Neighbours planting Ivy on my fence

[NewNeighboursRequest]

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.

@NewNeighboursRequest

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.

I'd pour bleach or vinegar or whatever else kills plants over the fence so it kills the lot. CF's!

@tanstaafl

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

IMO

LOL @tanstaffl

What kind of abomination of a human would found the National Ivy Gardens.

I spray ivy that creeps through the slats in my fence. It keeps it in check. I hate the stuff. There are so many beautiful plants in the world and ivy isn’t one of them ( well not in a garden setting. It can look nice in a wild setting)

Ivy is the work of the devil. It’s a complete bastard to get rid of.

It’s a constant battle here. I share 3 boundaries & have ivy growing through all of them.
Go and have a word and tell them you don’t want it growing over the fence you paid for!

when its night take very hot water & tip over their plants

“We” were the aggressors here. We bought a house with a) Leylandii and b) ivy. Nice neighbour very grateful that they had daylight once conifers gone, but our shared fence was only held up by the ivy…

You would be within your rights to go and speak to them explaining that they are damaging your property and need to remove the plants before further damage is caused.

I would go and talk to them first, it's highly unlikely they planted it, so they might be more than happy to have help to get rid of it!

@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.

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.

Believe me - it grows fast and some plants can cause the damage the OP is experiencing. Bizarre that because you can't picture it/don't believe the OP it's okay for the neighbour to destroy the fence, but not for the OP to try to kills the ivy.

Please go and speak with them OP. They probably just don't realise it isn't theirs to grow invasive plants up. Take you title reg and plan with you if necessary. Tell then how much the fence cost. If you have legal cover on your home insurance you can contact them for advice if the neighbours refuse to remove the ivy and the vine. Oh and make sure you tell them they can't paint your fence either.

It's ivy, not kryptonite.

What's the harm?

Ivy is incredibly resilient. We had one growing though our wall. Have cut it back to nearly nothing several times and it seems to regrow from the tiniest bit of branch stuck to the brick. Are you sure they've actually planted it? It's not a "nice" plant

None of the above will kill off ivy.
Get on Amazon a buy some Lancelot Ammonium Sulphamate. This pretty much kills everything.
It is not licences in the the eu as a weed killer but still sold as a compost

accelerator But if you mix some up a trip on the way to the compost heap and it goes over the ivy then oh dear these things happen.
Once it has killed the ivy it will break down naturally in the soil and actually turn it back into sulphate of ammonia, the fertiliser so good for the soil.

@ChardonnaysPetDragon

It's ivy, not kryptonite.

What's the harm?

It will pull down every fence panel and rot them for starters.

are you sure it was planted,
i have ivy growing through my fence, from next door, i believe, i just keep pulling at it to destroy it

We have ivy growing in neighbouring gardens on both sides, yes it can split through the fence panels but just stay on top of cutting it back and it won't cause too much damage. It does more good for wildlife and the view than a plain slatted fence does!

Roundup gel. It comes in a neat clicky dispenser. You wipe it on the leaves and it sucks it down to the root without damaging other plants. It cleared my flower bed of bindweed in one go and is now taking out the ivy on the other side!

if you want to kill the plant, put this stuff on the leaves

www.amazon.co.uk/Roundup-Total-Weedkiller-Gel-150ml/dp/B005ZALTF0/ref=sr_1_57?dchild=1&keywords=glyphosate&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1627316249&sr=8-57

but be careful not to get it on any other leaves. it can take a long time to work, but it will eventually kill off the roots.

but it would be better to talk to the neighbours first.

I find the current obsession with empty blank fences a bit weird. Why would you want to look out of your window at a fence when you could look on greenery with birds nesting in it?

@ChardonnaysPetDragon

It's ivy, not kryptonite.

What's the harm?

It ruined our fence because the our neighbour had the bastard stuff growing up it. When the neighbour died and the house was empty DH went round and cut it down and put weed killer on it. Thankfully it's never grown back as we have replaced the fence

Proudboomer that stuff sounds brilliant, would you happen to know if it is harmful to cat’s though?

@Dreamstate

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)

@Dreamstate This is interesting something I never knew. Are they allowed to paint the fence (bloody grey)?

I spent years trying to eradicate the wretched stuff. It grows very quickly and a new plant can grow from a single leaf that is detached from the parent plant.
Ivy will destroy a fence in a few years and can damage brick and stone walls and smother plants.
In addition many people, myself included, are allergic to ivy
Just eliminating the ivy on your side of the fence will not be sufficient because there will always be new plants to replace the ones killed.
Have a friendly discussion with your neighbours ( arm yourself with facts first) and suggest they replace the ivy with a less invasive plant with which to screen their side of the fence.
Good luck

We have Ivy growing up our neighbours fence - but we didn’t plant it, we haven’t trained it to do that. It’s not my responsibility to do anything about it; my neighbours are responsible for maintenance of that fence.

If you want the Ivy removed, you will need to sort it out yourself

Weed killer's much nastier than ivy.