Is there anything I can do about my neighbour's overgrown garden?

Posted by BigEntertainer8430@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 13 comments

My next door neighbour is a on old bloke (best guess, in his 80s) who isn't very mobile. Ever since we moved in to our house, he keeps telling us he'll hire a gardener to sort his garden, but in 5 years that still hasn't happened. For context, his garden is wildly overgrown. It looks like it hasn't been touched in at least 10 years. The entire bottom half is trees that are around 12-15 feet tall, and it's full of massive bramble bushes. The brambles grow over and through our fence, and while I can trim them back by leaning over the fence to a degree, a month later they're back again. One small benefit is it has become a wildlife haven; we've had deer coming through our garden having hidden out next door, and recently there's been a family of foxes with 3 cubs (but I do worry about them attacking my cat). Is there anything I can do to get someone out to hack it all down? Or do I have to wait for him to sell up/move along?

13 Comments

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Low-Total9121@reddit

None of your business. Trim whats affecting your garden and get over yourself.

Whole_Glass7255@reddit

You should leave him alone and mind your own business.

terryjuicelawson@reddit

I believe the council can get involved if gardens are such a mess they cause issues locally, like pests or growing out into roads or just an eyesore. But they'll fine or charge him so that isn't great if you like the bloke.

Nocturnalist1970@reddit

Get the neighbours together and help the old chap out.

StillJustJones@reddit

Given that the neighbour has said to you that they’d like to clear the flag Arden but are obviously not in a position to do so, can you help them out? Not necessarily doing the graft for them (although this is clearly the quickest and most neighbourly thing to do) but can you source a trusted organisation to help the old chap? There are various schemes and projects dotted over the country. You might need to do some googling or call your local older persons charity who may know of a local service. I have linked an example of such a service below. https://www.groundwork.org.uk/projects/green-aiders-free-garden-rescue

External-Book-3698@reddit

See if there's a Help the Aged charity (or the like) who might come out with some nice volunteers to do it for him?

Open_Caterpillar2766@reddit

Unless its causing a health hazard (e.g. piles of rubbish attracting rats) then there's little you can do other than have a friendly neighbourly chat with him. Unrealistic to expect him to do the work himself at his age, so maybe offer to help or contact some gardeners on his behalf. Whilst it may seem obvious to us to just go onto google and search for local gardeners, it might be a case that he just doesn't know where to go. It might even be a case that he likes his overgrown unkempt wildlife garden and doesn't want to do anything to it, in which case you'll have to just suck it up, wait for him to 'move on' or move yourselves.

Ok-Mudd@reddit

If you're cutting it back to the boundary and disposing of it for him then he's allowed a problem of his making to become yours. Take anything that you're forced to cut back and deposit it on his side in a pile. It's technically theft to do otherwise and that way, he's sharing the inconvenience (disposal) which will make him aware of the problem that needs addressing. If you're friendly with him then you can bag it first. If you're annoyed then just dump his mess on his property. If you're REALLY annoyed, tell him to expect an invoice for the service. Getting a gardener to do what you're doing won't be cheap.

Is there anything I can do about my neighbour's overgrown garden?

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13 Comments

Low-Total9121@reddit

Whole_Glass7255@reddit

terryjuicelawson@reddit

Nocturnalist1970@reddit

StillJustJones@reddit

External-Book-3698@reddit

Open_Caterpillar2766@reddit

Ok-Mudd@reddit

PeggyNoNotThatOne@reddit

randomusername468@reddit

All_within_my_hands@reddit

tmstms@reddit

Urbanyeti0@reddit