The battle over hedges - used to trim everything back, now I let them grow wild near the fence line

For like 8 years I kept my side of the neighbor's hedge trimmed to exactly 3 feet from the property line. Felt like the right thing to do, you know, keep things neat. But after Mr. Harrison moved out and a younger couple moved in, they went ballistic when I trimmed their overhang. Said I was killing their privacy screen. So I stopped touching their side completely, let it go wild. Now my fence is getting pushed over by branches and I can't even walk along that side of the yard. Who's in the wrong here - me for trimming without asking, or them for letting it grow into my space? Has anyone found a middle ground with hedge-happy neighbors?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_john28d ago

I read somewhere that in most places, the rule is you can trim anything that crosses the property line, but you can't damage the plant or kill it. So technically you were in the right before, but now they're letting it wreck your fence. That's not fair at all. I'd say talk to them one more time, tell them the branches are pushing your fence over, and if they don't do anything, just trim back their side again to protect your stuff. People get weird about hedges, man. It's just plants, not a wall.

milesj7025d ago

Wait, why can't they just trim it back themselves and be done with it?

the_jana28d ago

The_john nailed it with "it's just plants, not a wall" because people treat hedges like sacred boundaries now. It's the same pattern I see everywhere where people mistake personal preference for some kind of moral right. You were being considerate for years, they got weird about it, and now they're letting their plants wreck your stuff.