Talk to them first, because it's often someone who can't manage it any more. You can cut back anything growing over onto your side, up to the boundary, without asking. If the land is so neglected it harms the area, the council can serve a Section 215 notice, and tall evergreen hedges have their own complaint route.
Start by talking to them
In our experience the overgrown garden next door often isn't laziness. It's someone elderly, someone ill, or an empty house. On our Llwynhendy job the brambles had spread over from the empty house next door, and on the Llanelli job further down, the neighbour was bedridden with three carers a day.
So knock, or leave a note. Ask if they know about it, if family can help, or if they'd be happy for you to get someone in. Citizens Advice says it's best to try to sort things out informally first and to make a note of what you agreed. (Citizens Advice)
What you can cut back yourself
- Anything growing over onto your side. You can trim branches or roots that cross into your property, but only up to the boundary. If you go further, your neighbour could take you to court for damaging their property. (GOV.UK)
- From your side only. You don't need permission to cut what overhangs, but you do need it if you have to go onto their land to do the work. (RHS)
- The cuttings are theirs. Legally they own what you cut off, so ask if they're happy for you to throw it away. The RHS says it should be offered back to the owner. (Citizens Advice, RHS)
- Don't kill or damage the plant. The RHS says damaging a neighbour's tree by pruning or cutting roots can count as negligence. (RHS)
- Check for protected trees. If you live in a conservation area or the tree has a tree preservation order, you might need the council's permission to trim it. (GOV.UK)
- Check for nests. It's an offence to intentionally damage or destroy a wild bird's nest while it's in use or being built. (Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981)
When the council can step in, and when it can't
An overgrown garden on its own
Carmarthenshire Council says that in most cases an overgrown garden isn't a public health nuisance or an environmental health issue, so it usually won't act on that alone. It also says it can't help with damage caused by overgrown plants, like a pushed over fence. That's a civil matter between you and the owner, and the council's advice is to get independent legal advice. If you have evidence that rats or mice are coming from a neighbouring property, the council asks you to tell it. (Carmarthenshire Council, overgrown gardens)
Land that is harming the area
If land is so neglected that it harms the look of the area, the council's planning team can use section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which applies in Wales. It lets the council serve a notice on the owner and occupier saying what has to be done to put the land right, and by when. (legislation.gov.uk) Carmarthenshire's overgrown gardens page points you to the planning department for this.
A tall evergreen hedge
High hedges are dealt with under Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, which has applied in Wales since 31 December 2004. It covers a line of two or more mostly evergreen or semi-evergreen trees or shrubs, over 2 metres tall, that's affecting your enjoyment of your home or garden. You have to try to sort it out with your neighbour first. Carmarthenshire Council's complaint form says the fee is £320, which is also the most a council in Wales can charge. (Carmarthenshire high hedges form, Welsh Government) If the council upholds it, it can tell the owner what to do and by when, but it can't make them remove the hedge or cut it below 2 metres. (section 69) More on that in can I cut my neighbour's leylandii hedge?
A real one: he paid to clear his neighbour's garden
This was in Llanelli. The fella next door is bedridden with three carers a day, and nobody had touched his garden in four or five years. Brambles, ivy and buddleia had taken over the patio, gone up the walls and into the windows, and it was coming through my client's wall, his roof and in through his window. The back door hadn't been opened in years.
So my client paid to get next door cleared. I quoted £800 for the lot. He could only do £400, so we agreed half a day covering the hedge, the patio and everything touching his house. Me and Callum went in through his kitchen and a gate that fell apart as soon as I touched it, but it looked silly half done, so we stayed the full day and cleared the whole garden, and that time was on us. Along the way we found a toilet, footballs, a ladder, a racing bike and a door nobody had seen in years.
He paid to clear his bedridden neighbour’s garden in Llanelli, because it was coming through his wall, roof and window.
Legally you don't have to pay for your neighbour's garden, and you can't go onto their land without their say so. But when the person next door can't do it, sometimes paying for it is the quickest fix for everyone.
If you're the one whose garden has got away from you, there's no judgement here. Send us a photo and we'll give you a fixed price, or book a team for a day and we'll get through as much as we can.
This is general information about the law in Wales, not legal advice. If you're in a dispute, speak to Citizens Advice or a solicitor.
Sources: GOV.UK, high hedges, trees and boundaries; Citizens Advice Wales, disagreeing about a tree or hedge; RHS, trees and the law; Carmarthenshire Council, overgrown gardens; Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 215; Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, Part 8; Welsh Government, high hedges; Carmarthenshire high hedges complaint form; Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, section 1.
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