Talkback: Gardening disputes between neighbours - Talkback

11/09/2010 at 10:06

Wasn't the 'High Hedges Act' (actually part of the Anti Social Beehaviour Act) supposed to outlaw hedges over 2m if they cause a loss of amenity to neighbours?? I think first port of call (if rasonable negotiations fail) is to the council and they should intervene. I stand to be corrected but last time I checked this, this was the case. Ian

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11/09/2010 at 10:59

The high hedges act is a joke. Been trying to get our council to take action against the neighbours at the back of the garden for months. Why should we have to stump up the cost of the council's investigation? Needless to say the neighbours won't cut it themselves. They 'enjoy the privacy'.

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11/09/2010 at 11:22

My problem is the neighbour's eucalyptus tree. It's huge! It blocks out all the light to my south-facing garden and drops its b****y leaves all over my lawn. Council can't do anything because it's not a hedge. Neighbours are happy to see it go but I have to pay for it. No compromise. We used to get on really well but I just can't get on with them now. So inconsidereate.

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11/09/2010 at 14:11

which council are you in Matty?

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12/09/2010 at 10:58

I have a leylandii hedge at the bottom of my garden it was a source of some dispute between the people who used to live in my property and the owners of the leylandii , since the owners of the said leylandii did not do any thing regarding trimming i took it upon myself to keep it trimmed , armed with some long branch loppers i would trim all the leaders out thus keeping hedge within a limit of common sense but my neighbour caught me last week doing my regular trim and immediatley went on the attack, i keeping my calm pointed out to her that the law states that the max height for these hedges is 6foot 6 inches and that she nor i wanted that height and that all i wanted to avoid was the hedge getting out of control so it would cost her money to have it trimmed, after i had been scolded for not asking her permission to carry out the trim she gave her permission to carry on, i might add that all the trimmings were in my garden and desposed of by me

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12/09/2010 at 21:13

My neighbours walked the full length of my L shaped lawn trudging their stuff in when they moved in and now they and their guests regularly walk across my front lawn or use my driveway for her guests cars. Its selfish behaviour and shouldn't need pointing out.

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12/09/2010 at 22:07

My neighbour grows ivy through the fence and has already killed 4 trees! no matter what I plant in that area is going to be killed off! Any ideas? Wish there could be something I could spray against the fence to prevent it growing through!

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13/09/2010 at 21:16

This whole area is tricky, the best idea throughout is to be reasonable - th difficulty is everyone construes 'reasonable' differently. I have black bamboo that for sheer growing speed outclasses leylandii - it can hit two vertical metres in a month - however isn't close to the density of Leylandii. M

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14/09/2010 at 12:07

How about wind chimes ? They sound awful. I like to enjoy the natural sound of my garden not have to endure something which sounds like a random playing of a xylophone (badly) and to have to put up with it endlessly. People don't realise that they are also imposing their wind chimes on their neighbours when they put them up.

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14/09/2010 at 14:52

Wind chimes is an interesting one, GH, that could irritate me too. I like bamboo, Michael_McK, but am wary of growing it as it is so hard to remove once you have it. My neighbours throw their cigarette butts in to my garden. It drives me round the bend!

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16/09/2010 at 18:51

The previous owners of my property liked privacy...I'm just digging out the last stump & roots of the 29th Leylandii which surrounded the garden. It's been a four year mission as most of the trees were 30 ft plus. I felt so sorry for the neighbours as they hadn't seen the sun for about 15 years!

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16/09/2010 at 19:15

My neighbour in dispute is British Rail they have a massive tree at the end of my garden that deposits hundreds of sapplings in my garden and their weeds fill my garden every year for the last 35 years also the tree blocks out light, when I complained there answer was that I wasn't entitled to light and although I am disabled I still have to deal with this yearly clean up, the council wouldn't help so the problem has never been resolved.I now also had an heart op, so finding things impossible.

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16/09/2010 at 19:18

My problem is the neighbours grown up son who revs his motorbike up in the garden for about 5 minutes before driving off. Also when his parents are away and he waters the garden he succeeds in watering the windows in my conservatory or me if I am in the garden

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16/09/2010 at 19:42

Try tying your bamboo (I hate leylandii) on the neighbours' side back into your own garden with orange twine or that wide plastic mesh in orange. They will be breaking the law, for what it's worth, if they reach over to clip it. We've done this in our garden so we can't see it, but the neighbours can and it's an eyesore for them. They are the nosiest people in the street. Having given up on us they have started to cut the other neighbours' hedge so they can watch them in their garden. Sad people everywhere.

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17/09/2010 at 10:17

Please please don't be nasty to your neighbours whoever they are.

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17/09/2010 at 10:19

I was shocked by the hateful language Kate Bradbury used here.

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17/09/2010 at 12:12

re; the neighbours and their guests. If you can afford/is allowed put up a fence or a hedge of holly plus drive gates.

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17/09/2010 at 15:21

Mmm, anon, I think Kate's 'hateful' remarks were light-hearted, and not to be taken seriously!

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18/09/2010 at 09:43

Thank you, Enid. Though I do agree with anon, we should be nice to our neighbours.

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28/09/2010 at 10:56

I can't believe any gardener recommending planting Leylandii, especially in the circumstances described. Kate wasn't joking. I am glad she doesn't live near me! The way forward has to be different than advised as the hedge advice will simply make matters worse, come on Kate be sensible - gardeners are supposed to be friends of the earth not vindictive folk bent on making other people's lives a misery. Take some runner beans round and have a cup of tea and a chat!