Boundary hedge

[stevek54]

I'm not sure if I'm in the right place but it is a sort of gardening question. We have recently bought a property with a large hedge in the back garden which forms part of the boundary between us and the neighbour. At each end of the hedge is a wooden fence. The hedge is at least a metre proud on our side of the fences,taking ground from our small garden. What I want to know is can I cut the hedge back so it is in line with the fences which are presumably are on the boundary line or do I have to seek permissions to do this?

Thanks.

 

[merlin50]

if its on your land you can cut it back, simples

 

[bathjobby]

If its your hedge you can do what you like with it. If its the neighbours the rule is; if its overhanging into your garden, you can cut it off but legally you have to offer the cuttings to your neighbour as its their property. But rather than go that route after you have cut it, why not talk to them first then if they insist its theirs, ask them if they want the cuttings.

 

[stevek54]

We have tried to speak to the neighbour but he is insistent it is his hedge. It is so far on our side that I think we would reduce it to not a lot. We don't want to cause trouble but we would like some of our land back and light for our garden.

 

[rjm2k]

whos boundary do your deeds say it is? is there no fence at all to make ir easier to identify which side the hedge is on?

 

[merlin50]

if it is his hedge you can still cut it back to the center, nothing to do with him

 

[stevek54]

The deeds say that it is our boundary. The deeds that origianlly parcelled up the land on which our property stands (dated 1914) have inserted a covenant requiring owners of the land we occupy to maintain the western boundary (the one with the hedge). The covenant also states that we should keep the hedge at no more than 5 feet. It is over twice that at present. I'm not sure how binding deeds and covenants are though.

 

[rjm2k]

Sounds like it's yours to do with as you wish, unless your neighbour can prove it's theirs because someone removed the one in your deeds and replaced on the other side. You could always order a copy of your neighbours deeds from the land registry if they have them if you want to be extra sure.

 

[Kristen]

Suggest considering what the variety of hedge it is.

Leylandii (for example) will not regrow from being cut back [into old wood] - so you'd just have dead twigs on your side after cutting hard back.

If the hedge turns out to be your neighbour's (notwitstanding the deeds) then if you kill it [in pruning material which is overhanging your garden] you are the wrong side of the law. Even if not sounds like your neighbour would be miffed at the least.

Many other hedge varieties will happily regenerate after cutting back.

For the top I would suggest that you cut 1' shorter than final height, when it grows back it will nice and bushy at the top, and then you can cut at the final height [next year, say] and have a nice full "top" all the way along.

If it is seriously overgrown, and not the type to recover from a hard prune, my advice would be to grub it out and start again. Its a tough decision though as its quite a lot of work (getting the roots out), and you will have "no proper hedge" for several years whilst it regrows. You can mitigate that somewhat by buying large-ish plants, but they tend to establish less quickly than smaller ones, and cost a lot more But you could then choose a suitable variety that will have the look you want, be maintainable at the height you want, and so on. Or fence panels but sounds like your neighbour prefers a living barrier

 

[themiddleagedun]

It would be to hold off cutting any hedge for a few more weeks to give any nesting birds a chance to successfully breed

 

[roberta1000]

The deeds say that it is our boundary. The deeds that origianlly parcelled up the land on which our property stands (dated 1914) have inserted a covenant requiring owners of the land we occupy to maintain the western boundary (the one with the hedge).

Even if it is 'your' boundary (ie your responsibility) there's nothing to stop your neighbour planting a hedge just inside his plot. So the hedge could well be his. The boundary is a line with no thickness (and quite hard to define exactly).

The covenant also states that we should keep the hedge at no more than 5 feet. It is over twice that at present. I'm not sure how binding deeds and covenants are though.

Only the person who originally made the covenant can enforce it. It's not a covenant between you and your neighbour for instance. If the covenant was set by the local authority you might have a good chance of getting them to write a letter (but not a lot more probably).

As mentioned above you can cut it back to the boundary if it is his. You aren't very likely to kill it by doing that but if it is leylandii or similar it will not regrow. The best thing of course is to come to an amicable agreement - point out to your neighbour that it is encroaching on your property. But if its an impasse then I'd be tempted to cut it hard back and put a fence or wall hard up against it.

 

[JimLoskot]

The best thing of course is to come to an amicable agreement

This is by far and away the best solution of all.
I would go as far as you can to try and reach an agreement and remain friendly with your neigbour (even if they are obnoxious bar-stewards!)

 

[JayHS]

The best thing of course is to come to an amicable agreement

This is by far and away the best solution of all.
I would go as far as you can to try and reach an agreement and remain friendly with your neighbour (even if they are obnoxious bar-stewards!)

if you enter an agreement as to who owns what? and where you plan to cut back to!! you might wish you had not said anything in the future!! as a verbal agreement is as i see it, a binding agreement/contract to what is the future agreement between you and next door neighbour for any related boundary line issues

seek advice and think long and hard about what you would like to do with your garden, and most of all, never ever give up on any boundary line, nor accept any kind of agreement in writing or verbal.
you can ask more questions on this before doing anything but if it were me? i would cut back anything on your land, but leave 12 inches of the foliage for now, and see what you think of it over the next few months.

but it is your land by the sounds of it, he can not bully you into anything you do not want to do, and if as he states it is his boundary line? then you can always ask him to show his title deeds to show and prove that it is.

otherwise do what you wish but it is always nice to chat and let them know your plans, i found that you talk! they will delay!! you plan and they again delay, and you do! and they will delay anything to simply ruin your day or week.

seek advice

that is the best advice i can give you

seek seek seek out advice

before you talk to him any more

let us know how you get on

and dont forget to seek advice

seek advice :O)