Ivy on shared boundary

[rrrrrreatt]

Does anyone have any experience of dealing with ivy on a shared boundary? I can’t find anything online about who is responsible and what can be done about it when it’s shared rather than a boundary with a fence maintained by one side.

For context, our garden was overrun with ivy when we bought our house. We pulled it out of the beds but a lot of the fence is covered. It needs replacing (it’s falling apart) so we bought the panels as our neighbour told us it was our boundary. We’ve now discovered it’s a shared boundary but are happy to continue replacing it as that’s the easiest solution.

One section is overrun with ivy, the roots on our side are as thick as my wrist and wound round the post plus there’s about 3ft on top of the falling apart panel. We’ve been advised the best solution would be to remove the ivy on our side and the top so we can get in the new panel. The alternative is supporting it somehow whilst we remove and replace but this will be v time consuming and the ivy is likely to make light work of the new panel.

We’ve spoken to our neighbour and they want to retain the ivy on their side which is fine but they also don’t want us to cut any ivy on our side that could affect theirs or remove the ivy on top of the fence.

What can we legally do? This is the latest issue in a long line of issues with our neighbour, who at times has screamed abuse at me and our visitors, so an amicable solution is unlikely. My ideal solution would be minimal/no ivy in my garden and a structurally sound fence panel but I don’t want to do anything that could break the law.

Cut the roots on your side. They can't police that.

Will we get in trouble if this causes it to fall on their side? It’s a huge ivy bush so it won’t be a few tendrils dropping into their garden!

Are there currently large roots on both sides? If so and you cut them from your side the roots on your neighbours side will probably cause the fence to bow into your garden.

anything on your side is yours to do as you like.
so roots, branches etc are all up to you to cut.
ivy is tough, be ruthless.

If THEIR plant is overhanging your garden, or on your side of the boundary, then you can cut it back to the boundary line.

We had this with a fence between us an neighbour, and they took out and replaced the fence, I went along the boundary and dug out the ivy all along the fence line. It has still grown back.
Ivy will wreck the fence.

There are definitely some roots on their side but the biggest, and most obstructive, ones are on our side. Our seller started the ivy off apparently and then it’s had well over a decade to establish itself on both sides.

I agree, just cut the roots your side and it'll die back , your plant and they can't police what you do with it. It's technically a weed anyway, isn't it?

Wherever the roots are, that person is technically responsible. But we have this issue with our neighbours, it's coming from both sides pretty much. We just mutually agree to cut it when needed. It's not causing that much issue but does need work every year. Luckily my neighbours are really nice, and pretty wealthy, so they tend to deal with it.
I'd say you need to get rid of the parts coming from your side, from a legal standpoint. But hopefully you can speak to them and arrange something.
If they are elderly there's a thing called GoodGym where they do some gardening work for free. If it's limiting access/quality of life. But it's only for elderly.

Thank you, I feel reassured by your comments, and the others, that say I can do what I want where it’s on my side.

The tree guy that advised us (helping us with a different issue) said we’ll never be rid of it whilst they maintain theirs so the best we can expect is to manage it. I don’t mind a bit of ivy because it’s really good for bees but it’s currently extremely dominating.

Thank you but they’re not elderly - early 50s at best and they don’t want to cut their side anyway which is their right.

We have a tree man coming to cut our very overgrown laurel bush and remove a dead tree so we’ve offered for him to remove just the ivy on our side and top at our expense. They’re unhappy with this proposal as they like the ivy and it runs along their end fence as well so they believe it’s a security measure and we’re selfish to do anything that affects this.

They’re unhappy with this proposal as they like the ivy and it runs along their end fence as well so they believe it’s a security measure and we’re selfish to do anything that affects this.

Having a sound fence is a better security measure than a bit of ivy...how would it help with that anyway? if they want something as a burglar deterrent they need spines eg pyracantha.

If there are fence panels that need replacing then the ivy will all need to come off both sides of them, unless they want you to leave the rotting old one in place and install yours parallel further in on your side...which sounds ridiculous and unsatisfactory. I don't believe up can peel the ivy off and then get it to reattach while the work is done even if you wanted to.

Believe me if you cut the ivy down and don't keep on recutting it the damned stuff will grow up again.

I don’t really know how it helps as a security measure as I share your view that a sound fence is probably a better investment. When I broached cutting the ivy to fix the fence last summer they were very insistent the ivy was holding the fence panels up…then the boards started coming apart and falling off! We’re also not in an area with high levels of burglaries, it’s a bit rough but it’s mainly people speeding and the odd drug deal.

I’ll be recutting on my side regularly once it’s under control but I don’t think they’ll do the same and I’m resigned to that.

When I broached cutting the ivy to fix the fence last summer they were very insistent the ivy was holding the fence panels up…then the boards started coming apart and falling off!

Yes, that's how it goes. They're being idiotic

It's not their ivy, it's yours as it was planted by the previous owners of your property. It matters not one jot whether they want to keep it. You can dig up and remove everything that is rooted on your side and if that affects anything on their side that is neither here nor there. It is your plant and you can remove it.
What you cannot do is dig up anything that has rooted on their side so you will have to keep on top of it. It won't stop it ruining the fence panels in a few years though.

Ivy is amazing for insects, so that's a positive for anything kept. In our garden, there's a large patch of ivy that is buzzing alive with lots of different species of bees.

an amicable solution is unlikely
So do what you want - if things are as you say it's not going to make a difference.

Ivy sets down adventitious roots all along the stem. Cutting off your side isn't going to make much of a difference if it's been in contact with the soil on their side already and has already established it's own root system over there.

Just cut it your side and put up the new panel. It will soon grow their side.

If it does destroy the panel in a few years, we can at least split the cost of replacing them now we know it’s a shared boundary! When we found out they’d misled us we said we were still happy to pay for, and replace, the panels as long as they didn’t do anything to damage the new ones but I think that fell on deaf ears.

Only if it's tall and thick enough to get 'arboreal' and grow flowers. Which is more than most fences really want to be carrying, unfortunately.

If you get decent panels they should last a while - ours are still up after nearly 30 years, mostly with a lot of ivy on.

If they want ivy, they can plant it. If they want a different fence for 'security', they can put one up on their side. Some people are allergic to ivy, and its dust is unhealthy. They can't force you to have any on your side, or overhanging your side.

The only thing that may be an issue legally is that you should get on with the job now, well out of bird nesting season. I'm not sure if the law which says you can't work on trees with birds nesting in them extends to ivy or not , I have to do any pruning of mine well before spring to avoid disturbing its residents.

@rrrrrreatt thank you. If you don't hate the ivy you could just prune pretty severely it but leave a bit dangling over their side? I know what they mean about not wanting it fully gone. But ultimately it's your choice. They sound rather mean and difficult. But a barrier between you and them of sorts could be no bad thing.
I'm glad you've got a gardener round. We need one urgently! Lol.

It’s so well established there isn’t really a way to prune it and leave a little bit. It’s a huge tangle of vines and when I’ve hard pruned smaller patches it’s completely back within a few months. We also won’t be able to slot in the new fence panel if we don’t cut out the thick roots that are woven through the gap.

We were really lucky with the gardener, if you’re in Manchester I can recommend them. They specialise in trees and landscaping - I do all the day to day stuff but they’re helping me tame the bushes and trees. We’ve been waiting for nesting season to finish for a big chop so it’s been a very shady summer in our garden!

@rrrrrreatt Thank you. Sadly nowhere near Manchester but appreciate the suggestion!
Hope it all goes well x

Much sympathy - we have the same problem - the ivy is rooted on our side and the neighbours have told us in no uncertain terms we are not to cut it back - it and they have been there longer than us (no idea why this matters). It looks lovely on their side which is why they want to keep it but bloody awful on our side - thick woody and in the wrong place.
This thread has given me a lot of comfort. I don't relish the idea of upsetting our neighbours more but the ironic thing is that they don't seem to care about our feelings. We will never be on good terms so I might as well be hung for a sheep.