Shared Hedge

[Con]

It's a tricky one. Personally I don't do work unless all parties are in full agreement. Unfortunately for you, I'm sure your neighbour  will be able to find someone.  As for advice, sorry, can't really help. I would say some sort of compromise would be the best approach. 

Edited July 14, 2021 by Con
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[Stubby]

30 minutes ago, doobin said:

You'll get three feet back next season. Laurel is one of those things that creeps higher every year even when cut, as it's prolific growth means that the new unions are often too thick for a jobbing gardener to get through, with the result that he trims it slightly higher every year. If it's not been cut for a few years then it will have gotten a lot higher.

 

8ft high still sounds like a fair bit of privacy to me.

This .

[AHPP]

If you really want legal advice, ask lawyers. Before that though, consider the relationship you have and want with your neighbour. It'll only go one way once solicitors are involved.

Suggest you find some way to call it a win in your head. Maybe "let" them cut it on the basis that they do it once a year at an agreed height and shape. They're then paying for your property to look neat.

[topchippyles]

8 feet sound reasonable but i am not seeing it as it looks. I have laurels as my one neighbour is a noisy cow so planted a hedge a few years ago and guess what they then put a fence up after being asked at my cost. The hedge does the job perfectly and i refuse to cut it now 😁

Edited July 14, 2021 by topchippyles

[Jon Heuch]

14 hours ago, parkgate said:

My neighbour and ourselves share a private drive with a strip of land running along the side of the drive.

 

The drive and strip of land are jointly owned.

You need to go back to whatever documents you have that describe the arrangements for joint ownership. If your drive had a pot hole in it, what procedures are laid down for fixing the pot hole, for example? These documents should clearly set out your rights - right of entry and use of the land for example and may restrict those rights i.e. you probably shouldn't park your caravan or your veteran car collection on the drive restricting  your neighbour's access......but precisely what is and is not allowed will depend on that agreement. There may even be a bit about conflict resolution....seeking mediation or similar.

 

Clearly, if unilateral action takes place the whole idea of joint ownership (& management) becomes a bit of a mess.

 

To stop it you would probably need to seek an injunction from a court; expensive, but then anything done contrary to the injunction would be a matter for the court not just for you to seek damages.

 

And of course you have to live next to them and deal with the next joint ownership problem, so best take this slowly. Suggest a compromise on the pruning as others have suggested.

[maybelateron]

7 hours ago, Con said:

It's a tricky one. Personally I don't do work unless all parties are in full agreement.

I agree entirely. The difficulty is often when the customer leads you to believe the neighbours are on board with the plan. Trouble for the OP here is that anyone taking one the work for the neighbour, if the neighbour gives them the honest facts, may well be a thick skinned PITA type person.

[monkeybusiness]

12 feet sounds pretty high - what’s the other side/what privacy does the top 4-5 feet give you?

[openspaceman]

6 hours ago, Jon Heuch said:

You need to go back to whatever documents you have that describe the arrangements for joint ownership.

Yes it must be uncommon for it to be jointly owned, more common for the further property to have a vehicular right of way over the first owner's land.

 

My parents home was in a similar situation where the developer owned the drive, when they went out of business my parents and the neighbour bought the freehold and split the strip in half with each half retaining existing vehicular rights over the other's half.

[Peasgood]

23 minutes ago, openspaceman said:

Yes it must be uncommon for it to be jointly owned

I have a boundary that is jointly owned. It is about 100 yards long and either party is free to reduce the height to 10' without having to ask the other party.

It is currently circa 100' tall.

[openspaceman]

19 minutes ago, Peasgood said:

I have a boundary that is jointly owned. It is about 100 yards long and either party is free to reduce the height to 10' without having to ask the other party.

It is currently circa 100' tall.

I also have a boundary that is jointly maintained but the ownership falls either side of the boundary, the OP was discussing a jointly owned drive. I'm not saying it cannot be jointly owned just that IMO it is more common to have one owner and the other property having rights over it.