How to handle neighbours opinion on my garden

[Turnipinatutu]

We have a lovely, large new garden, which is pretty much a blank canvas and we can't wait to get out there!

The problem we have, is the neighbour.....she is very nice and friendly, but doesn't want us to cut down any trees or hedges along her boundary.
The garden needs totally re fencing, as we have animals. Ourselves and both neighbours also have dogs.

We would like to fence the top half of the garden, near the house, with normal panels and stock fence the rest, which is vast. Then grow a natural mixed hedge.
This she is happy with, but she doesn't want us to remove any existing hedges, that include lleylandi (which we can't stand) She'd like us to push the fence up against the hedges and leave them.

I know we're entitled to do as we wish with our own boundary, but I don't want to cause a big battle with an otherwise pleasant neighbour.
I also feel very strongly that we should start as we mean to go on and establish our boundaries....

Don't really know what I'm asking, but it's really playing on my mind and not sure how to handle her.

[OddFodd]

Oh yes I'd definitely include hawthorn and spindle. I'd just fork well rotted horse manure into the trench when you're planting to give everything a good head start. And then you just need to keep them well-watered to get them established and they should romp away.

[Turnipinatutu]

Are the thorns a problem when trimming? I do love dog rose....
I was thinking about a mixture of blackthorn, hawthorn, field maple, dog rose and hazel....

1ft a year would be fab. It would only need to be around 4ft max and I'd plant fairly close together, so it thickens up quickly.

[Turnipinatutu]

Must look up spindle.....

[mistlethrush]

Lovely very distinctive berries.

[Nocomet]

I'd kill next door if they took down the leylandi, but they wouldn't it, it hides all their scrap cars

Honestly, why rip out a functioning hedge and spend time money and effort on a new one. You'll only get a better view of your neighbour looking pissed off until it grows.

[OddFodd]

The Latin name is Euonymus europaeus. When I was at hort college, we called it the Christian Lacroix bush because the berries are bright pink and orange. Really gorgeous (and birds love them too).

[Nocomet]

Seriously native hedges may be pretty, but they take years and years to grow and then some plants die and the replacements take years to grow.

If it's very wet or very cold the new plants will sulk. Only 1/2 the farmers new hawthorn survived the very cold winter and his repair job is very sparse.

[Greenrememberedhills]

I hate leylandii. If it is yours then cut it down. I worked hard in the past to appeal to one particular neighbour but it was a waste of time. She had an opinion in everything I planted and got rid of in my own garden, and finally even got the landscaper to plant a tiny tree away from the agreed spot whilst I was out. ( a sorbus cashmiriana, which takes 20 years to grow a metre). Appeasing people like that never works- you'll fall our eventually.

Also, if you plant a fence in from of the leylandii, the latter will knock it down fairly soon, as it grows.

[Turnipinatutu]

"Why rip out a functioning hedge?"

Because the fence needs replacing...nothing to stop my ducks escaping or the neighbours dog from eating them.....and the hedge looks crap.

This part of the garden is well away from the houses so the hedge won't have to be tall. It isn't that tall at the moment....yet!

[stayathomegardener]

Just ask for larger plants when ordering your hedge,usually the whips are only a foot high but you could specifiy 3 or 4" plants.
And do get planning BEFORE you take the hedge out

[stayathomegardener]

3 or 4 feet not inches!

[funnyperson]

i think your idea is fine! Agree your boundary first before putting up your fence. Soak your bare root hedging plants in water for 24 hours before planting and plant in genreous holes filled with compost to give them a good start. There are you tube videos on planting hedges.
I just bought edible hedging plants from wriggley wriggers for my mum's hedge gaps
www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/native-plants/native-hedging.html

[gobbin]

We put in dog rose and weigela for colour, flowers and fruiting colour. Beech and hornbeam for autumn/winter colour, blackthorn for spring flowers and sloes for sloe gin later in the year, hazel for winter catkins. It was planned carefully and in conjunction with our neighbour, seeing as she's going to have to trim her side of it in time.

We didn't use hawthorn simply because our neighbour has a hawthorn hedge all around the front of her property so we see enough of that. We also have a naturalised holly tree that was a weed allowed to grow and it's now a handsome well-shaped tree of about 10ft. It has been incorporated into the hedge line.

Our hedge was planted in early Feb in the midst of all the crappy wet weather with only the bare bones of soil prep and we were worried about losing the plants. The beauty of using (mostly) native plants is that they will survive pretty much anywhere and they've all started sprouting yay!
Chuck em in and leave em.

Hedges Direct were also very helpful in planning and suggesting ideas when I rang them for advice. Couldn't fault them for service, quick delivery and quality of plants.

[Turnipinatutu]

Thanks Gobbin. That combination sounds perfect.

We now have an added problem though....we've found out that the boundary is 3ft out in our favour! That's a lot of garden!

Not sure what to do really, but I think it's looking inevitable that the neighbour is going to end up hating us......

[mercibucket]

oh well at least no arguments over whose hedge it is

maybe post in legal about the boundary though

[MrsCosmopilite]

Just being nosy about hedges as we'll be moving soon. Our new house has a big bulky conifer in the back garden which is taking up lots of space. Lots of ideas here!

[gobbin]

MrsCosmopilite I was as overjoyed as a very overjoyed thing when our back neighbour firstly cut the height of his conifers 16 years ago from 20ft to 8ft and then ecstatic when he took it out last year. I suspect your neighbours may feel the same! He had to get a person with a mini-digger in to take all the roots out but it was all gone in two days (27ft of hedge).

[bumperella]

A grumpy neighbour is worse to live with than a less-than ideal hedge; even if she has "no rights" over your garden I can see why she'd like a say in the backdrop to her garden.

I'd say it was getting a bit late to put in bare-root plants now as it's been such a mild winter buds will be beginning to break already.

So phase in the changes - tell your neighbour about the boundary issue, and then say to her that you'll put stock fencing in along the true boundary (therefore leaving the laylandii on your side).
This will give her a view in to the base of the hedge where the grass-snakes sun-bathe. You can then figure out how to add appropriate spots for the grass-snakes - eg slates or dark-coloured stones that'll heat up nicely in the sun, with nearby cover, over the summer. Suggest to her where she can put these (!) on her side - if it would help, buy dark coloured sun-trap stuff for her to lay in that area.

Then next winter, when you can get good bare-root plants for the replacement hedge, in well-prepared soil.