Please stop me from going around to the neighbours

[DuckyMcDuck]

And give them a piece of my mind. (Wine might have been taken!)

We have a lot of ivy growing on the fence at the back of our garden, there is a narrow passageway on the other side of the fence. This time last year, the neighbours asked to cut it back and we explained that it is always full of sparrows' nests and we would cut it back in the winter - which we did.

So this year, the sparrows have been there as usual. It's been lovely watching them fly in and out and we've been feeding and watering them as usual.

So, yesterday, the neighbours have decimated cutback the hedge. There are huge gaps and when we went into the passageway earlier I saw at least 6 nests and a few bodies of the baby birds.

I'm so cross, I understand that the access is tricky with the ivy at the moment but it's not damaging their property in any way and they know we'll cut it back once the fledglings have gone. But they've basically murdered the babies. Sparrows are becoming less common.

I don't know if they have actually done anything legally wrong but I'm so tempted to go and tell them they're a bunch of murdering fucking wankers.

Take photos and report the murdering arses of neighbours.

Its your fault imo. You can't expect them to have to move your ivy back everytime they want to access your property. They highlight it to u and u have let it grow to a point it inconveniences them again. Why do they have to ask again? They have asked and u know it obstructs their access so why didn't u gently cut it back already. I am sure their intension wasn't to hurt the birds. U control the ivy and the birds will be fine.

@Idontgiveagriffindamn

May was 2 months ago - our garden has gone crazy in that time. You need to keep on top of it more as it’s caused them an issue. They shouldn’t have resolved to self help but they also shouldn’t have to ask you to do it - you should be proactive about maintenance when it’s potentially impacting others.

This ^^ I cut a jasmine right back to almost nothing at the beginning of lockdown, it has more than quadrupled in size since then, I also knew it would happen because it's a yearly occurrence... Fortunately I live in a semi so it doesn't bother anyone, but if any of my neighbours asked me to trim because they have to hold it back every time they walked that way I would make efforts at the time to ensure that we don't have the same problem every year. Either by keeping on top of the pruning or easier still, retraining the ivy so I could host and enjoy the birds in my own garden.

Many times I've come a cropper in the garden, for example when I'm smartly dressed for work but gone to retrieve my bike, I can end up with a face full of cobweb, brushing past shrubs covered in bird crap or whatever. it's mildly irritating, sometimes meaning I have to go back in to wash something off or get changed or re-do my make up and I end up short of time and flustered.
I can't get cross with myself as it's my fault but I'd be bloody annoyed if it was my neighbour's selfishness creating these problems for me.
Imagine if it's a busy parent or someone with disabilities / access issues, or if they have a child with special needs for whom this 'holding back' of plants adds an element of distress. Could be Fear of bees, wasps etc, severe hay-fever or other allergies.

I wouldn't go so far as killing birds in anger but if I'd asked them once and they kept letting it happen I'd be mighty pissed off and after a year of these shenanigans I'd definitely be making steps to rectify the problem myself.

If they'd come and said the ivy was causing a problem, we'd have tried to cut it back ourselves carefully,
Absolute bullshit, they've already asked you to sort it last year, you clearly didn't want to do it because your ego meant that you wanted to feel superior about your love of the birds and you convinced yourself that your need is more important than an actual obstruction to your neighbours.
I really feel that you have blood on your hands in this.

@DuckyMcDuck we have to cut our ivy too, but we do it twice yearly as it's along our own side passage - it's full of life though as it flowers and the bees depend on it when nothing else is in flower. I would definitely not leave this with regards to the neighbours. Has anyone got any cctv footage as back-up?

Can you cut it right back in Autumn and fix a row of bird boxes suitable for sparrows (we have pouches in ours) and that way, if they ever hack at it again, at least the wooden boxes will be safe on your side of the fence inside the ivy.

Dicks. Report.

I agree that you should report them - it will give them a fright and they won’t do it again next year! My parents had a slightly similar issue with neighbours putting strong weedkiller in my parents’ garden where they had grown wildlife friendly plants which the neighbours considered to be weeds. They backed off after my dad mentioned getting the police involved!.

Your neighbours may be annoyed at the ivy but they cannot take an electric hedgecutter ro it !

My NDN have a tree that overhangs my garden, it sheds leaves , it drops leaves and a few years ago a branch fell literally inches from me after a storm damaged it

I would dearly love to hack it back (or even more for them to reduce it) .
I can only cut back the overhang . (And mindful of nesting birds )

Sparrows are also endangered here - they are on the red list for species of concern. This is a crime. We have ivy on our house full of them so I get your enjoyment. Give them a piece of your mind!

If it was me I'd definitely confront them, I'd put my bra back on ( bra on means serious trouble is coming your way) and go round, plus I'd report them.
Absolutely disgusting on their part, I have birds nesting in my ivy and baby hedgehogs underneath it, I would throttle someone who put them at risk

'Sparrows aren’t covered by the wildlife and countryside act' - I didn't realise this. We have many birds nesting in our boundaries, including sparrows, blackbirds, crows, pigeons, and recently robins. The idea that someone would actively carry out acts that would kill these creatures is horrific to me. Alongside our fox and squirrel families, I love watching the birds.

the end of May and you did need to push the ivy back but it certainly wasn't blocking access at all

And now it’s mid July. I know how much my neighbours ivy has grown through our boundary fence in the last 4 weeks even because I’ve had to cut it twice already.

YANBU to be furious about the birds -I love seeing the baby sparrows in our garden but YABVU to have so much ivy that it needs pushing back in May so people can walk down an access path, it must have been massive by now.

It's lovely to have the birds, but if anyone who had to wrestle their way past their neighbour's overhanging plant to get into their own garden the entire summer, would be pissed off.

There's a middle way between knowingly causing a nuisance to your neighbours for half the year and preserving the wild birds' nesting spot - by managing the ivy carefully and sensitively. It just takes more effort.

You are both bu. I’m assuming you’ll keep on top of your overgrown garden from now on?

I feel so sorry for those little birds but it was totally your fault. You shouldn’t be blocking a passageway so much that it prevents people accessing their own property. That’s incredibly selfish. The birds can nest on your side of the fence!
Keep your bloody garden under control.

Ivy is fucking horrible and, from personal experience, will have grown a fuckton from when you last saw it in May to now, due to the weather we've been having. And your neighbours had to push it back then.. fucks sake!

Yes, baby birds being killed is horrible - it truly is - but cut back your fucking ivy! Why should anyone have to 'push it back'? I get dermatitis from ivy, really bad, my entire forearms swell up and it is painful, itchy and does not go away for weeks. But if I was your neighbour, I should just suck it up despite asking politely last year?

YAB so ridiculously U - this thread has made me so cross

Well given that you have essentially sent the message that you don’t give a shit in the past it’s no surprising they finally lost it and did it themselves. It’s sad that birds died in the process of course but it is your fault. If you’d kept on top of the Ivy like a considerate person then this wouldn’t have happened.

Your neighbours may be annoyed at the ivy but they cannot take an electric hedgecutter ro it

That's not true. They have the right to cut off anything that overhangs into the shared space. A hedge cutter was an appropriate tool for the job so I'm not sure why that makes any difference at all.

They dont have a right to do it when birds nesting though. They broke the law.

All birds are covered by the act. This misinformation here is unsettling me. I feel with this for my job and we spend a lot of effort to protect birds, even if it's a god damn pigeon.

"All birds, their nests and eggs are protected by law and it is thus an offence, with certain exceptions (see Exceptions), to: Intentionally kill, injure or take any wild bird. Intentionally take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built."

Blimey, so someone having to push the ivy is used to justifying baby birds being killed?

Have some heart.

They could have done it carefully with hand tools and around the nest, or waited literally a few weeks.

I suppose they felt they had a point to make.,

Yes report them, but more importantly, keep on top of it next year and don’t let it grow over the top of your fence, or keep clipping it back so that the birds will have nothing that side to nest in and will all be in your garden safe.

It’s very upsetting of course, but your lack of action has led this to happen. You know how fast it grows so knew it would be a problem again come the summer despite cutting it in January. They can’t spend two months struggling to get to their garden because you like birds.

If you don’t actually do anything sensible—like move the actual tree—I foresee them doing this year after year. So it shouldn’t be a case of “why should I move my tree?” but it should be a case of you thinking of everyone, including keeping those birds safe.

@YardleyX

Sparrows aren’t covered by the wildlife and countryside act

All nesting birds are.