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When do you retender? I would include wording on the contract that you only maintain shrubs and trees within the boundaries.
Normally, I would expect cutting overhang from neighbours gardens as an extra cost on your clients part, and you DO NOT take any instruction to do this from the neighbours. They must speak with your client to arrange this.
its the neighbours responsibility to cut overhanging plants back to their boundary - I get asked this now and again, and simply politely give a price for the work - Explaining that I am not paid to maintain their garden too.
They wouldnt contribute to my clients costs paying for my services to chop back their overhanging branches etc so it works both ways.
I've found as long as your polite, the fact their asking is almost an invite to tender for the work - they obivously dont want to, cant or are not equiped ot do the job themselves - Give a price, i've had quite a few people take me up!
At the end of my garden there is a dreaded lylandii hedge. When I arrived it was over thirty feet tall, it divides a school from my garden, the hedge was seldom cut on their side but by speaking to the headmaster we got permission to bring it down to 15 feet and we trim it regularly. they leave their side alone until I ask to cut it, I'm never refused and it gives us both peace as I'm not on the phone screaming cut your chuffing hedge!
Previously they refused because the old occupants were some what aggressive and the hedge didn't affect the school in any way.
Good PR Andy, always nice to have neighbourly relations, even if they are literally on your own back doorstep on that occasion.
I echo the advice above and smile when I read David's words: often the noise of hedge cutting going on 'in the neighbourhood' attracts interest. Being 'neat & tidy' often wins another adjacent task, and that's because we use tarps in almost all situations for hedge clippings ;->
Cheers, Eugene
Just a few weeks ago, i had a clients neighbour very politely ask if i could cut their side of my clients hedge, and bill my client for it! i explained i would have to speak to client about it before i could do any such thing. when i did i found them to be the neighbours from hell, so it was a good job i didnt do it, as my client dislikes them immensely to put it mildly.
So the part of a hedge that grows over the boundary is the neighbours responsibility?
I've had customers moaning at me about their neighbours, saying "It's their hedge so they should come round and cut this side as well"
It's the responsibility of the owner of the hedge, not the person whose land it encroaches on. However, I don't usually include this element on most commercial contracts. It is a chargeable extra IF the client wants it. It's up to the neighbour to speak to your client.
I've had a neighbour ask me to go and cut his hedge claiming he had okay'd it with my client (the client wasn't in at the time) I said no as I'd spoken to the client in the morning and he made no mention of the neighbours hedge.
I offered to cut the neighbours hedge for a price and was declined because apparently the neighbour didn't want to get ripped off.
The neighbours hedge remains uncut 6 weeks later.
Seth Burgess said:
+1 Ben & Seth - how to avoid being set up with long standing neighbours (read: dislike each other) while simply being the party employed to do a good job on one side.
Once again the call comes to TV producers: how about identifying the rogue clients out there rather than the rogue cowboys????
There are plenty of rogue clients out there, and because of our trade, (sadly), they think we are more than fair game for their price negotiation episodes.
I wouldn't ever do it to a 'trade' myself and I'll happily turn my back if someone suggests my fair prices could be 'negotiatable'.
Cheers, Eugene
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