If they aren't on your property he has no need to ask anyone. If they're on a shared boundary with no definition, it's worth getting that determined before pruning or removing anything. If you want screening, it has to be planted on your property. Anything overhanging can be pruned by him, but nothing else. If you think this may cause future problems, get the boundary defined from the deeds and erect a fence first. Then there's no debate about who owns what
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
When they were cutting back the neighbour's forsythia last year, l suggested that they might like to take it down another foot or so, but l was (politely) ignored. Fair enough, they were carrying out their instructions. We get on fine with the neighbours, but they were out at the time. Over the last 12 months it has grown at least 18 inches, hardly any flowers.
The good thing is that they always check for nests before starting work. The bad thing is that it stops me having a really good nosy into what's going on in the Close at the back of us 😁.
I'm expecting them to return next month to do exactly the same thing again @Dovefromabove. It grows, it gets cut back in August. It's like Groundhog Year.
To be fair to the guys carrying out the work, they do know what they're doing (they have done some work for us in the past), but they have to follow their instructions. He said to me that it should be cut back after flowering and around a third taken out each year, but what can they do if the customer doesn't want that ? It's so frustrating for them as well. Could be worse
I prune my forsythia the same way as LG. They are pretty hard to kill, and flower on the new growth so whatever it produces between now and the autumn might flower next spring. It's a bit late in the year for pruning so there might not be much, but mine's already made about 3 feet since April. If you want to maximise its growth and the weather is dry, you could give it a good drink a few times a week, and maybe a sprinkle of balanced fertiliser if you have some.
If you want more/faster privacy, best to put something on your side of the boundary (bearing in mind that the neighbour can cut off anything that grows over the boundary line, if they want to). A friendly conversation might be a good idea - find out if they're planning to plant something else, or put up a fence or wall (assuming the boundary is theirs - it should be shown on the deeds (and yours) but isn't always clear). A lot of people seem to prefer hard landscaping to plants these days. Maybe discuss with them if you're not happy with an open boundary.
Edit: I just noticed that @Dovefromabove said that Forsythia flowers mostly on old wood. Mine doesn't (it's F. suspensa) - it flowers all along the long new shoots that grow after flowering. Maybe it's different for different varieties.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
As far as I know they flower on old wood and any made the previous year after the early spring flowering burst. That's why they - and other early flowering shrubs and clematis - should be pruned, if at all, immediately after flowering is over.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
That makes sense, thanks @Obelixx . Mine makes lots of long arching new stems over the summer (after pruning out quite a bit of the old stuff) and that's where the flowers appear the following spring. There may be a few tucked away on the older branches, but they wouldn't be easy to see behind/under all the new growth.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
As far as I know they flower on old wood and any made the previous year after the early spring flowering burst. That's why they - and other early flowering shrubs and clematis - should be pruned, if at all, immediately after flowering is over.
That’s what I meant … they flower on wood made the previous year and before … that’s why you prune them after flowering (like rambler roses) rather than in the spring (like Hybrid Ts). Sorry if I wasn’t clear.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
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If they're on a shared boundary with no definition, it's worth getting that determined before pruning or removing anything.
If you want screening, it has to be planted on your property. Anything overhanging can be pruned by him, but nothing else.
If you think this may cause future problems, get the boundary defined from the deeds and erect a fence first. Then there's no debate about who owns what
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
When they were cutting back the neighbour's forsythia last year, l suggested that they might like to take it down another foot or so, but l was (politely) ignored. Fair enough, they were carrying out their instructions. We get on fine with the neighbours, but they were out at the time.
Over the last 12 months it has grown at least 18 inches, hardly any flowers.
The good thing is that they always check for nests before starting work.
The bad thing is that it stops me having a really good nosy into what's going on in the Close at the back of us 😁.
Forsythia flowers mainly on old wood so it'll take a few years for your neighbour's to recover.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
To be fair to the guys carrying out the work, they do know what they're doing (they have done some work for us in the past), but they have to follow their instructions. He said to me that it should be cut back after flowering and around a third taken out each year, but what can they do if the customer doesn't want that ? It's so frustrating for them as well.
Could be worse
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.