Neighbours ivy destroying our fence

[thehungryteacher]

TLDR - neighbours Ivy is growing against out fence and has got so big it causing it to bow in it will fail if it not removed. It needs cutting down. I keep trimmming it. I've already asked once- wwyd?

Context- They live to the back of us on another street an we rarely see them as they is a fence. Previously there was a low fence and used to chat to them every so often but now there is a higher fence we rarely see them. They are avid gardener with a huge lawn and ornamental garden, a veg and flower patch and a council allotment. They are now mid- early 70s I reckoning but still gardening all the time.

They are perfectly nice and friendly. We have along fence our side path and their veg patch. Only this year has this grown rampant against our fence. Coming though and over the top. We trim the overhang and I spoke to them in the summer about cutting it back. But now it so heavy our fence is bowing and it cannot hold the weight. In a storm it would be down.

We are due to move and will rent out this house in the next few weeks.

I'm don't like confronting people or turning up in announced - not sure they would recognise - even politely asking for them to do something freaks me out.

I could write to them? Or send solicitor letter. I did stand on a chair and cut it back and could see they were in the kitchen with the door open and had a loud conversation with DH in the hope they would over hear and take action!!!

Ask again.

Ivy is an absolute thug. We had this with a neighbour too. The only way to get rid of it is to use a systemic weed killer. You can paint it on the leaves then wait for it to do its thing.

Is it their fence, or yours, or shared ownership boundary?

It's our fence

Can you not just be honest with then and tell them it's bending the fence?, maybe they don't see it from their side if the full panel is covered?

A solicitor letter seems too strong at this stage.
I wonder if they like the ivy or just got out of control?
Could you offer to prune it from their side as damaging your fence?
All friendly like...perhaps in a note through the door?

It's awkward to ask them as we don't live on the same street.

And i they don't listen, tell them it's your fence and they cannot attach stuff to it, they will need to pay for any damage!

I had a look for something I could use on the leaves but it was all root killer?

Can you give them a cheery wave over the fence, get their attention then have a friendly chat?

Put a note through the door if you don't want to talk to them.

I am the neighbour in this scenario except not gardener and our garden is neglected because life is hectic and complicated. Our neighbours just tell us when we need to do something and we encourage them to. I wish they would be blunter earlier. We have a good relationship and don’t take offence. Be clear about the impact on you / your property and what steps you would like them to take. Probably they are just unaware.

Note through door with number for them to text?
We are not gardeners but our neighbours are. Once they asked if they could come our side when we were on holiday and clear some ivy from some fence/ wall. We said yes please, apologetically!

SBK brushwood killer will take care of it, its a plant hormone not a poison.

Sending a solicitors letter without speaking to them first will get their backs up. You need to go round and ask them to cut their ivy back.

It’s easy and you’ll feel good about yourself once you’ve done it.

“Hi, I’m Brenda from 43 South St. Our garden backs onto yours. I feel a bit awkward asking, but would you mind cutting your ivy back? It’s pushing the fence over”.

If they are difficult, send a solicitor’s letter then.

As it is your fence, you need to tell them that their ivy is destroying your fence and that it needs to be removed, and no other plants attached to the fence.

There's no point in pussy footing around with them. You can be polite obviously, but their planting is destroying your property.

And yes, the heavy duty ivy killer is systemic and kills the plant down through the roots. But it would be better to remove as much of it as you can first. (although with it being on their side, you'd only be able to paint the plant on your side I guess)

Thanks everyone I have a plan

@StormingNorman thanks for the script! This is what I need.

No solicitors letter.

I try and catch them in the garden this week if not I'll pop a note through the door. I need to tell them we are moving!

Don't ask them to just cut it back, it needs to be completely removed.

Good point

Oh give over! Walk round to their street and knock on the door. Or next time they're in their garden talk to them over the fence - stand on a chair if you need to.
It's not awkward at all!

Take a photo from your side and show it to them. They probably don't realise how bad it's got.

Ivy is an absolute beast!

I’ve been the neighbour. They popped a note through with their number asking me to call and discuss the ivy. It was the motivation I needed to get rid of the damn stuff! I gave them a ring and we had a nice chat. Now I have a clear fence and a happy neighbour.

Likewise, I’ve also been the neighbour.

I was vaguely aware the ivy needed attention but life is busy and it slips down the list. I welcomed the neighbours polite request and it gave me the impetus to sort it out. Also sparked a nice relationship with the neighbour as we then recognised each other on the dog run and would have a chat.

Please don’t escalate to a solicitor! It’s nice, easy going exchanges like this which bring us nice neighbourly communities where talking to each other to address problems is the norm not something to fear.

I was kinda the neighbour in this too. It’s like I would look away for a minute and it would grow through to their side. I was so worried they would be upset about it that I cut it all down.
100% write a note. If you don’t sort it now, you’ll have renters calling you in 6 months to say the fence needs replacing

Are people really this scared to make a polite reasonable request to a friendly neighbour ? They probably haven’t even given it a moments thought. It’s something on the. Back of the to do list since the summer convo.

if you can’t cope with asking, then yes, a note will suffice, but honestly you need to get some help, as this is all perfectly normal stuff. 💐

I also wouldn't go solicitor. I would ask them to cut it down and potentially pay for a new fence panel.

I'm the gardener in this scenario. Our neighbours hate our tree and wrote to us. We've been emailing back and forth trying to reach a compromise.