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.

[YellowBellyCat]

We have ivy growing up between us and next door. It’s their wall with a fence on top, a horrible ugly breeze block wall which I’m happy for the ivy to cover. The ivy has been there at least 20 years and not damaged either the wall or the fence planks they’ve put on top of the wall. The fence planks are new but they previously had trellis which the ivy grew up and didn’t damage.

They’re dropping very heavy hints that they’re worried about the ivy damaging the wall or the new fence planks. I like the ivy as it covers the ugly wall. We have birds nesting in it. Is there something else which is green all year, will cover the wall well but keep my neighbours happier?

[Whinge]

It doesn't ruin the fence unless you start trying to pull it all off.

It absolutely can and does ruin fences. Pulling it off isn't the issue. Ivy retains moisture which on a wooden fence often leads to rotting and prevents you from treating the fence panels. As well as this it can crack the joins in the fence causing it to weaken.

[Jubilate]

Stop using weedkiller.

[OhNoNoNoNoNo]

@YellowBellyCat

We have ivy growing up between us and next door. It’s their wall with a fence on top, a horrible ugly breeze block wall which I’m happy for the ivy to cover. The ivy has been there at least 20 years and not damaged either the wall or the fence planks they’ve put on top of the wall. The fence planks are new but they previously had trellis which the ivy grew up and didn’t damage.

They’re dropping very heavy hints that they’re worried about the ivy damaging the wall or the new fence planks. I like the ivy as it covers the ugly wall. We have birds nesting in it. Is there something else which is green all year, will cover the wall well but keep my neighbours happier?

There are loads of every green shrubs that would disguise an ugly wall. Take some photos and go and ask at your local garden cente.
Ivy definitely damages wooden fences or trellis. Another alternative is that you could erect your own fence on your own side. That way you can do what you want with it.

[MzHz]

Previous owners grew ivy up the side of the house

Yup, it ate the brick and mortar

Ivy isn’t harmless on houses/fences

[Whatamesssss]

@Melroses The weed killer is bad for the bees, not the ivy.

[OnTheBoardwalk]

When I purchased my house it had a bit of ivy that had clearly come from next door. They had removed it from their side. I thought it looked pretty so left it on mine

What a mistake!

It quickly seemed to double in size almost every night. It damaged a wall and concrete.

Took a lot of manual effort to remove it which had to be repeated a couple of times. Tell them to get rid ASAP

[MrsSkylerWhite]

Today 16:16 30degreesandmeltinghere

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

No it won’t.

[Dreamstate]

My neighbour had it all over bsck of his houses even the windows, came over to my sides up onto my roof and gutter.

I had to pay to get it taken off and it'd left marks on everything. I was lucky I did it quickly as it was pushing up under the roof tiles

[ComingToGetUBarbara]

Chill out about the weed killer. People only need to use a tiny amount for goodness sake. We're not crop spraying it from a light aircraft onto a field of precious ivy. Jesus!
FYI I have plenty of other plants and trees that bees enjoy and birds happily nest in (lots of robins this year) so they will have plenty of other choice.

How does wanting rid of ivy mean you like orange fences?! Must have missed that!

[lastcall]

Bollocks to the person who said ivy doesn't cause damage. It's ripped off gutters to next door's buildings and currently destroying the roof of their garage. Big chunks of concrete have been pulled off and it's working it's way under the tiles.

The neighbours own the fence it's destroying, so they'll have to replace it eventually, sooner than they otherwise would have. Idiots.

[WorriedWishingWell]

If the ivy is allowed to grow on both sides of the fence then yes eventually the fence will break but it won't matter because in its place you've got a beautiful green, wildlife-sustaining, hedge and natural boundary.
I wouldn't let it touch my house though.

[Proudboomer]

@peaches99

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

I have cats and they a fine but I do tend to keep them away when I am spraying.
I have used it to kill ivy, self seeded oak saplings, old tree roots that kept sending up runners and a largish patch of bramble.

[NewNeighboursRequest]

Thank you all for the useful tips ab validating ivy is awful stuff.

I going to first try the vinegar route and bruising the leaves. My garden is my pride and joy as my children are now older and I no longer have to worry about balls, trampoline marks in the grass, paddling pool killing grass etc. It’s planted with butterfly and bee loving plants, flowering shrubs snd a big hedge at the back. I put in two fences when we moved in because I always wanted a dog so made sure garden was secure (neighbour another side put in new fence as she bought a dog just before us). My “fence” in question is a mixture of brick wall, fence panel and trellis on top of the fence panel. We had the brick wall fixed at the time too so not the standard fence down that side. We had to have portions replaced after a storm a few years ago so we maintain it well, it’s a feature of the garden itself. We also want to move in about 2 years when our youngest finishes uni so we like to ensure no neighbourly disputes and also ensure we have a fence in good repair (and looks nice) when we come to sell.

[SomethingNastyInTheBallPool]

How odd. All our fences are covered in ivy, planted by the previous owner. It looks nice and is full of birds and insects. I’d much rather have it than bare fence panels. Unless it’s actually on the house, I really don’t see the problem.

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

@Jubilate

Stop using weedkiller.

I know it's bad for the environment but we wanted to replace our fence that their sodding ivy had broken. We also wanted to put up netting to cat proof the garden which we couldn't do with a broken fence and ivy everywhere. What were we supposed to do? If it wasn't killed properly it would have grown back and wrecked the new fence!

[user1471538283]

Tell them to get rid of it. We had ivy and it took me two years to get rid of it.

[RampantIvy]

@SomethingNastyInTheBallPool

How odd. All our fences are covered in ivy, planted by the previous owner. It looks nice and is full of birds and insects. I’d much rather have it than bare fence panels. Unless it’s actually on the house, I really don’t see the problem.

You must have had a different type of ivy to the extremely invasive ivy we have growing through our fence from the railway line.

A 2 metre solid wall of 2 foot thick dark green ivy looming over the garden made it look much smaller. It destroyed the trellis fence.

Our garden looks bigger and brighter now that I have cut it back, and with a new trellis with clematis and honeysuckle growing up it.

[Dragonn]

@ChardonnaysPetDragon

What a scary thread.

People will poison the fuck out of everything just to keep their fences bare and orange.

Ivy is good for birds, butterflies, insects and purifies the air. It doesn't ruin the fence unless you start trying to pull it all off. A fence covered with ivy is pettier to look at and much healthier than the fuck tons of weed killer recommended here.

Utter madness.

There is such a huge decline in flying insects but nobody cares. They prefer to slap weedkiller about and be done with it.

[Whinge]

There is such a huge decline in flying insects but nobody cares. They prefer to slap weedkiller about and be done with it.

OP has already said she has plenty of plants, shrubs and hedges to encourage wildlife. She just doesn't want an invasive plant like ivy to destroy her fence.

[Benjispruce5]

So if it’s such a menace, why are so many stately homes and hotels covered in the stuff? They’re still standing after hundred of years.

[SycamoreGap]

@Benjispruce5

So if it’s such a menace, why are so many stately homes and hotels covered in the stuff? They’re still standing after hundred of years.

Probably because stately homes aren’t usually made out of a flimsy bit of wood.

[Benjispruce5]

Yes obviously but others say it ruins brick.

[YellowBellyCat]

I'd go crackers if I caught my neighbour leaning over the fence pouring vinegar on plants on my land. You run the risk of being done for criminal damage surely? If they're upset enough to persue. I thought you can only trim stuff growing on your side?

[pam290358]

@YellowBellyCat. I agree, I’d go mad too. We had a similar dispute with a neighbour in a previous house - in our case, we were responsible for maintenance of the boundary and we erected a new fence soon after moving in. The neighbour planted ivy against it which grew rampantly, damaging the fence and pushing through the slats.

We got nowhere complaining to the neighbour so we took advice from a solicitor, who sent a letter setting out what needed to be done and a timeline in which we expected it to be done to avoid further legal action. He advised us that while we were waiting for the legal process to resolve things, under no circumstances were we to do anything to the offending plant, other than cutting back and removing growth from our side of the fence - anything done on the neighbour’s side is criminal damage. Fortunately the letter did the trick because it sent the message that we meant business. I think most people are reasonable and talking things through sensibly is the best solution, but if not, legal action is the way to go - it may cost a bit, but better than taking matters into your own hands and risking costly prosecution.