My brother-in-law got into trouble with a neighbor once over something like this. The home he bought had a 6-8 foot thick hedge around the backyard. It was a relatively small yard to begin with, so he decided to take down the hedge and put up a privacy fence instead.

When he took the hedge down - which was ENTIRELY located in his own yard - he had an angry neighbor come and yell at him for not asking permission first. What was he thinking taking down all of those hedges without asking the neighbors - who value their privacy!

My brother-in-law was very kind about it, apologized profusely, and then paid all of the costs to put up a wooden privacy fence - which still had the neighbor angry because it wasn't as nice as the hedge had been.

Dude - you want a hedge? Grow it in your own yard!