neighbor problems with the boundry.

vviivv

Hi! Four years ago me and my husband bought a detached property with a small garden in a row of similar properties. The garden had low (1m) fence marking a boundary and a hedge was planted on our side of the fence for privacy. My neighbor cut the hedge in half without my permission. My husband confronted him very calmly and they apologized, claiming it was a mistake. Unfortunately, a year and a half have passed and here we are in the same situation. What can I do in this kind of situation? Should I call the Gardai or can I take them to court to stop this? They were very angry about the fact that we didn't want the hedge to be cut and ever since that situation every time we go into the garden, they play very loud music to bother us, so I don't use the garden, but the hedge is important as it prevents them from looking into my bedroom windows.

I hate confrontation and this situation is taking a toll on my mental health. I am completely at loss what to do. I will try to sell and buy a different house as soon as we will be able to do it financially, but that might be years ahead.

The other side of the garden is also a problem (of my making) but maybe someone can give me advice on what to do. When we moved in, the neighboring house was not lived in for 5 years, and the hedge that was the boundary was overcame by brambles. I have a small child, so in order to protect him, we trimmed the hedge to the boundary line and installed a fence. Unfortunately, it is about half a meter into our garden. Two years later, the neighboring house was sold to the county and renovated, and the brambles (and the hedge) were all removed. Now I feel I made a big mistake with the fence as it took a substantial part of an already small garden. Can I move the fence to the boundary? If I leave it be, will I lose that part of the garden for good? Would fighting for that be worth the effort?

I'm sorry for a lengthy post, hopefully someone can give me some advice.

Peregrinus

Yes, you can move the fence that is inside your garden to the boundary. It would be wise to discuss this with the occupants/owners of the neighbouring house before you do it. If the local government still owns it, they will probably want evidence of where the boundary lies, so get your maps ready.

As regards the hedge on the other side, you say that a year-and-a-half has passed since the neighbour cut the hedge in half (I presume you mean he reduced the height by half) and "here we are in the same situation". What does that mean? Has the hedge not grown back? Has the neighbour continued to cut it?

vviivv

Thank you for your answer!

Yes, the hedge has grown back (which I was waiting for). Not to the height it was before, but it did start to come back to what it was. Last weekend, when we went away for a day, the neighbor cut it once again, although we told him not to do that. Is there anything I can do to prevent this in the future? I have not confronted him yet, as I don't think that just asking would be effective at all.

Peregrinus

It's your hedge, in you garden; he shouldn't be cutting it. If any parts of it grow through or over the fence into his garden he can cut those.

But if you're not willing to confront him about it, why would he stop? How would he even know you want him to?

The only option I can think of is to replace the existing 1m fence with a higher fence. It can be an open fence, e.g. chain link, to minimise the visual impact.

vviivv

I'm sorry, it seems that my post wasn't written clearly enough. I (well, not me, but my husband, as he was able to do it calmly) did confront the neighbor the first time he cut the hedge. We asked them not to cut it again and he did apologize.

In order to put in the taller fence we would have to cut the hedge to have access to install the fence. I guess I could do that and then replant the hedge, but it means I have to cover the cost of the works.

He should not cut it in the first place, as he is destroying my property. My question is what can i do about that. Should i call Gardai? Or take them to small claims court? If I did that, would that be even effective?

Peregrinus

This is a property dispute, not a police matter. The Guards will not interest themselves in it; it's not their business.

The small claims process isn't really what you want either. It's designed for consumer claims against businesses, and focuses on modest awards of monetary damages. You could claim an amount for damage to your hedge, but it's hard to quantify that - you won't be spending any money repairing the hedge; it will grow back naturally. What you actually want is an order restraining him from cutting your hedge; you won't get that through the small claims procedure.

Which leaves you with regular court action. You'd have a strong case but it would be time-consuming and expensive and, frankly, putting up a higher fence will be both quicker and cheaper, though I appreciate you'll have to regrow the hedge.

But all of this is predicated on your being unwilling to confront him. Quite frankly, calling the guards or launching court proceedings against him would be a lot more hostile than simply speaking to him, pointing out that he has previously apologised for cutting your hedge and now he has done it again, and asking him why? If you're not willing to talk to him about this it's likely that he will keep cutting your hedge because he will assume that you don't mind.

vviivv

Thank you for your answer. It cleared up what are the possible ways for me to deal with this matter.