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Original poster

Can anyone help me write a reply to my neighbours snotty letter ?

111 replies

mrspink27 · 17/10/2005 15:12

hope someone can come up with a few witty sentences to reply to a note my neighbour posted through the door yesterday.

Basically, we are the first house on our street and have 5 lots of neighbours boundarys along the garden fence. Most of these are older folk.
Along one side of our garden we have a hedge, conifer and laurel, which we cut regularly every year, without fail, both sides and the top. Our house is slightly higher than our neighbours as we are on a bit of a slope and therefore the hedge is higher on our neighbours side than ours, but if we cut it down much lower then it wouldnt act as a screen for us and the busy road in front of the neighbours houses.

Sorry if tmi!

Anyway, the gardener chap came last friday afternoon and made a start on the hedge. Unfortunately he could only stay 3 hours and then it started raining so he had to stop anyway. He will return in 10 days when he has another gap in his schedule (he is an off duty fireman.)

Yesterday we had a note put through our door which reads
"Dear neighbour, when I heard and saw you were having your hedge trimmed yesterday I had high hopes of seeing some sky from kitchen window once again. I hope it was rain stopped play and not that it was forgotten that a hedge has 2 sides and becomes quite threatening from this side. I sincerely hope to hear from you in the future."

Really want to write a witty note back... but wit escapes me...

What should i write???!!!

OP posts:
megandmogwai · 21/10/2005 22:08

sorry mrs pink.

It was just the fact that you said you had checked the shadow from the hedge five times during the day

Doesn't sound indifferent to me!

Original poster
mrspink27 · 21/10/2005 22:18

no, just as i was driving to and fro and walkingto and from the park, just taking into account the feedback on here about the hedge being overpowering and scary! trying to look at it from her p.o.v

OP posts:
megandmogwai · 21/10/2005 22:19

I'd have done the same

Enid · 23/10/2005 09:02

you have an 8ft hedge

cant you cut it down to 6ft? then you'd give them an extra 2ft.

and also did you know that Hedge Laws have been brought into play which may mean your neighbour can insist you cut it down to a reasonable level?

wallopyCOD · 23/10/2005 15:34

go enid go enid

Enid · 23/10/2005 18:38

She may be beginning the first stage of this process . In which case a snotty letter will absolutely not help.

And did you know that the recommended guidelines for hedge height in urban/suburban areas is 2m?

Original poster
mrspink27 · 23/10/2005 19:15

the hedge stays, at the height it is, we are NOT getting rid of it or reducing it to 2M. I doubt she is beginning proceedings. It is a screen, so that we dont have to see the houses which back on to ours and a screen for the road noise.

why did i ever start this thread ? it is more stressul than the RL situation which we are ignoring.

OP posts:
Enid · 23/10/2005 19:27

well you may have to cut it down a bit if she complains.

all I am saying is that you don't have a god-given right to keep your hedge at 8 ft and if it is affecting other houses they have a right to complain - don't exacerbate the situation by writing a snotty letter.

Original poster
mrspink27 · 23/10/2005 19:34

I know we dont have the god given right and we have not written a note back as in the cold light of day it seemed churlish to do so. as I have already explained the garden of the letter writer is overgrown and having done several trips past the bungalow concerned the hedge does not cast shadow on it.

OP posts:
Mojomummy · 23/10/2005 20:15

Hi Enid - what do you know about high trees that block light ?

Enid · 24/10/2005 10:26

not much I am afraid - you are at liberty to cut off any branches that encroach onto your property (at your expense unfortunately).

What kind of trees? If they are lelandeii you may have a case under the high hedge law.

Mojomummy · 24/10/2005 13:46

Hi Enid, thanks - it's scycamore tree & must be about 60ft + high with 15ft + branches which loom ominously toward my garden. I've asked them to trim it & they said they would contact their garden....I'm still hopeing 3 months down the line...

Enid · 24/10/2005 13:48

sycamores are a pain. They do spread. Unless the branches are actually overhanging your property you are at their mercy though. Ask again, nicely then put it in writing...

Freckle · 24/10/2005 14:10

It's not so much the branches you need to worry about with sycamores, but the roots. If it is that close to your house, you should ask them to cut it down completely. We had a self-seeded sycamore in our garden only just our side of our neighbour's fence. It was about 12feet from both houses. Our neighbour asked us to have it cut down because of the potential damage to both houses from the roots - which spread a jolly long way. We cut it down.

Mojomummy · 24/10/2005 14:19

That's interesting thanks. It's about 40ft foot from our house & about 10 or so foot from our & their fence. Would the roots spread this far ?

They don't want to cut it down because they say it keeps out rubbish froom the neighbouring garden. TBH I don't want it cut down either because it shields us from the other (ugly) house - I guess the choice is, ugly house v ugly tree. It looks like a MASSIVE tarantula. When the leaves fall off I'll ask again as it will be easier to cut then.

we've also got a llelandii on our right which is about 70ft tall & I just chop that back as much as I can when it encrouches. That's on the north side though, so doesn't bother me so much & does offer privacy - they are SO ugly though !

Enid · 24/10/2005 14:22

a good guide to roots are the branches. The roots usually spread as far as the branches do IYSWIM.

Blu · 24/10/2005 14:28

Sycamores are a pain - they drip that sticky stuff and make everything dirty, and they are terrible for hayfever sufferers.

Does it overhang your property?

Enid · 24/10/2005 14:32

that'll be sap blu

SoupDragon · 24/10/2005 16:13

FWIW, the "hedge laws" don't say that hedges can't be more than 2m. Also, as their garden is overgrown, they can not claim that the hedge is preventing them from enjoying their garden. There's a nice helpful leaflet here.

Mojomummy, you are witin your rights to tim the sycamore tree back to where it crosses the boundary line (at your own expense) but you should ask permission and check whether the owners want the bits back or if you can dispose of them as you wish. We have an enormous beech tree at the end of our garden and let our rear neighbours "trim" it because it overhung a new patio they'd built (FFS why would someone build a patio directly under a 70 year old beech tree and then complain about it??) Anyway, we let them do it obviously.

Enid · 24/10/2005 19:38

I don't think I said that hedges legally couldnt be more than 2m. It is recommended that in urban areas hedges arent more than 2m to avoid just this problem.

Enid · 24/10/2005 19:40

Reasons you can complain to the council about a hedge (from that leaflet):

? Is it growing on land owned by
someone else?
? Is the hedge ? or the portion
that is causing problems ? made
up of a line of 2 or more trees
or shrubs?
? Is it mostly evergreen or
semi-evergreen?
? Is it more than 2 metres tall?
? Even though there might be
gaps in the foliage or between
the trees or shrubs, is the hedge
still capable of obstructing light
or views?

Original poster
mrspink27 · 26/10/2005 10:35

as i write the hedge is being trimmed on the other side!!! will let you know of any comments made by neighbours!!

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 26/10/2005 10:42

PMSL at the reason to complain "Is it growing on land owned by someone else?" Dare I suggest that if it was on land owned by yourself, you'd trim it yourself rather than complain about it??!

SoupDragon · 26/10/2005 10:42

(can you trim the hedge into an interesting topiary shape, MrsP?)

Original poster
mrspink27 · 26/10/2005 14:55

Ok, so the story so far is...

nice gardener man Dave, came at 8am and finished off as much as he could do on our side. Dh and Dave then went to call on the neighbours, there are 3 of them, with ladders, hedge cutters, bags etc. Dh was going to hold the ladder! anyway called at first bungalow, no answer... second bungalow, the note writer, answered, nice as pie, very pleased to see them, and couldnt have been more pleasant, even offered them tea, kit kats and cream buns!Then third neighbour poked head over fence and asked politely if they were going to do her as well, equally nicely, dh told her that they would come to her next as first house hadnt responded. Then first house neighbour appears over fence and signals to DH that he was welcome to do theirs any time... no problem!
Dh and Dave just packing up stuff to go to third house, when wife of first neighbour starts effing and blinding over the fence about the * hedge and when was DH going to be coming to do theirs and being generally quite abusive. DH said they were going to do house 3 today and Dave would come back at weekend to do theirs. Wife starts effing and blinding and says NO, you WILL do it TODAY or i am ringing the council!! my mild mannered dh was extremely angry and incredibly close to telling her to *off. Neighbour 3 then syas its fine do her today and do me at weekend!
THEN!!! when in neighbour 1's garden wife comes out and starts ranting at Dave (poor bloke) and DH about how unreasonable they are and how the hedge hasnt been trimmed for years and why do we need a hedge anyway etc etc... DH very calmly explained that we were higher than them and the hedge was a screen etc and that the hedge had been trimmed every year... They then had to cut the hedge while she stood shouting the odds at them for 20 minutes.

He was in shock by the time he got back home and very very annoyed!

I might point out that all neighbours are over 70 and that she is a 'nice little old lady on crutches!'

OP posts: