Boundary hedge - to trim?!

[Xmasfairy86]

Moved in couple of weeks ago. the house we are attached to is empty, soon to be rented. We have a fence to one side and then this over grown fir tree hedge thing on the other, separating us from rental property. The hedge bush thing is large and protruding on to our garden by quite some way.

Can we trim it back to our border?
Do I need to ask/tell anyone what we’re intending?

Old house was all fence so made it simple!

Yes just trim it back to the boundary.
If someone were living there it's polite to mention it, but otherwise just go for it. Nothing is likely to happen regarding your neighbourly relationship etc!
Enjoy your new garden

It’s fine to trim to your boundary, I think technically you’re meant to offer the clippings back to the owners (very odd!) but as it’s empty I doubt you’ll have any issues. Just be aware that some hedges like conifers will be brown and unsightly when hard pruned.

@CausingChaos2

It’s fine to trim to your boundary, I think technically you’re meant to offer the clippings back to the owners (very odd!) but as it’s empty I doubt you’ll have any issues. Just be aware that some hedges like conifers will be brown and unsightly when hard pruned.

That was a concern of mine. But I suppose it’ll grow back if we don’t like it!

Conifers don't generally grow back so you would be left with brown

Oh. Well. Slight predicament then 🙄🙈

Oh yeah that's a really good point, we tried to trim a load of overgrown Conifer in our garden when we moved in, and we just had to dig them all out the next year due to them not growing back.

Why not just talk to the owner next door? Just say you are trimming it back and would they mind if you trimmed the top too? They may be totally happy for you to do it.

If it’s an overgrown leylandii or other conifer like this, if you cut it back to the boundary you’ll have dead brown on your side, potentially forever. They don’t grow back - it’s one of the reasons you have to keep on top of trimming them regularly.

You might want to do it anyway, if you’re losing a lot of light/space. I don’t think the landlord on the other side/who owns the hedge will care!

If I were you I might get in touch with the landlord and say hey, just moving in and your hedge is an issue as it’s so overgrown. As you have tenants in, and presumably want low maintenance, how about going half’s on taking the conifers out and putting up a fence instead…

How do I find out who the landlord is?
The bit closest to the house was removed before we moved in and 2 fence panels put in as there was a giant hole in the hedge, almost like a window 🤣 we assumed they’d fence the whole thing 🤦🏽‍♀️

Whatever it is has ivy growing through it

Ask the tenants when they move in?

I'd search online for rental properties in your area. It may come up and you could make contact through their agent?

@PragmaticWench

I'd search online for rental properties in your area. It may come up and you could make contact through their agent?

I have looked, the house is pretty much non existent online… I may just have to wait until someone moves in.