Tree trunks crossing into neighbours boundary

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lms78

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Hi,

I have some lime trees along the border of my garden that have been there for longer than the house (which is approx 50 years old).

The trees are mine, as is the fence line that runs between my neighbour and me.

Over the years the trunks have pushed into next doors land. The fences are very badly bowed, but largely due to ivy and other growth their side are still standing. If you drew what I assume is the legal barrier of our land, the line would go through the trunks.

My neighbour (who I get on with) is about to get his side cleared and has spoken to me about getting a new fence. I have shown him the growth and said that I am sure that when he pulls the ivy down, the fences will go with it.

I have been growing laurels the past 4 or 5 years to try and remove the need for a fence, with the tree problem in mind. Sadly I'm still a few years away from being able to offer that as a solution as they don't yet provide full coverage.

My neighbour has said he doesn't expect me to have the trees taken out and is happy to lose some width to accommodate them, so there is no short term issue (apart from being disappointed that my plan to bush it has fallen short).

My concern is that, should they move on in the future, I assume that any new neighbour would have the right to remove the fence (that I would have paid for) and demand a new fence in its place.

Should that situation occur, does anybody know if the new neighbour would be able to make me take the trees out, and if not, what would be my obligation in terms of providing a fence, given that with them in place I physically can't put one down the actual dividing line.

In addition if anyone has any advice on potential workarounds, that would be an added bonus. I can't see that I'm missing anything obvious, but in case anyone has any bright ideas...

Thanks in advance for any response.
 
lms78 said:
Hi,

I have some lime trees along the border of my garden that have been there for longer than the house (which is approx 50 years old).

The trees are mine, as is the fence line that runs between my neighbour and me.

Over the years the trunks have pushed into next doors land. The fences are very badly bowed, but largely due to ivy and other growth their side are still standing. If you drew what I assume is the legal barrier of our land, the line would go through the trunks.

My neighbour (who I get on with) is about to get his side cleared and has spoken to me about getting a new fence. I have shown him the growth and said that I am sure that when he pulls the ivy down, the fences will go with it.

I have been growing laurels the past 4 or 5 years to try and remove the need for a fence, with the tree problem in mind. Sadly I'm still a few years away from being able to offer that as a solution as they don't yet provide full coverage.

My neighbour has said he doesn't expect me to have the trees taken out and is happy to lose some width to accommodate them, so there is no short term issue (apart from being disappointed that my plan to bush it has fallen short).

My concern is that, should they move on in the future, I assume that any new neighbour would have the right to remove the fence (that I would have paid for) and demand a new fence in its place.

Should that situation occur, does anybody know if the new neighbour would be able to make me take the trees out, and if not, what would be my obligation in terms of providing a fence, given that with them in place I physically can't put one down the actual dividing line.

In addition if anyone has any advice on potential workarounds, that would be an added bonus. I can't see that I'm missing anything obvious, but in case anyone has any bright ideas...

Thanks in advance for any response.
Click to expand...
There's nothing that says there must be a fence between properties. Or that it must be continuous or meet any level of security. Unless you or your neighbour want it you could just live with the half grown hedge. If you have a dog then you are responsible for making sure it doesn't go into someone else's garden, but that's the dog owners job, no matter who owns the fences involved.

If you do decide to build a new fence, on your land, then anyone who buys next door has no right to do anything to your fence at all.

Or, just stop the fence before the trees and start again afterwards.
 
Like this:

upload_2021-9-16_18-57-12.png


Image supplied by google.
 
My neighbor has over an acre but stupidly put leylandii saplings right on the fence line. What an idiot! A complete lack of foresight.
 
telnet said:
My neighbor has over an acre but stupidly put leylandii saplings right on the fence line. What an idiot! A complete lack of foresight.
Click to expand...

Maintained properly they are great for boundaries. They are dense and provide excellent nesting sites for a variety of native birds. I have a far more humble row at 100ft long but I maintain them at 8ft tall. It provides privacy at one side of the garden and I only need cut them in Spring and in Autumn.
 
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