Overhanging Trees, Shrubs and Hedges

Report overgrown trees, shrubs and hedges

Overgrown hedges and trees that extend over public roads and footways can pose serious risks to pedestrians and motorists. These obstructions can:

• Injure pedestrians, especially children, people with visual impairments, or those with mobility aids.
• Force people into the road, particularly on narrow pavements.
• Block visibility at junctions and bends, increasing the risk of accidents.
• Obscure traffic signs and streetlights.

To ensure public safety, property owners are responsible for maintaining vegetation on their land so that it does not overhang or obstruct public roads or footways. We kindly ask all residents whose properties border public roads or footways to cut back vegetation to the rear of the footway to allow safe and unobstructed passage.

Current guidance

To protect nesting birds, it is recommended not to cut hedges and trees between March and August. However, public safety must also be considered. If vegetation is causing an obstruction, please:

• Trim it back carefully, avoiding disturbance to nesting birds.
• Plan a follow-up trim later in the year if needed.

Recommended clearances:

• Over footways: minimum height of 2.25 metres
• Over roads: minimum height of 5.5 metres

Keeping watercourses clear

We appreciate the efforts of residents who maintain their gardens. However, please do not dispose of garden waste, such as hedge trimmings or branches into nearby burns, streams, or rivers.

These materials can:

• Accumulate at culvert trash screens like at Craigie Burn, Queens Avenue, Perth
• Cause blockages during heavy rainfall
• Lead to flooding on roads, footways, and even into homes

Recent incidents have included large debris removal, such as a 2-metre log, from culvert screens. Please help us keep watercourses clear by disposing of garden waste responsibly.

What we do - What we do to keep our paths and roads clear

If noted during a routine road or footway inspection or following a public complaint about overhanging vegetation a Council Officer may contact you in the coming weeks regarding this.

If you notice an obstruction, please act now.

Under Section 91 of the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984, the Council may:

• Serve notice requiring vegetation to be cut back within 28 days
• Carry out the work if necessary and recover costs from the owner or occupier

We aim to resolve issues such as overgrown hedges through dialogue and cooperation wherever possible. Enforcement action is only taken as a last resort.