Home and garden

The Home and garden tools take one property's situation and set out what the rules say about it, with the official source named and the date the rules were checked.

The first is the high hedge and tree checker. It works out the height at which a council can act on a tall evergreen hedge next door. It also says what has to happen before a tree is cut back or felled. For a garden 15 m deep with a 6 m hedge on its southern side, it gives 3.75 m.

• The hedge figure follows the government's Hedge height and light loss method, from the garden's depth, the hedge's direction and any window of a main room.
• The tree answer covers branches crossing the boundary, Tree Preservation Orders and conservation areas, with the first and last day a notice allows work.
• England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own hedge law, so the checker asks where the property is.

The UK sets no distance at which a hedge or tree must stand from the boundary, and no general height limit. A hedge can be planted on the line itself and left to grow until it causes a problem the law recognises.

Two rules come closest. A line of two or more evergreens over 2 m that blocks light can be the subject of a complaint. The local council can then order a cut, never below 2 m. Branches and roots crossing the boundary may be cut back to the line by the neighbour they reach, as GOV.UK explains.

Protection is the third limit. A Tree Preservation Order means the council's consent comes first, and in a conservation area a tree with a stem over 75 mm across needs six weeks' notice. Scotland drops the evergreen test for hedges, and both Scotland and Northern Ireland count light only.

Every route starts with the neighbours themselves. A council can refuse a hedge complaint until all reasonable steps to settle it have been taken, so a conversation, a letter or mediation normally comes first.

If that fails, the complaint goes to the council with its fee: set by each council in England, £320 in Wales and £360 in Northern Ireland. The council can issue a remedial notice, and either side may appeal within 28 days.

Before any cut, the council's planning team can confirm whether a tree is protected, and an active bird's nest is protected whatever the season. These pages explain what the law and the official guidance say, with each source named. They do not give advice on a particular dispute or say whether a complaint will succeed; a solicitor or the council can look at a specific case.