Hi,

When we bought our house the front, and front side properties were bordered in privet, while it has always been overgrown with poisen oak, and poisen ivy, when it was trimmed it did look good for about 4 days, then it looked unkempt, and was a decent privacy barrier from the road and neighbors. It also has the unfortunate habbit of catching eveyones leaves and trash, cause we are the only ones who have border hedge. So anyway, we decided that it was for the best to have them removed cause my wife and I both work full time and cant keep trimming them all summer as well as the other negatives mentioned. We figured the right thing to do is let the neighbors kknow our plans, since its on the border with their property. One neighbor said she totally understood, and it was fine. The other has issues claiming that they spoke to an engineer friend and that they are afriad this may damage their foundation (which is about 15 feet from the closest hedge) Some of you may remember my sordid tale of putting in a fence in my back yard. Yes this is the same neighbor. Anyway, the privet on that side, is MAYBE 6ft at its tallest, will having them pulled cause damage to his property? I would be having them done by a pro. They also calim there may be a gasline there, I am having digsafe check that out. I am the easiest person to get along with, and I hate the way we get along with this neighbor but I dont know what to do.

If I do get rid of the privet, is there a better replacement with less maintenance?

Thanks!