I sympathise with your neighbour. You have planted giant, fast growing conifers, and now they are forced to trim your hedge several times a year. Why should they have to do your work for you? I am in the same situation as your neighbour: a Leylandii hedge which is gradually getting higher and higher, and growing over the fence because she doesn't look after it. Very annoying! There are many Leylandii in my area, and every single one of them is out of control, or getting there.
Alan - I did not plant the hedge it was here when we moved in. Please don’t make assumptions!! Trust me the hedge is not out of control and we would be more than happy to trim their side for them if they wanted us to. The problem here is that they have not asked us! The height of the hedge is only 1.6m.
Just to add - he told my husband a couple of years ago ‘we better not put a fence up’ so I actually think he likes the hedge. He just doesn’t want to give us our privacy!
Leylandii hedges are an eyesore to me. I appreciate that the OP inherited them so is not responsible for their planting. I also appreciate that uprooting a whole hedge of them is time consuming and/or costly. I hope some acceptable solution will be found for the OP and the neighbours. There are so many much nicer-looking hedging plants available that I feel Leylandii should be banned from garden centres.
From what you say, there is no fence behind your hedge, so the leylandi is the only thing separating your two gardens? Or do you have a short fence there, that the leylandi grows above? I am wondering if the boundary line is clear and clearly definable (perhaps by the fence line of your neighbours either side if all the gardens line up?). If it is clear, then yes he has encroached illegally on your property by cutting over the boundary line to curve the top. If its unclear, he may think the bit he curved is on ‘his’ side.
If he is definitely in the wrong and despite your polite entreaties, refuses to stop doing it, one solution is to erect 2m high posts at each end of your hedge, making sure they are on your side of the boundary, then stretch a 1m high roll of chicken wire between them along the top half, behind the leylandi. Depending on the length you may need some posts in the middle. You won’t see it when your hedge reaches the maximum 2m height but it will look ugly from his side and he then can’t let his shears wander over your side. Irritating to have to go to the expense, but cheaper than replacing it with a fence or resorting to legal action. Do it when he is on holiday!
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Nollie that is a really good idea! Thank you - I had thought about trellis along the top but wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. That would definitely be a cheaper solution.
Then when he comes back from holiday and fumes, you can innocently say, oh I thought this would be really helpful for you, I know how difficult you find it to cut in a straight line, but never mind, you won’t notice it when my leylandi is 2m high
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Posts
If he is definitely in the wrong and despite your polite entreaties, refuses to stop doing it, one solution is to erect 2m high posts at each end of your hedge, making sure they are on your side of the boundary, then stretch a 1m high roll of chicken wire between them along the top half, behind the leylandi. Depending on the length you may need some posts in the middle. You won’t see it when your hedge reaches the maximum 2m height but it will look ugly from his side and he then can’t let his shears wander over your side. Irritating to have to go to the expense, but cheaper than replacing it with a fence or resorting to legal action. Do it when he is on holiday!