Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Neighbours planting Ivy on my fence

142 replies

NewNeighboursRequest · 26/07/2021 15:55

So I have these new neighbours just since about February. I own the fence between us as in my boundary to maintain and I put in this fence a few years ago to replace old fencing.

New neighbours have apparently planted Ivy to grow on the fence. It is growing through the slats and pushing them apart plus growing through the trellis at the top. One area has a rather vigorous and large vine pushing about a 5 cm gap between the slats. I don’t want the Ivy or other things growing through the slats. Would I be within my rights to spray the Ivy popping through the slats and in the trellis on top?

If so, what can I use to kill Ivy but not plants/shrubs on the ground below.

OP posts:
c3pu · 26/07/2021 16:00

Ivy is quite resistant to weedkiller, but if you bruise the leaves and use glyphosate that usually helps.

Ivy48 · 26/07/2021 16:01

I’d be knocking to door and telling them to remove it as it’s not their fence etc and you won’t be paying for the damage they cause. Ivy is murder to get rid of
Unless you get the root

Whatwouldnanado · 26/07/2021 16:02

Speak to them about it or they will just keep replanting. If they want ivy tell them to put their own fence up with its own independent supports alongside yours on their land.

Calvinlookingforhobbes · 26/07/2021 16:02

Sort t

SorryWoman · 26/07/2021 16:03

But ivy is nice to look at?

Calvinlookingforhobbes · 26/07/2021 16:03

Sort this ASAP Or it will grow and grow. Ivy is notoriously hard to clear once it takes hold

blacksax · 26/07/2021 16:07

That's some unbelievably vigorous ivy if it has grown that much since February. And I can't imagine how a vine could thicken and force the fence slats apart by 5cm in 5 months. Confused

If you use weedkiller then you will kill the plant their side. You aren't actually supposed to destroy other people's property, you can only cut off the bits on your side.

RampantIvy · 26/07/2021 16:07

Ivy is so invasive. We have it growing through the metal fence at the bottom of our garden that network rail put up. I am forever cutting it back.

30degreesandmeltinghere · 26/07/2021 16:16

Cut off the bits on your side. The rest will die on their side...

AdaThorne · 26/07/2021 16:18

I feel your pain. We bought our house earlier in the year and the previous owners (a) loved the stuff and (b) died before covid so the house and garden was left untended for about 18 months before we bought it.

I am on a one-woman campaign to cut it back (I daren't fully eradicate it yet as I can't source wood to replace our fences and if I weed killed all of it I think the fences would disintegrate without them holding it up). I've got rid most of it in the front garden but despite literally hack sawing the thickest roots and throwing weedkiller around like champagne at the F1 I always see some to pull at when I walk into and out of the house.

I know some people think it looks homely and country cottage. I hate it with a fiery passion.

tanstaafl · 26/07/2021 16:19

There is no justification to plant Ivy.
Not even in the Ivy House at the National Ivy Gardens.

IMO

campion · 26/07/2021 16:24

@30degreesandmeltinghere

Cut off the bits on your side. The rest will die on their side...
You're joking.

Ivy will grow even more vigorously if you give it a trim. Cutting it down to the root wouldn't even kill it.

If it is Ivy then you'll have to ask them to remove it from your fence OP. It'll force its way through every crack.
I spend enough time battling Ivy, bindweed, brambles etc courtesy of my lovely, but clueless in gardening terms, neighbours. There comes a point when you just have to explain the problem.

EveryFlightBeginsWithAFall · 26/07/2021 16:25

I had it come through from next door when the house was empty. It's taken over and is ruining all the fencing on one side. Getting rid of it is a nightmare

I'd go round and tell them it's ruining the fence and they need to get rid of it. I can't understand why anyone would intentionally grow the stuff

pinkcircustop · 26/07/2021 16:28

@SorryWoman

But ivy is nice to look at?
In your opinion. Certainly not in mine.
godmum56 · 26/07/2021 16:30

@blacksax

That's some unbelievably vigorous ivy if it has grown that much since February. And I can't imagine how a vine could thicken and force the fence slats apart by 5cm in 5 months. Confused

If you use weedkiller then you will kill the plant their side. You aren't actually supposed to destroy other people's property, you can only cut off the bits on your side.

2 inches? no that's some thickness of ivy. BUT OP if you own the fence, they are not allowed to fasten things to it, paint it or grown climbers up it that self attach without your permission. Its not about YOU not paying for repairs, its about THEM being responsible for repairs to your property.
godmum56 · 26/07/2021 16:31

@30degreesandmeltinghere

Cut off the bits on your side. The rest will die on their side...
Ha! on what planet?
OneEpisode · 26/07/2021 16:33

I used to like the look of ivy. Having fought with it for years seeing it in a flower arrangement gives me the shivers. I don’t know if taking next door a cutting of something less destructive, maybe more floral would help encourage them to de-ivy?

DishingOutDone · 26/07/2021 16:34

You cannot grow climbers on a fence you don’t own. They need to remove it and if they want climbers they install their own fence.

godmum56 · 26/07/2021 16:34

To be fair I like ivy and its great for nesting birds, there are wrens in mine BUT the fences were overgrown with ivy when we moved in 30 years ago (actually I think the ivy is holding the fence up) Where my neigbours have replaced their runs of fence though (I back onto 7 houses round an L shaped garden and most of the fencing is not owned by me) I remove the ivy on my side before it taked hold.

quizqueen · 26/07/2021 16:36

Can you get under the bottom of the fence and clip it off at ground level. It will take a while to die off and they will probably think it's happening naturally. That's what I do with my neighbours and they never notice as they are clueless about gardening too.,

FlorrieLindley · 26/07/2021 16:41

It's not their fence to grow things on/up.

FatAnneTheDealer · 26/07/2021 16:46

As per a previous poster, it is highly unlikely that these neighbours planted the ivy if it is now growing up your fence, coming through, and forcing the slats apart. The saying about ivy is:

The first year it sleeps.
The second year it creeps
The third year it leaps.

So I am guessing a previous neighbour is the guilty party.

Ivy is excellent for bird and insect life. While it is generally very good for the planet, it probably isn’t very good for your fence in the long run.

Rather than spraying it with weed killer, I would suggest speaking to your new neighbours about it. Since it is highly unlikely that they planted it, given how much it has grown, they may not be all that attached to it and happy to pull it up.

If they would like something to cover the fence, either you or your neighbours (or both) could replace with something more wall friendly - perhaps an evergreen clematis, a flowering jasmine, or a honey suckle.

Dreamstate · 26/07/2021 16:46

Its illegal for them to grow anything up and against your fence.

They can have plants in pots next to it but the plant is not allowed to be physically on the fence.

Tell them to take it down otherwise they can pay for a new fence panel (s)

LakieLady · 26/07/2021 16:49

@tanstaafl

There is no justification to plant Ivy. Not even in the Ivy House at the National Ivy Gardens.

IMO

Pmsl.

I was wondering what kind of odd person actually plants ivy, when the damn stuff seems to get everywhere without any help.

CoralFish · 26/07/2021 16:51

I'm now looking worriedly at the clematis approaching the top of the trellis we put in with it and inching its way towards the trellis on the top of nextdoor's fence :-/

We did give them a substantial financial contribution towards the fence though, even though it is technically theirs, so they may not mind a few stray tendrils.

Our neighbour on the other side has ivy growing all over our fence though. I don't mind it, but DH loathes it.