Owning your own home

It's unclear (because I've not cut my way through to that point) but either the same neighbour, or the next one along, has allowed one of their trees to push through the rear wall of garage 4.

Obviously I'm biased here, but "not my garage, not my problem" is a bit annoying.

Being London to visit these neighbours takes some interrogation of Google maps, a bit of guesswork, and then a fifteen minute walk.

that provide a home for multiple families of foxes.

Why don’t you just leave it.

Foxes in my part of London are not short of homes, if that's your concern.

I speak to my neighbours but as an Australian, my level of mad is certainly non-zero.

If you're going to do the work anyway, you could suggest "the first one's free, but in future, if you could keep this stuff under control, it'd be better for both of us"

Really, before you started the work you should've asked them to prune their stuff. Because if you do it and then just dump it on them, you look like a bit of a prick even if that's not actually the case.

You're just setting yourself up to have to do it every time though.

I can see why they didn’t go to the bother of pruning past their boundary. A friendly word is what’s needed - I mean actually friendly rather than London friendly

Same.

Also the ridiculousness of the "rule" about giving the cuttings back makes for an easy conversion starter.

"hey, I know this is a bit odd etc.... but you know what some people are like! Nice to meet you etc."*

London friendly

"I know where your kids go to school... "

Why don’t you just leave it.

Ah. The words of someone who doesn't have to deal with fox shit or their small children's safety.

My neighbour's ivy front hedge was hanging significantly over my wall. Wasn't much work to cut it back so I did just that. Before finding out that it hanging over the wall was the only thing holding it up. Cut the last vine and his whole hedge promptly flopped over onto his path. I guess it wasn't really my problem, but I like him and he had been nice to us up to that point. So to save marring the relationship I fired a few anchors into the wall on his side and tied the hedge back up with wire. It's still standing.

Really, before you started the work you should've asked them to prune their stuff. Because if you do it and then just dump it on them, you look like a bit of a prick even if that's not actually the case.

I'm disposing of everything from this first, big clear up.

What's going to happen when it grows back? You're gonna be in the same position, no?

(I'd poison the fuck out of it all so nothing ever grows there again)

What hippy said. Also, if it's a bit of a trek to find the house responsible, it's pretty likely that they are equally as unaware of what is going on behind your garages as they probably don't go down there.
Have a chat first, see how responsive they are, ideally agree to some ongoing maintenance from their side.

We did something similar at uni.

A mate who was from their borrowed his dad's strimmer. We cleaned up the garden we inside to watch Neighbours and my mate closest to the window said; "the wall is falling down". Next thing we hear is an almighty crash as the top third of the brick wall tumbled over into next door's garden.

What's going to happen when it grows back? You're gonna be in the same position, no?

Not really, if I get up on the roof every month or so I reckon it'd be just cutting through the little shoots.

Maintaining that would be very different to clearing this:

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^That's already significantly reduced as I have cut back garages 1&2

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And this is what it's like up on the roof

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Kind of related - we have some kind of community charges or service charge or whatever that pays for gardening and things like garage roof repair. Does your place not have that kind of thing?

That was the stuff that was mostly hanging from my garden over the brook into the park. Had to climb 10ft down into the brook to cut it back.

Kind of related - we have some kind of community charges or service charge or whatever that pays for gardening and things like garage roof repair. Does your place not have that kind of thing?

Hah - yes. I spoke to the managing agent, they asked for a quote from the gardening service to take care of it, as it is their responsibility. Quote received and then nothing.

I am making the assumption that it's too many $ for the managing agent, so they're going with "if we do nothing maybe it will fix itself".

My previous rented flat in Peckham has a garden like a forest, the neighbour's was devoid of plants (excl grass). One day I noticed the neighbour's gardener cutting back branches/plants growing from my garden into his which he was throwing back over the fence into my garden. It felt rude so I took everything he was throwing over and threw it back, the owner started shouting at me... Once he had calmed down I offered him the use of my green waste bin to dispose of the cutting and I cut back what was growing over... In the end a discussion would have solved unnessesary agro..

It will fix itself when the shed roofs collapse from all the root ingress, but that might be a sub-par solution.

a discussion would have solved unnecessary agro

As much as I would like to simply have people killed in their sleep to solve the world's problems, this is often a simpler fix.

Lets just wack all animals in zoos

It will fix itself when the shed roofs collapse from all the root ingress, but that might be a sub-par solution.

Yes, keen to avoid this. It was growing into the garages before I started to cut it all back, clogging the guttering and so on.

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Some people would pay a lot of money (in London) for a living roof on their garage.
They're all the rage apparently..