Hedging desperation - stressful situation

[Annella]

Hello all - this is my first foray into the gardening forum.
I’m hoping you can help me with a problem we have please. We live in a rural location, in a detached house with neighbours close alongside us. Our neighbours seem to be nervous about living rurally. They erected lights all around their property, as is their prerogative. We can no longer see the stars, but hey-ho. The issue is that as of yesterday, they have also placed what can only be described as a light bright enough to act as a lighthouse beacon in one of their windows. Our bedrooms all face the room in which they’ve placed their light. I cannot impress how bright it is - it’s like a full beam car headlight shining directly into our house. I am really shocked by it.

We want to plant an emergency hedge along our shared border. It needs to grow quickly, be evergreen, and reach a height of at least 10 feet. We’re happy to maintain it. We’re happy to pay as much as much as it costs. Ideally we don’t want to lose too much space to it as our garden isn’t massive, but maybe that’s a sacrifice we’ll need to take.

What hedge would you go for in this scenario? And how big can I start off with?

Are there companies that would come and instal it for us?

My husband has been really affected by all of this. He’s very sad about the light pollution and this new light has tipped him over the edge. He barely slept a wink last night. Grateful for any suggestions. Thank you :)

Could you try blackout blinds and/or curtains?

Also I would invite your neighbours to come round to your house one evening (asap) so they can see for themselves how it’s causing you discomfort and distress.

They’re probably oblivious but may sort something out with you amicably.

Sounds like light pollution - I believe you can report it to the council & if deemed appropriate your neighbours could be asked to remove it?

Can you not speak to them about it first? Even changing the angle of the light might make a huge difference. They are probably completely oblivious to the impact they are having on you.

we have laurel hedging - extremely fast growing and evergreen. Laylandi is another option. Both will eat into your garden - tall and fast growing will likely also come with width.

Have a look at the Hedges Direct company .

www.hedgesdirect.co.uk

Their website offers instant hedges at 180cm which falls short of your 10 foot requirement, however it's a start!

I'm sure they'll be able to give you the best advice.

Thanks all. When they originally put up the external security lights, we asked them to turn off the one that shone onto our property, which they agreed to. It’s now about a year later and they’ve put up the internal light in a window that is just next to the external security light. They’ve put it on their windowsill. Ironically it’s much brighter than the security light. This would therefore be making a second request of them on the same issue. It feels weird to ask them to moderate their behaviour in their own home, and we’re trying to keep relations positive given were right next door. On this basis, we think a hedge would be a better solution. They’d probably like it as it would secure their property even more so and we’d be the ones to lose the light as they are south of us.

Mad idea. Why wouldn't you talk to them about it?

My opposite neighbours are higher up than me. They have a bright outside light so they can see down their sloping drive which is very dark. When I first moved in it was shining straight in my bedroom window. I plucked up my courage and went over and told them, very nicely, this was the case. I was pretty sure they wanted the light to shine down their drive and not in my bedroom so was reasonable confident they would see this as constructive. Next day, a ladder was brought out and the light tipped down.

We are now ten years down the line. Every so often the light tips itself back up. I go across and say, Eric, your light has wandered up again, then we chat about many things. Next day, equilibrium is restored.

If you don't want to talk to them, you might want to familiarise yourself on the law regarding the permissible height of a hedge - it may be specified in the planning permission rules in your area. In my area it is 2m which is 6-7 ft.

I’ve updated the thread to explain the background. This is a light they’ve put on their windowsill. Surely it’s a bit much to ask them to turn off a light in their house? They’re clearly very worried about security.

Surely it’s a bit much to ask them to turn off a light in their house? They’re clearly very worried about security. It’s in their house but it’s affecting your enjoyment of your house, just as if they were playing loud music all night with the window open. Many older houses come with covenants restricting what they can do (no cockerels, no back garden tannery) purely for the comfort of their neighbours. You have every right to ask them to do something about this.

I wouldn't be planting a 10 ft hedge that blocks light into my garden - you won't be able to grow anything or sit outside in the sun.

Just talk to them. If they modified their lighting once I'm sure they'll do it again - maybe they could angle the light at the ground. If it's negatively affecting you it's not unreasonable to talk to them about it - the same as if they kept having loud parties.

OP, just ask them! They may not realise the strength of it, it's facing outwards after all. If they don't respond as you hope (by dimming it/turning it off), then go for the expense of a hedge which in itself will take months to resolve the situation. Just speak to them!

Okay thanks everyone for the feedback and encouragement - we will speak to them. Wish us luck!

It’s worth the conversation- if it doesn’t work out I’d seek out clumping bamboo and have installed iwith a protective barrier. The advantage with bamboo does not fall within the hedges legislation because it’s classified as a grass.

Ah this is interesting - thank you!

Even clumping bamboo can spread a fair bit. Give it a good robust barrier or confine it to pots. It's not that good a light barrier though - you just get stripy light.

I agree with PP - talk to them before you make expensive and detrimental changes to your garden. A second conversation on the same issue is perfectly reasonable if they've caused a problem twice.

And do check your council's light pollution rules as well. It's bad for wildlife as well as for you to have bright lights all night.

Put a fake post on the local FB page about how there’s a new burglary gang that target houses with security lights because they think you have more stuff worth nicking and it helps them direct the souped up jcb they use to knock the wall of your house down with. The police aren’t interested because they’re only interested in speeding motorists and people using the wrong pronouns.

Eh?

Sorry- just a joke- maybe it’s just my local Fab page which is full of warnings over unlikely criminal activity and when someone says “maybe tell the police” someone else says “ no point hun, they’re only interested in [insert triviality here].

Definitely talk to them first. The alternative may be that you get into a protractor dispute about hedges, while losing light and garden space in your own property.

I think @NoBinturongsHereMate was referring to the now-deleted post rather than to you

I was. Something incoherent about races and costumes. It may have been spam, but if so it was an exceptionally poor effort.

This is what my husband said. It’s definitely not ideal for a rural area.

This made me chuckle :)

Have you managed to speak to them yet @Annella?