Neighbour’s invasive plant cut back, who should dispose of the trimmings?

[Singingorangedinosaur]

My neighbour has a climbing plant which has become invasive on our side of the fence. It had climbed up/through our trees, and was reaching towards our garden furniture. We cut it back to the boundary and caught them to ask if we could put it in their green bin, but they said it was full and that was the end of the conversation.
For context, we have to pay for green bins where we live. We do not have one for our house, as we don't have enough cuttings etc to warrant a subscription, nor do we want the extra household cost.
Our nearest tip to dispose of cuttings is 30 minutes away, which is why we don't have plants that create lots of cutting ourselves.
Anyway, DH folded the cuttings up neatly/chopped them up small, and placed them next to NDN green bin. We then received a text accusing us of flytipping and that we should have asked their permission.

I don't know what we could have done differently? What are the rules here? I don't want it to be awkward with neighbours which is why we asked them. Yes we could dispose of the trimmings ourselves, but we would have to go incredibly out of our way (an hours drive then time queueing to get in to the tip which can take ages, plus the time spent cutting it all back anyway). My experience with neighbours in the past has always been that the neighbours dispose of cuttings created by their plants overgrowing boundaries? Is this incorrect?

You can offer the cuttings but they dont need to accept them. If you put them on their property then its construed as fly tipping. Will they fit in your general waste bin? Or ask a different neighbour if you can use their bin

You’re wrong here - if they don’t want the cuttings, you are responsible for disposing of them. You can’t dump them on their front garden.

I'd have told them you'll hold onto them until it's emptied. But it's their choice if they want them so if they refused you'd have to find another way.

Morally the neighbour should dispose of them but legally they don't have to.

Try to keep on top of it from now so you never have a lot of regrowth to deal with. You can either cut any new overhanging growth or push it back over their side of the fence.

In the meantime, the pile should shrink a bit in the sun.

Your other option would be to compost it, either somewhere like under a hedge etc that it won't bother you, or you could ask if any neighbours have a compost bin.

weird. just make a trip to your local tip. it's not that deep

Assuming that some of the roots are on your side of the fence, you can either use weed killer or rip them out and pour concrete to stop them invading your property.

You have to offer them the cuttings, but if they don’t want them then you need to dispose of them responsibly.

I think you were in the wrong. It would have been nice if they could take the waste but it’s your responsibility. I’d keep the plant under control by spraying it with weed killer.
Is it your fence and is the plant damaging the fence?

Just put them in the normal household bin.

I'd have put them in our normal household bin but the council is four days late collecting and we can't even fit normal waste in let alone additional garden waste that is from their side. The roots aren't on our side, it all comes over. With two young kids on my own, going to the tip isn't as straight forward. I will pick them up and try to arrange to do something with them but I have literally never lived anywhere where a neighbour won't deal with their own cuttings when they start growing over the fence.

You created the cuttings by choosing the cut back the plant. You knew there would be a lot of matter collected. I think you're being disingenuous.
If its ivy they can reroot from a cutting, don't leave it under a hedge etc. A pile of organic waste will also attract bugs and rodents.
I think you need to dispose of it properly. This part of gardening is a pain.

I believe you can legally throw anything from their hedge you cut off back to their side

Good grief, what on earth makes you believe that? Of course you can't do that!!!!

A part of a hedge or tree which encroaches on another property can be trimmed by that property’s owner. It is always a good idea to get permission from the hedge’s owner first, but you are within your rights to trim part of a hedge which encroaches over a boundary line, including the roots, even if that may damage the overall plant. However, applying weedkiller or similar chemical agents is not permitted. If the matter that you've removed comes from the neighbours tree or hedge, legally it is considered their property and should be offered back to them, but they are not obliged to accept it and you CANNOT just dump it on their property.

If your neighbours hedge is considered a "high hedge" (defined as more then 2m tall and evergreen or semi-evergreen) then a complaint can be made to the local council, if the hedge is encroaching on a neighbour’s enjoyment of their garden by blocking the sun or a view. There is a cost to making a complaint to the council though.

@Singingorangedinosaur you and your DH chose to do this and your reasoning is fine, but you should have also worked out how you were going to dispose of all the material you removed beforehand. Why couldn't your DH have taken it all to the tip?

Can you compost them? It’s easy.

But yes the neighbour is correct about the law - you have to offer the cuttings back to them but if they decline then you keep the cuttings/dispose of them as you want.

As they are in the right and you want to keep good neighbour relations, just reply saying you’re sorry that’s how it was done where you previously lived but you understand now and won’t do it again.

Youre wrong! That would be considered fly tipping

Could you try and have a reasonable conversation with them? Apologies neighbour, we didn’t realise that was fly tipping. We will get rid of the clippings on this occasion but we really don’t want this plant. Could we ask that you keep it under tighter control on your side?

What can’t you take children to the dump? Or go when your husband is around.

Just chuck it under a hedge or in a corner of your garden to rot down. If it's something you're worried will reroot, leave it to dry out in the sun first.

Do you have a car? Load the clippings into the car with DH then one drive them to the tip while the other stays at home with kids. This is not a big deal…

They're cuttings from your garden, it's up to you to dispose of them (although you legally need to offer them back first). Sounds like moving forward you do need a green bin, since you will have cuttings to dispose of each year.

You are extremely unreasonable to try to palm your garden waste on them after they'd already declined you the use of their paid for green bin.

They aren't your neighbours' cuttings, I'm afraid. They are your. Them's the rules.

You need to offer them to the neighbours in case they have a use for them, but it's your job to dispose of them if they aren't wanted.

You can't just foist things you've chosen to trim into other people.

If you have space, leave them in a pile for a few days. They will shrink down in the heat, then you may be able to crush them further and fit them in a binbag. They aren’t going to sprout into a triffid in a few days!!

I'm not sure of the legalities, but I feel your pain of having a neighbour with an invasive garden. With regards to one of my neighbours, who does not do anything with their garden, I hack at the overgrowth into mine an elderly neighbour's garden. I dispose of it in my green bin (that I also pay for).

I think it's your responsibility to dispose of them . Why didn't you just put them in with your household rubbish if you don't want to go to the tip?
You can't just put them at the side of your neighbours bin .

Have a bonfire of the clippings in your garden, preferably on a hot day when they have their windows open.