Are my neighbours being petty?

[Asyousayit]

I've lived in my house for 4 years and during that time I've had my children (2 girls) who can be loud and unruly but I've been considerate of neighbours as the neighbour on the other side is a lone elderly woman and we regularly communicate and get on well. We live in terraced houses, but lately they seem a bit pedantic. In the last few weeks we've done considerable garden work, chopping down a few trees and 1 was an apple tree on the boundary (but my side) of their new fence. They have never done this before, they have had their back garden done but it was 2 years ago and until we started garden work any unripe or spoiled apples weren't a problem. From this August any that fell in their garden they put in a bag and put on my doorstep... okay I might see a reason for that, but really a few spoiled apples? In the front garden they have also had a new fence on our side aswell (also 2 years ago) I have flowerbeds along their fence lines not of my choosing just was the previous tenants. However this year I planted nasturtiums in the flower beds and have still to this day maintained them. They had a few leaves creep under their fence and trimmed them (no problem to me) but they dumped the trimmings on my doorstep despite having a recycling bin for the council pick up which they don't use. Is that twattish or am I in the wrong?

This is good.

Haha, now this is definitely petty. 😂

Talk to them, even though they are being petty. The time I would ignore a neighbour is an anonymous note.

The key word there being ‘offer’, not ‘dump on neighbours doorstep’.

If your neighbour doesn’t want them back, you are obliged to dispose of them yourself.

No, you knock and tell them that whilst you appreciate them offering these items back, if you don’t agree then they are fly tipping. See where the convo goes from that opener 😉

Why are they sending you apples from a tree you already cut down? These apples would be weeks old by now and since you have cut down the tree, there's no risk of them having more apples fall in their yard. Very strange.

They’re likely wrongly interpreting the vegetation over the boundary thing and think they’re being helpful.

As an aside, I hope you and your neighbours like Nasturtiums - they spread and can be a nightmare to get rid of if planted into the ground.

It’s infuriating, isn’t it, when you have to keep correcting people posting incorrect information as fact. I’ve repeatedly tried to address the ‘throw the clippings over the fence’ vs ‘offer them back or dispose of them yourself’ but many posters are just too stupid to understand or bother to read what the actual law is before posting.

Fight fire with fire. I assume there are no garden creepers coming from their side that you could sellotape to their front door?

They are being ridiculous and petty and clearly trying to passively tell you off for reasons that are likely equally ridiculous. When do they leave things on the step? Ideally you want to fling the door open straight away with a cheery "oh hi! Is there anything I can help you with? What's this for?" Embarrass them into not doing it again!

This thread is reaching cancel the cheque levels kofta repetitiveness.

What is a cancel the cheque kofta? Sounds tasty.

Just tell them you have no issue at all with them chopping anything back that encroaches into their garden and you are happy for them to Chuck it all out withought having to let you know.

Haha kofta was a bizarre phone typo. Meant to say 'of'.

Petty. Mine does this too. I told her thanks but no thanks, I don’t need hedge cuttings thrown over the fence but she insists (wrongly) they belong to me and so I’m responsible for putting them in my garden bin. It really pisses me off, if you make a mess you clear it up, that’s just common courtesy. And dumping her garden waste in my garden is actually fly tipping it but what can you do if you don’t want a row with them?

I’m in a few gardening groups on fb and it’s surprising how many people think you are obligated to return hedge cuttings to your neighbour so perhaps she’s just unaware she’s behaving like a twat.

Are you sure they use their garden waste bin? In our area (Plymouth) we have to pay for our garden waste bins to be collected, and have to opt in for it

If they are old maybe they are worried of upsetting you if they don't pass the items back. Its what the law tells you to do.

I can understand why they might appear petty to you, but I can actually understand why they might find it frustrating. I have a low maintenance garden (not fully paved but plants that take care of themselves) my neighbour has a really invasive climbing plant that grows over my side of the fence and through the fence boards choking my rockery plants if we don’t maintain it.
I don’t like the look of it never mind the work. Their choice is impeding our choice. We get on well with the neighbours and whilst frustrating we do just cut it back and get rid of the clippings ourselves. Just because your neighbour has never done this before does not mean they don’t find it frustrating, they might be doing this to show you that despite the work you have done it’s still having an impact on their garden. Of course I agree that it would be better for them to speak to you,but in the absence of them raising it, you could. You ding gave to make a big thing, just bring up in conversation the changes you’ve made and ask why they are returning the clippings and that you don’t need them back. They will hopefully share why they are doing it and you can move forward.

Your neighbour is within the law to cut down anything that grows over the curtilage of your home into theirs as long as they return it to you.

You have no idea what previous problems they might have had. So measely to you might be to them as well bit not previous occupants

"What do I do with the prunings?
Once branches are cut off they should be offered back to the tree owner. If the owner doesn’t want them then you will be responsible for disposing of the prunings; you can’t simply throw them over the boundary into your neighbour’s garden!"

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/trees/the-law

I'd be delighted if nasturtiums crept through my fence. All I get from my neighbours is frigging bindweed.
They are twats,

Or ever unless it’s dead! We need to be planting trees, lots and lots of them! As a previous poster said they’re an important habitat for bugs and wildlife, older trees drink so much water and prevent flooding and soil erosion and they take in co2! We need them!

I'd ask them. You said you've communicated over the years so I'd start with that. I'd say how we've always been friendly and just wondering if theres a problem you can help with as they keep leaving bags of stuff on your doorstep? If anything you might embarrass them enough to stop. Also it might be the case where its just one of them secretly doing it and the other partner might be confused themselves. You don't know the situation so just ask and find out. At the end of the day, there's fences up, so you don't need to talk to them ever again if they're weird to you anyway.