To tell my neighbour he's a fucking knobhead

[NobbyNeighbour]

So we have a bungalow at the back of us, always got on with the lady who lived there. We have a thick conifer hedge between us which is about 8ft tall. It's our hedge, dh cuts the height and our side. Occasionally she would ask us to cut her side and being nice I would send dh to do it even though technically it's her responsibility.

Her adult (in his 40s) son moved in and the word is in the village he's not nice but I never had anything to do with him. Then last year he came banging on our front door ranting at dd about the hedge. Told her "tell your parents they've got till 5pm tonight to decide what they're doing, either they cut my side of the hedge this weekend or I cut it and send them the bill". Really shouty. I didn't bother going round to discuss with him as I knew neither option would be occurring. It was a foot deep in snow so hardly hedge cutting weather and I'm not paying for something that's his responsibility. He's never been back and hasn't cut the hedge.

Then yesterday evening he lights a bonfire 2ft from our hedge. It's not the first big fire he's had on the boundary but this was the worst. Right on our side of the hedge we have a garden office. The flames were at least 9ft high, I could see them over the hedge. He's a cowboy builder and often has bonfires as he burns stuff from his work. Ash was raining down all over the garden. I was scared for the hedge and garden office, I could smell petrol so think he'd put petrol on it. There were little bangs and explosions so God knows what he was burning. I started shouting at him and he was laughing and shouting "you need to cut your hedge". I lost my shit at that point and called him a fucking knobhead and dialled 999. Fire brigade put the fire out. But apparently he felt I was overreacting. Stupid idiot has actually burnt the fascia board on his own garage!

I don't even think he's doing it to try and damage the hedge, I just think he's as thick as mince and doesn't give a shit. Apparently he's always threatening people in the village. I know he was mouthing off in the shop a bit ago threatening to burn some people out if he found who had objected to his planning permission.

So while I'm still mad as hell I'm also slightly nervous! I videoed quite a bit yesterday, not sure if I contacted the council whether they'd talk to him about the bonfires but guess I can't prove he's burning non domestic stuff?

Regardless of what you might do to help a neighbour cut their side in normal circumstances, this is not normal - he's behaving in a totally unacceptable way and therefore has forfeited his right to any consideration.

Why should the OP roll over and do what he wants? All that teaches him is that if bullies her enough, she will cave in

Fuck that

Total bullying idiot, sadly as you've found you can't reason with a prat like this!

Get yourself some excellent CCTV front and back of the house. Ring cameras are great. it will give you peace of mind, but if he ever does silly things you may need it x

I'm pretty sure from an environmental side as a builder he isn't allowed to burn waste from his customers property at his own abode.

Our EO told me this when I once reported a fire that was sending black smoke up and had the most awful smell to boot. They came our and issued the contractors with a warning.

As for the hedge he could have gone about it in a different way, as said he obviously believed as you'd done it on occasion that you'd continue, but normally a neighbour would just cut their side back to the boundary.

Definitely sounds a bit of an unhinged bully though.

That’s communal hedge and not a set of trees between one landowner and another. Different rules apply.

Yeah this man sounds like a knobhead, but as pps have said, it IS your responsibility to cut the other side of the hedge if it's your hedge. You said it is in your OP. So you're not doing the lady a favour by cutting the side that's in her garden. It's YOUR hedge.

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if Your feeling brave you could wait until he’s out and talk to his mum. She sounds more reasonable.

oh and I’m team hedge all the way. They are great for sound proofing, cover as well as fantastic habitats we are loosing.
we definitely need more

They were maintaining the lady’s side of the hedge until the rude son moved in! Why should they attempt to maintain the neighbours side of the hedge when being sworn at by the son? And how are they to do that when it’s a building site? They wouldn’t be safe!

It's Leylandii, the habitat value is about the same as a fence.

Saying nothing can give people like this the impression that they can walk all over you though. Sometimes it’s better to let them know you’re not a pushover

It is your hedge and therefore your responsibility to make sure it doesn't encroach on your neighbours property. He is in the wrong but so are you.

Is it a hedge instead of a fence? Or is the hedge on your land and they have their own fence? Looking at the picture it seems you gave a hedge separating gardens rather than a fence. Some houses/gardens were built this way. My relative has theirs instead of a fence and they maintain their own side and take it in turns to chop the top.

If you chopped down the hedge and removed it entirely would you then have free access to their garden? If that’s the case it would be more expensive for him to pay to install and potentially maintain a fence (painting it etc) assuming he wants a private garden.

Surely if the hedge is what contains your garden and their garden they should just maintain their side? Or install a fence on their boundary line - making all sides of the hedge your issue.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-hedges-complaining-to-the-council/high-hedges-complaining-to-the-council

Sorry for the slightly off-topic question, but do people who recklessly start a far too large bonfire close to buildings and are crazy enough to pour petrol on it not get billed by the fire brigade in the UK? I'm in a different country, and here, the neighbour would have to pay and probably not do it again.

OP, yes the neighbour is being a dickhead BUT if the roots of the hedge are on your side of the boundary it's your responsibility to cut the hedge back on the neighbour's side if it's encroaching on to their garden.

No they don’t! How could they? If the neighbour lived in a terrace, you would have to go through their house to even gain access!

OP’s DH has previously done a nice thing to cut the hedge for an older lady on her own. He does not have to continue now that a younger fitter man is living there.

Looks like it could be leylandii. They are unusual, most hedges grow towards pruning, leylandii grow away from pruning. So you trimming your side will encourage it to grow further into your neighbour's garden.

Our neighbours had such a hedge. We pruned it hard on our side back to the boundary. Over time it extended further into neighbour's garden. When they took it down they regained a third of their garden.

You all sound aggressive and horrible. Even the way youve titled this thread is horrible.

You all sound aggressive and horrible. Even the way youve titled this thread is horrible.

She is correct - it's on your property and it's intruding into your neighbour's, therefore it's your responsibility to cut the hedge and not hers. I have this ongoing situation with a current neighbour and frankly it's a massive pain that they haven't cut the damn hedge, it is MASSIVE and blocking light to my garden.

@HeySummerWhereAreYou
@Sartre

No. Under UK law it is NOT the OP's responsibility to cut the hedge on his side, unless it's causing danger or damage. But..........I agree with @Tessasanderson that I would maintain my garden in a way that it doesn't impose on others.

He is however, a total whack job

Yes I understand this too and you make a good point. Some people are just terrifying though and not afraid to use excessive violence.

Is it a boundary hedge? I. E is it there instead of a fence, or it it just on your side? BTW leylandii are a real pain as they grow fast and cause huge issues for neighbours. If it's that I wouldn't be happy with the hedge. If it's your hedge on your land but encroaching onto the neighbours I think I would be cross.
Secondly the bloke next door shouldn't be having bonfires in the back garden causing you issues.
So, you might both be at fault, but without knowing about the hedge it's difficult to say.

Can you not speak to his mum when he's out? Say you are happy to continue trimming her side (which is her responsibility btw) but you would appreciate not having her yob of a son coming round shouting abuse at your DD, and lighting fires which damage the hedge.

Although it is their responsibility to cut their side, it might be better to do it yourself. Our experience of 'kind' neighbours offering to do work on things that adjoin our two gardens have usually gone badly.

You can mention the bonfires to the council, they will probably just send him a leaflet with the current guidelines, but it may deter him.

Sorry you've got this oaf living next to you, it can be very stressful.

It’s a hedge instead of a fence. If we removed it his dogs would be in our garden and potentially on the main road.

It doesn't matter if the hedge is between you - if the hedge is on your boundaries, then it's your responsibility. If it impedes into your neighbour's land with how thick it's grown, then your neighbour is allowed (but not responsible) to cut that portion and give you the left-overs (if you want them), but again, it's not their responsibility.

It's obnoxious when people allow Leylandii and similar to grow into light-sucking monsters that then impair other people's enjoyment of their (usually) small gardens. Your case doesn't sound like that, so I think his response is unreasonable, as well as sounding unhinged. I can see why you were worried about your garden room. That sounds really stressful, so keep a diary and keep recording these incidents.

I'm just pointing out the above as making out like you're doing someone a favour by trimming down your own hedge, is not the best way to go about these conversations in future. It is true though that you were doing a neighbourly thing by keeping it down, as technically, I think you might be allowed to grow it far higher than 8 ft.