On a small, sleepy street, the fight didn’t start with shouting.
It started with a hedge.
On one side, a retired couple who had planted leylandii twenty years ago “for privacy.” On the other, a young family who no longer saw the sun on their terrace after 3 p.m. The hedge had quietly climbed past two meters, then two and a half, then nearly three. Each summer, the shade grew. So did the resentment.
This winter, a letter arrived. Not from the neighbors. From the town hall. A reminder of a new rule coming into force on February 15: oversized hedges, too close to the property line, must be brought into compliance.
Suddenly, that silent green wall became a legal problem.
And a ticking clock.
From friendly hedge to legal headache: what changes on February 15
From February 15, a very concrete rule will start to bite: any hedge higher than 2 meters and located less than 50 cm from the boundary with a neighbor can be subject to penalties if it isn’t trimmed. This isn’t a theoretical urban-planning note that no one reads. It changes the everyday life of thousands of homeowners whose gardens are separated by fast-growing plants.
What used to be a vague “understanding between neighbors” is now framed by clear legal thresholds. Height. Distance. Responsibility. Suddenly, that line of shrubs that you haven’t touched “because you’ve always done it that way” might be out of bounds in the eyes of the law.
Take Anne, 43, who lives in a semi-detached house on the outskirts of a mid-sized town. When she moved in, the hedge on the right-hand side was already in place, thick and reassuring. Over the years, it turned into a dark green barrier, now almost 2.80 m high. It stands barely 30 cm from the property line.
Last autumn, her neighbor slipped a note in her mailbox: “Could you cut the hedge? We’ve lost all our light.” Anne didn’t respond immediately. Winter came, days got shorter, and the issue was left hanging. Then came the notification from the town, explicitly referencing the new rule effective February 15. Overnight, a private annoyance became a formal obligation.
Behind this new framework lies a simple logic: preventing endless neighbor disputes from clogging up local authorities and courts. Excessive hedges cause shade, dampness on walls, blocked gutters, roots infiltrating foundations, and even security issues when they obscure visibility on the street.
By setting a limit of 2 meters in height and a minimum distance of 50 cm from the property boundary, the rule draws a line between “normal planting” and nuisance. It also gives neighbors a common reference, so they argue less about perceptions and more about measurable facts. *A tape measure now weighs as much as an opinion in these stories.*
How to bring your hedge into compliance without a neighborhood war
The first reflex is not to grab the chainsaw. It’s to grab… your calendar and your phone. Before you cut anything, take photos of the hedge from both sides, measure its height and its distance to the property line, and keep a small record. That way, you know exactly where you stand compared to the “2 meters / 50 cm” rule from February 15.
Then, go and talk to your neighbor. A simple, honest sentence like: “I’ve seen the new rule, I’m going to cut back the hedge, can we agree on the best time?” can deflate a lot of stored-up tension. From there, you can schedule a pruning date and choose whether you handle it yourself or call a professional.
The biggest trap is waiting for the conflict to explode before acting. We’ve all been there, that moment when a small annoyance grows quietly in a corner of your mind until the slightest noise, the slightest branch crossing the line, feels like an attack. Let’s be honest: nobody really keeps an exact pruning schedule every single year.
The risk is that you end up with a hedge so dense and tall that cutting it becomes expensive, noisy, and spectacular. That’s when neighbors film through their windows, comment from behind the curtains, and every cut branch becomes a symbol. Acting before February 15, or at least engaging the conversation, helps keep things at the level of simple garden maintenance rather than emotional drama.
“Plants grow, relationships don’t always follow,” says Marc, a professional landscaper who spends half his time mediating between neighbors. “When the law comes in, it’s rarely a surprise. People have usually felt the problem for years. The rule just puts a date on it.”
To avoid spiraling into a bitter stand-off, a few simple moves help keep the peace while you bring your hedge back into line:
- Talk early and calmly about the February 15 rule, instead of waiting for a registered letter.
- Offer to show your neighbor the planned cutting height so they feel involved, not blindsided.
- Get a written quote from a gardener and suggest sharing the cost if the hedge benefits both sides.
- Plan the trimming for a weekday daytime slot to avoid evening or weekend noise battles.
- Agree in advance who keeps or disposes of the green waste to avoid yet another argument.
More than branches: what this new rule says about how we live together
Beyond the numbers and centimeters, this story of 2-meter hedges and those famous 50 cm touches on something deeper. It forces us to rethink the invisible border between “my home” and “yours,” between what I like in my garden and what you have to accept in yours. A hedge is rarely just leaves and branches. It’s often a symbol of privacy, or on the contrary, of suffocation.
For some, the new obligation from February 15 feels like an intrusion into their garden. For others, it’s a long-awaited protection against bulky neighbors who let their plants run wild. Between those two feelings lies the real challenge: learning to talk about light, shade, noise, and space without turning every disagreement into a personal attack.
| Key point | Detail | Value for the reader |
|---|---|---|
| Legal threshold | Hedge higher than 2 m and less than 50 cm from the boundary can be sanctioned after February 15 | Know instantly if your hedge is at risk and avoid unpleasant surprises |
| Dialogue first | Contact neighbors and document the situation before trimming | Reduce conflict, build proof, and find shared solutions |
| Anticipation | Plan pruning, possible professional help, and waste removal ahead of time | Save money, time, and avoid last-minute stress under legal pressure |
FAQ:
- What happens if I refuse to trim my hedge after February 15?In many municipalities, your neighbor can request intervention from the town hall, who may issue a formal notice. If you still do nothing, you risk fines and, in some cases, the work can be carried out at your expense after a legal process.
- Does the rule apply if the hedge was planted decades ago?Yes, the height and distance criteria apply regardless of the age of the planting. An “old” hedge does not exempt you from your obligations if it currently exceeds 2 m and stands closer than 50 cm to the property line.
- Who pays for trimming the hedge?As a rule, the person who owns the hedge pays for its maintenance and trimming on their side, including if they call a professional. Neighbors can agree to share the cost, but that’s a private arrangement, not an automatic legal rule.
- Can my neighbor cut the branches that overhang their property?They can usually ask you to cut them first. If you refuse or ignore the request, they may have specific rights depending on local law to have overhanging branches removed, but they cannot just take drastic action without respecting the legal process.
- What if I physically can’t trim such a high hedge myself?If the hedge has become too tall or dangerous for a DIY job, calling a professional gardener or tree surgeon is strongly recommended. You can also talk to your neighbor about sharing the cost, especially if both of you benefit from the hedge being brought back into compliance.
