To let my climbing plants grow here (with diagram)

[icansinga]

Have lived in our house for a while.
Blue bit on diagram is our house, green bit is garden, yellow is side of neighbours house (no windows)
The red swirly bits on the diagram are my flower bed.
Our gardens are parallel to each other, but houses at opposite ends of the garden.
Fence is entirely our boundary on deeds.
There have been climbing plants growing along our side of the fence for years, before we moved in anyhow.
The climbing plants are now spreading so much that they are also spreading along my neighbours side wall which forms part of our boundary wall.
Neighbours are moaning that they don’t want the climbers to touch their wall due to damp. I think they look nice hiding the 2 story brick work. We don’t let the climbers climb higher than 5 feet so nowhere near their eaves or guttering.
They say that we cannot attach wire to their wall to train the plants away from their eaves and they don’t want the plants touching their property.
Do I need to remove them?

Yes you do. You shouldn’t be attaching or growing anything on their house without permission.

I think as it is their house and brick work you'll have to do as they have asked. Climbers can cause issues when on houses, sorry OP.

I see!
In previous homes it’s just been a bit more friendly, with plants growing up either sides of shared fencing etc. In fact on the other side of my house our neighbours have attached a gazebo like structure to the side of our house and we’ve not said anything!

You cant interfere with your neighbours property. Im genuinely shocked you don’t think your being unreasonable.

A fence is different to a house. If you don't mind that's fine, but they do.

Plants can damage walls and buildings so it’s in your and their best interests not to allow it to happen. However, at the very minimum it’s their wall so their choice.

Climbers damage the mortar, making it easier for damp to penetrate AND hold moisture against the wall making it easier for it to come in. It can cause significant damage. It’s a shame, but they are being reasonable in their request.

I don’t think I’m being reasonable.
I wasn’t sure if I was reasonable or not!
I’m happy to trim the climbers back so they are just on my fence, but maybe I should be stricter with people putting things on my house wall too!

Would they agree to a high trellis on top of your fence?? Presume there's a bit of a gap between your fence and their wall?

We like the look of our ivy growing up the walls, but cut it back as neighbours don't want it. Equally I don't want other people's plants growing over my house.

My fence is not in front of their wall at all. It goes 4 x fence panels and then the side of their house which is maybe the equivalent of 3 x fence panels.
I suppose I could put up a trellis a few inches in front of their wall as long as it was free standing and not attached to their house.
I’ve just never given a second thought to things attached to our house by our other neighbours.
Husbands just pointed out that as well as the pergola the other neighbours have attached to our house there is also one of those pull out washing lines they’ve screwed on. It is attached to our garage and not our house to be fair, but I’ve never even thought twice about it. Kind of figured that it was their garden so they could attach what they liked, even though it was our property.

That's what your other neighbours have done. Not these ones, you can't base what your 1st neighbours have asked because your 2nd neighbours have attached things to your house.

They said no and others on this thread have said the same. You can't do it, end of.

In fact, in my mums front garden there is the rear of her neighbours double garage.
They’ve had ivy growing up there for the past 30 years. Perhaps that’s why I thought it was the “done” thing if someone’s house wall forms your boundary wall? I’m sure lots of people do it, as walls are ugly to look at, but I understand that climbers may cause problems so I’ll cut it back so it doesn’t creep onto their wall 👍🏻

Bear in mind they have told you why they don't want the plants clothing their wall, ie the damp it will cause. Screwing a fixing in for a washing line, though a bit cheeky, is not going to cause you structural damage.

How about bringing the trellis out at right angles to your fence at the point it reaches their house? That way you will keep your lovely climbers and hide their wall from view.

Not trying to defend myself at all!
But I’ve been reading articles that say that climbers do not cause damp or damage walls and they in fact protect the walls.
laidbackgardener.blog/tag/do-climbing-plants-damage-walls/
But it’s his prerogative so I’ll remove.

That article was written by a gardener in Quebec, though, OP. Different weather conditions here.

Ok so looked on royal horticultural society website.
It apparently depends on what sort of climber. But climbers with tendrils are fine, but climbers with rootlets that “glue” themselves to structures and bury into mortar aren’t ok.
My climbers have tendrils that just grab the surface of the wall, so are safe apparently even for fences (just worried they may damage the fence at some point)
But completely understand if he doesn’t want to take the risk. I’m going to put some trellis a couple of inches in front of his wall and grow up that instead!

Ok so looked on royal horticultural society website.
It apparently depends on what sort of climber. But climbers with tendrils are fine, but climbers with rootlets that “glue” themselves to structures and bury into mortar aren’t ok.
My climbers have tendrils that just grab the surface of the wall, so are safe apparently even for fences (just worried they may damage the fence at some point)
But completely understand if he doesn’t want to take the risk. I’m going to put some trellis a couple of inches in front of his wall and grow up that instead!

Definitely not ok to grow things against someone else’s property. My neighbour drives me round the bend planting things beside my walls. It is good etiquette to keep your stuff within your boundaries.

@icansinga just be sure that you are able to get behind the trellis to trim if it attempts to reach out to the wall behind.

Not o.k. To attach something to your neighbours property or to have a plant attached to it. The people who back onto me have a fast growing climber as well as ivy which grows over the back fence and it has also grown over my side fence and damaged it. They don’t care so I’ve been cutting it back to the boundary.
You have to remove it op.

YABMU (you are being massively unreasonable)

It damages walls.

Just reread your last post, you are ‘worried they may damage the fence at some point’ regarding the climbers.
If you are worried about damage to you own property due to them then why on earth would you think your neighbour would be fine to have something on her wall that could damage it ?

My neighbour has just had to pay out thousands to repair 2 other neighbours walls because she let climbers grow. It damaged the walls so much. I saw it after specialists came and cut them down, the damage was shocking.