sorting the garden but has done nothing.

It's difficult as we're quite good friends but she's not someone to get on the wrong side of, and this would as she can be quite touchy.

OP I don't know what your neighbour's reasons are but if it's that, then you might be a bit unreasonable.

ScribblingPixie · 13/08/2023 16:37

ZeldaWillTellYourFortune · 13/08/2023 16:31

Nonsense. OP's shrubs sound perfectly reasonable. Neighbours can move if they want a sunnier garden.

Show quote history

Well I'm probably jaundiced as I have a neighbour who put up a 6ft fence and also a tree right at the bottom of her garden so it hangs over into mine. I get pigeons shitting onto my lawn as they sit in the branches and the shade means my bee-friendly flowers are weak & unhappy. And as my garden faces north she's taken away my best sun patch for sitting in. I think she's fucking selfish but maybe I should just spend tens of thousands of pounds moving house instead.

Cloudsandrainnotsunandsand · 13/08/2023 16:37

Be careful they don't just have it cut. Our tree has a tpo on and neighbours had it cut anyway.. Utter bitch claimed she owned and I was just a tenant.. Council man said oh well it will grow.

Genevieva · 13/08/2023 16:41

Your tenants sound like a rare find. Most tenants don’t do gardening. I would do everything in my power to keep them. A herbaceous border are not subject to the high hedges act as shrubs are not hedges.

topnoddy · 13/08/2023 16:43

There is no legal height for garden hedges .
If they get it cut it's criminal damage to someone else's property .

AnSolas · 13/08/2023 16:47

YABU because you entered an agreement with your NDN that you never intended to keep.

You admit that from day 1 your plan was to grow the plants over the agreed boundry hight.

You neighbours can not do anything about it.

yodaforpresident · 13/08/2023 16:47

Tall hedges legislation only applies to evergreen or semi-evergreen hedges. Only your pittosporum is evergreen and even then you need to have at least two of them to constitute a hedge.

Blackbyrd · 13/08/2023 16:49

Don't start pandering to the neighbours unreasonable demands, or it will never end. What you've planted sounds lovely and your tenants are your priority

OsirisservesAnubis · 13/08/2023 16:51

I had no idea people got so petty about neighbours gardens! A 6ft hedge is hardly unreasonable on your part.

Jeschara · 13/08/2023 16:52

HappiDaze · 13/08/2023 16:29

Just be a decent human being and trim them down as per your neighbours request

What about the tenants rights. Does not seem like a problem to me.