Asking neighbours not to grow plants on our fence

[crunchiest]

We recently had to replace the retaining wall and fence between our garden and the neighbours garden. The retaining wall was on our property, and so was the fence. We asked the neighbours to contribute to the cost of the fence, and they refused, citing “works” they were saving up for.
Legally it was a grey area, with better argument that we should pay for the whole thing, so we did it. It was very expensive, and the neighbours now have a super nice fence to look at instead of the disgusting crumbly one from before. It was done last October and I’ve now seen that the neighbours are now growing all kinds of plants on our fence (on their side) including leaning polls on there for their tomatoes. Aibu to ask them not to do that? The fence is wood and will obviously be damaged by this.

If you want to be a dick salt the soil along the fence and their plants wont grow

No.

Right.

They can dictate what happens to their property.
If the neighbours don't wish to stare at a fence, they can plant freestanding foliage.

I’m surprised the wall was a shared responsibility if on your property. We paid £8k for a retaining wall last year as it was on our land, 5ft above next door. We can’t actually see it apart from a little bit of the top so I get your frustration OP if they were also legally responsible.

This can be an insurance problem.

My garden wall was blown down in a storm.
One of the main reasons the insurance company refused to pay out was that neighbours had attached trellis to and above my wall with permanent evergreen foliage.
The insurance assessor said apart from damaging the wall, the increased surface area to the wind, made the collapse more inevitable.

It’s normal to pay for the fence on the left (or is it right) so they didnt need to contribute

of course they can grow plants up the fence. Dont be so precious

I don't think that you are bu, l don't want neighbours to attach anything on my fence and definitely no nails etc. as they don't pay to replace it.

absolutely not true.
1 its not normal to "pay for the left (or is it the right)" I mean you can't even get that sorted.....
2 Neighbours are not allowed to fasten plants, trellis or anything else, including paint or preservative, to fences they do not own unless given permission.

I mean "the left (or is it the right)"
why dis you even bother?

neither will the OP's. Salt dissipates into the soil and will spread.

This is true.

I had made the assumption they wanted nothing growing near the fence.

RTFT they want nothing FASTENED to the fence by their neighbour

Little agressive? Someone piss on your cornflakes today or something? 🤣

Just FYI I did RTFT, at the point I posted OP hadnt commented, theyd only posted their OP stating "the neighbours are now growing all kinds of plants on our fence (on their side) including leaning polls on there for their tomatoes" so the issue appeared to be growing things that were LEANING near/touching the fence. OP didnt confirm they were fastened to the fence until after my post.

I totally understand your frustration, especially if they are not willing to split the bill. My neighbours are also growing all sorts on their side of the fence and over time this has damaged the fence. They have an apple tree they decided to grow half way up the garden leaning on the fence, most of it covers my garden, blocking the sun, not to mention all the apples that fall off it… too polite to say anything but it does my nut it 😩 I want to cut it down whist she’s sleeping 😅

I mean I’m just going off what the lawyer said ! I’m not an expert. It was unfortunately much more than £8 for us.

I accept from this thread that I’ll come across as extremely petty and precious to my neighbours. So I need to decide if I care about that, or the longevity of my fence. And the satisfaction that will naturally come from being petty

Can you reach under the fence with secateurs and cut the ivy from the bottom. It will take a while to die off so they probably will think it's a 'nature' thing.

The neighbours at the end of our garden leaned a ton of scaffolding against the fence between us. My husband asked him to move them as it will push against the fence. He did.

It was either your fence or theirs, sounds like it's yours so you pay.
No you can't tell them not to grow things against it. The tomatoes will be over soon.
Maybe they hate how it looks and want to cover it up?

So, you’re mad that they would pay for a fence which is your responsibility, so you would like to punish them?

Who fucking cares?!

sadly no i cannot, but good idea!

Agree with jamin71, they can,t attach anything to your fence, nor can they paint it. However, it’s best to have a discussion with them and apply some common sense, tomatoe canes and plants won’t cause damage, but ivy, climbing plants, soil, heavy items leaning against the fence will. Just talk to them and get agreement, as they will not want to damage the fence either, also agree what colour you are going to use to treat the fence, if they don’t like the colour then they should not paint the fence.

you’d be out there deliberately damaging plants and the environment? are you the tropical fish then? 😶

What is the law re a neighbour attaching a trellis to my house wall by drilling into it? My neighbour claims they can do this without our permission because the wall forms the boundary and runs along the edge of their driveway. My house is not attached to their house at any point.

Eh? The OP says they paid for the fence. They just don’t want it destroyed by ivy. That stuff brought down a whole brick wall in my garden so it’s no joke