Leylandii hedges that are too tall: your options, including a high hedge complaint

Published 25 October 2026

A row of leylandii planted as a quick screen can turn into a wall of conifers taller than the house. If it’s your hedge, the fix is usually a staged reduction or, if it has gone too far, removal. If it’s your neighbour’s hedge blocking your light, there’s a legal route through the council, but it costs money and takes time, so it’s worth knowing how it works before you start.

If it’s your own hedge: reduce it carefully, or replace it

Leylandii won’t grow back from bare brown wood. The RHS says new growth will not appear from bare wood, so a hedge cut back past its green foliage stays bare.

For height, the RHS suggests reducing by up to a third at a time, ideally in early April just before new growth starts, then reducing further once the plants have recovered. Taking off too much at once can leave a bare, flat-topped hedge and may kill older plants.

Government guidance suggests a hedge of about 2 metres usually gives privacy on a level site, and that hedges over 2.5 metres usually need specialist equipment or professional help to trim. If your leylandii is already brown and bare on the side that matters, cutting it back won’t bring it back, and leylandii removal followed by new planting is often the real answer.

Whatever you do, check for nesting birds first. Cheshire East Council advises avoiding hedge cutting in the nesting season, 1 March to 31 August, and damaging an active nest is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

If it’s your neighbour’s hedge: start with a conversation

Every council around Stockport expects you to try to sort things out with your neighbour before it will get involved. The government’s Over the garden hedge leaflet suggests:

• being clear about the problem, how it affects you and what you’d like to happen
• talking face to face if you can, without accusing or blaming
• following up with a short, polite letter (it says “don’t make it sound like a threat”)
• trying mediation if talking doesn’t work; a mediator helps you reach your own agreement and doesn’t decide for you

Keep notes and copies of everything. Councils will ask for this evidence. Manchester City Council, for example, recommends trying for at least six months, and Tameside wants written evidence dated within three months of your complaint.

Does your hedge count as a “high hedge”?

The high hedges law (Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003) only covers hedges that are:

• a line of two or more trees or shrubs, even if there are gaps
• mostly evergreen or semi-evergreen (leylandii and other conifers qualify; Tameside notes that beech, hornbeam, ivy and bamboo don’t)
• over 2 metres high from natural ground level
• on land owned by someone else
• blocking light or access and affecting the reasonable enjoyment of your home or garden

A single tree isn’t covered. Stockport Council also won’t consider fears the hedge will fall, health worries, roots, other hedges in the area being kept lower, or the fact that the hedge was there before you moved in. The affected property has to be a home or its garden, not a garage or shed.

Which council, and what it costs

You complain to the council for the area where you live. Fees vary a lot, and are not usually refunded even if you win:

• Stockport Council (Stockport, Bramhall, Marple, Hazel Grove, Bredbury): £675, with a 50% discount if you receive housing or council tax benefit. You must send a copy of the complaint to the hedge owner and show you warned them it would go to the council.
• Cheshire East Council (Wilmslow, Poynton, Alderley Edge, Handforth, Knutsford, Chelford): £680, paid only once the council has validated your complaint. It wants a photo and sketch plan of the hedge, and distances to affected windows if light is the issue.
• Tameside Council (Hyde, Denton): £350. Tameside Mediates offers mediation if both sides agree.
• Manchester City Council (Wythenshawe): £460, non-refundable. Each affected owner makes a separate complaint.
• Trafford Council (Altrincham): check the current fee on its high hedges page. If a complaint is missing information, it refunds the fee minus a £45 admin charge.

What happens next

A council officer looks at both sides’ evidence and visits the site to measure the hedge and the garden. There’s no fixed timescale, but both Stockport and Cheshire East say to expect around 12 weeks.

If the council agrees the hedge is a problem, it serves a remedial notice on the owner, saying what must be done and by when. It can also require the hedge to be kept trimmed in future. There are limits: the council can’t order the hedge to be removed, can’t order anything that would kill it, and can’t require it to be cut below 2 metres.

Ignoring a remedial notice is an offence, with a fine of up to £1,000, and the council can go in and do the work itself. Either side can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. Cheshire East says appeals must be made within 28 days, and Stockport says there’s no charge to appeal.

Protected hedges

If the hedge has a Tree Preservation Order or stands in a conservation area, work on it still needs the council’s consent. See our guide on whether you need permission to cut down a tree in Stockport or our protected trees page.

How our teams help

Whether you want to keep your own leylandii in check before it becomes a problem, or you’ve been served a remedial notice, our teams can reduce conifer hedges in stages from platforms rather than ladders, or remove them and grind out the stumps ready for replanting. See our hedge trimming service, or get a free quote.