To be pissed off that my neighbour has cut his road side hedge so short - I have no privacy

[bagpuss90]

So my neighbours hedge runs adjacent to the pavement , and my garden runs adjacent to his. He has had the road/pavement side hedge cut so short to like 4 foot , so everyone walking past can see into my garden . It’s my happy place and I feel robbed . I was out there this afternoon and it felt like everyone who walked past looked in my garden - I think it’s a natural reaction , I don’t take it personally! I have the grand kids out there in a paddling pool sometimes and don’t feel 100% happy doing that now. Also I’ve spent quite a lot on garden furniture and stuff this year - so I’m not happy with the security aspect either . I’m going to have to raise the fence between mine and his . I just don’t get why anyone would do that , as obviously he has no privacy now either. We do get on and I’m not going to fall out with him about it. But I’m still pissed off

He can do what he wants with his own hedge, that’s the point people are making. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand it.

Just sort your own fence. No need to keep ruminating.

Do people really sit in roadside front gardens?

Is this a back garden?

Be careful, if not your fence you'll need neighbour's permission to affix lattice to it.

Talk to him. Ask him if he plans on putting anything behind the hedge to make up for the loss of height. If he says yes, you're laughing, if he says no, then tell him you plan to put trellis/fence up on your side because you feel your garden is now too visible from the pavement.

TALK FIRST.

It’s a back garden

Goodness me! I crease the height of the fence. 2 m needs no planning permission. His roadside hedge is the other side of his garden!

Your privacy is your responsibility. It doesn't fall to him, or his hedge, to provide it & it's ridiculous to think otherwise.

I love the fact you have put a person in your diagram.
But YABU

Besides the fact that I love a thread with a diagram, you sound utterly batshit. 🤷‍♀️
You're pissed off that your neighbour cut his front hedge when there's two gardens and a fence between you?
Very unhinged. I mean, you say you're pissed off about it? 🤦‍♀️

In my street yes, for those unfortunates opposite me whose back garden faces north and front garden faces south.

It would have pissed me off too because what sort of shit box cuts a hedge so severely during bird nesting season?

His hedge is irrelevant! It’s the fence between your garden and his that needs to be higher!

@bagpuss90 sorry but I fail to see how him cutting his hedge to 4 feet means that you have left with no privacy.????

I think the weird bit is that the fence between your gardens is only 4ft. Isn't 6ft more typical in a back garden? Ive only seen low fences in front gardens.

Where do the houses sit if these are back gardens?

OP, all he has done is to make his hedge a legal height. Any hedge (or fence) bordering a road shouldn't exceed 1 metre. Some councils don't bother to make an issue of it, unless it obstructs the view of traffic (say round a corner) but some have spells of enforcing this and some will act if a member of the public makes a complaint. It might be that he has been asked to do this. You are lucky that you have a way to fix your problem easily; he doesn't.

So make your 4ft fence into 6f or 5ft with trellis

thanks for pic

we LOVE A DIAGRAM

Can't quite make out from the diagram what kind of hedge it is😉. Some hedges might need a severe cutback once in a while to improve their vigour.

It isn't bird nesting season, @Vintagefair

Not sure why people are finding the layout so difficult to understand.

The houses could be either on the left or right of the diagram, it doesn't matter. The road / pavement is not the road the houses front on to, it is a side road that runs parallel with the houses and gardens.

Similarly, I am baffled that the OP can't understand why anyone would prefer a lower / smaller hedge. I mean, easier and less maintenance would seem a pretty obvious place to start.

However, I agree with pp, you are completely batshit to complain about a neighbour cutting their own hedge, on the opposite side of their garden from you.
If this isn't a wind up, then yes, YABVVVU.

My favourite bit is the person you’ve added on the pavement. Please kindly expand diagram to include both houses.

Depends on the hedge, maybe. I've had my hedge 25 years and never seen a single bird nesting in it.

Yes. We have west-facing front gardens. It's a quiet street.
.

It would be nice also to include your neighbour in his garden, being blandly uncaring about lack of privacy, and you in your garden, tense and inhibited by the public gaze. Also please the paddling pool.

Depends if it blocks any view for cars on the roads