Neighbours complaints about my ivy

I think the legal position on plants growing into a neighbours is that they can cut it off and they also have the right to dump it in your land
Incidentally I think glyphosate mixed with paraffin snd applied during the winter is supposed to do the trick but don’t know current legislation is for such a weed killer combination
Personally I like ivy and the flowers provide late season food for honey bees

This is very timely...mu hubby is out in the garden and complaining about out neighbours ivy! It grows up the side of our garage, in their garden, but also grows under the roof of our garage and in the garage! We can't do anything much as its actually in their garden at the other side of a big conifer hedge (another story) numerous conversations have taken place with our neighbour, who we get on with, but nothing happens! A few years ago he had ivy growing on the side of his house next to our drive and we had to ask him to to remove it ( although to be fair it was self-seeded!) It's a pain!

pascal30

Callistemon21

We had a neighbour who complained about an unsightly wall so I planted variegated ivies but they did need a lot of attention and severe haircuts. It was in a rather precarious place and I felt quite nervous getting in there to control it so didnt clip it as often. Then another neighbour mentioned (nicely) that it was strangling their bushes so we had it removed.
It was probably the best thing as it could have damaged the wall which could have collapsed!

We do have ivy in other places which has grown through fences but keep an eye to make sure it's not causing damage.

Bees tend to be inactive over the winter months and you could plant other winter-flowering shrubs if you are worried about food for them.

www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2022/11/where-do-bees-go-in-winter/

Ivy flowers are very important for both bees and bumblebees as they prepare for winter hybernation and having kept bees in the past they do sometimes go out during winter... but stay close to home

I never saw those ivies flower but we have had others which seem to have crept over fences and are still there, which flowered.

When I walk down my path to go in or out of my house, I have to pass this overgrown ivy bush on this fence, it isn't a next door neighbour but the way I have to go is I do have to walk past this massive bush of ivy.

It now has loads of bees or some kind of small bee buzzing in and out alongside bluebottles. It mean I have to side step onto other neighbours grass to avoid being stung.

The trunk on the ivy is now about the thickness of a cucumber and is now raising the paving stone about an inch making it a trip hazzard. So I am going to have to ask the person to sort it out who is a friend of mine. The trouble is the trunk part is not on their property so they are prob not fussed about it. Ivy is great in the right place but not anywhere near houses .

Ivy ruins brickwork. A neighbour grew it up the front of his house and it was taking over. His wife didn't like all the insects coming inside, so he wanted to get rid of it. It cost him a lot of money to have it all taken down, and the brickwork on the front and sides of his house was so damaged that he then had to pay to have them rendered.

Callistemon21

We had a neighbour who complained about an unsightly wall so I planted variegated ivies but they did need a lot of attention and severe haircuts. It was in a rather precarious place and I felt quite nervous getting in there to control it so didnt clip it as often. Then another neighbour mentioned (nicely) that it was strangling their bushes so we had it removed.
It was probably the best thing as it could have damaged the wall which could have collapsed!

We do have ivy in other places which has grown through fences but keep an eye to make sure it's not causing damage.

Bees tend to be inactive over the winter months and you could plant other winter-flowering shrubs if you are worried about food for them.

www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2022/11/where-do-bees-go-in-winter/

Ivy flowers are very important for both bees and bumblebees as they prepare for winter hybernation and having kept bees in the past they do sometimes go out during winter... but stay close to home

Be careful if you have a laurel hedge and own a dog. My daughters dog decided the black berries were a really great snack and hoovered them up. He became desperately ill and ended up at a specialist vet for three weeks. He very nearly died. It turned out laurel berries have cyanide in the stones inside.

It really is your responsibility to control the ivy if it is invading your neighbour’s property and causing them problems. You don’t have to completely remove it but they are in their rights to ask you to keep it check.

They also have the right to cut back any ivy on their side of the fence and dump the clippings on your side. This will cause you added problems because if you don’t dispose of it you will have a vermin problem.

It’s not going to stop growing an eventually you will have a much bigger and more expensive problem. Dealing with it now will keep you on good terms with the neighbours and prevent further stress and expense.

A house that backs onto my neighbour has grown her laurel bushes at least 6ft higher than the 6ft fence. It puts my neighbour’s smallish garden into shade, but she’s threatened to call the Police, if her laurels are touched!
My neighbour has also grown ivy up the fence between us, but it’s a small leafed variety and I just hack lengths off, if it gets too straggly on my side.
We grew a mile a minute vine up the back of our house - big mistake as it worked its way under the eaves and worse. We chopped it off, dug out the roots and the foliage we couldn’t reach just died off.

I hope you have a reasonably amicable outcome with your neighbours, but of course, if it’s your ivy, it’s your choice.

Sorry this doesn't help you Dazy but our neighbour has laurel bushes that have been growing bigger for 20 years. They now poke about six feet over our garden and we're about to cut them all back to the fence. They have really big black berries at this time of the year and the pigeons love them - then they sit in the trees above our drive and poo all over the drive and our car. We have a really light colour resin drive and it looks like someone has splatted it with thick black paint.

I've read all the posts and I can't see anything that says why the neighbours want the ivy removed.

Is the fence that it's growing on theirs?

If not, I'd tell them that they're welcome to cut it back if it's spoiling their garden and I'd keep it cut back on my side.

I agree that ivy is a menace in the wrong place, but it makes a fine hedge and can easily be trimmed back.

It's useful for decorating the house at Christmas, too...

I hate ivy, very invasive. I am very glad that my neighbours and I are considerate of each other, We all keep the boundaries clear and fencing gives us privacy

Dazy

Thank you, I can't see a cheap way forward either. The frustrating thing is , I didn't plant it. My previous owner clearly went mad with the stuff and laurel bushes on the other side.
Neither bother me but my moany neighbours are constantly on at me.

Oh, laurel bushes!!

The ones the builder planted damaged our wall.
So we had them removed and I planted the ivy .........

Dazy

Thanks Foxy, their words thus far have been "the ivy has got to go"

Not really friendly
..

It’s yours! It’s also your garden and your decision.Keep it if you like it and tell them they can trim back any on their side of the garden.We have some ivy on our house and I like it.DP keeps it from climbing too high up.

X post, I half typed mine then had to do something else.

We had a neighbour who complained about an unsightly wall so I planted variegated ivies but they did need a lot of attention and severe haircuts. It was in a rather precarious place and I felt quite nervous getting in there to control it so didnt clip it as often. Then another neighbour mentioned (nicely) that it was strangling their bushes so we had it removed.
It was probably the best thing as it could have damaged the wall which could have collapsed!

We do have ivy in other places which has grown through fences but keep an eye to make sure it's not causing damage.

Bees tend to be inactive over the winter months and you could plant other winter-flowering shrubs if you are worried about food for them.

www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2022/11/where-do-bees-go-in-winter/

There are lots of plants which are non invasive that support wildlife, it certainly doesn’t have to be ivy. Here’s the RHS bee friendly suggestions, I wouldn’t go for the willow either myself though, as that’s also a menace. The advice is not to chop your perennials back hard in the autumn, as that’s where many insects overwinter.
www.rhs.org.uk/garden-inspiration/seasonal/bee-friendly-winter-plants

Don’t pander to the neighbours! Ivy is wonderful for wildlife,it also makes good laundry wash liquid.It creates oxygen.

I wouldn’t want it on my actual house,but I have it growing up my fence.

Perhaps thin it a bit,but don’t remove it,our wildlife will have nowhere to live soon.

Our neighbours ivy grew into our garage and damaged the wood and felt in the roof for years . It drove us mad . We lived next door to them for overv30 years but it caused a rift between more than anything because of the dismissive way they spoke about it if we mentioned it . So I'm with your neighbours! Our new young neighbours have thankfully got rid of it !

Thank you, I can't see a cheap way forward either. The frustrating thing is , I didn't plant it. My previous owner clearly went mad with the stuff and laurel bushes on the other side.
Neither bother me but my moany neighbours are constantly on at me.

I have ivy growing on my front fence and I have deliberately allowed it to spread to hid the sight of the scruffy car one of my neighbours parks outside my house. Every year I ask the gardener to trim it when he does the trees and bushes. I make sure that it does not intrude next door so she had no grounds for complaint. Under no circumstances will I get rid of it. If any of my neighbours tried to "tell" me what to do on my own property they would be told in no uncertain terms to go forth and multiply. I do not kowtow to neighbours.

They have no right to demand it’s removal it’s a hedge of sensible height.
However if it is removed which will be difficult what are you going to replace it with, there may be a chemical that controls ivy I’ve tried glyphosate that doesn’t work but will kill most other things.
I don’t see a cheap easy resolution to replacing it

I agree with foxie48, it is a menace, particularly when the roots get into the mortar in walls, and if it prevents you maintaining your fences. I let it scramble up the apple tree at the end of my garden, and I’ve got a limited amount on one fence that I use for cutting for winter arrangements, but otherwise I pull it up to avoid it causing damage.

If it’s a big job, would your neighbours help you to get rid of it, at least in the section that borders their garden?

Sorry Dazy but Ivy is very invasive, can't abide the stuff, however I be do hope you are able to come to an amicable solution with your neighbours.

I have it on both fences. Very mature, thick stems. Am slowly getting rid of it. Hate it. Very invasive and difficult get rid of it now, and plant something else like rose bushes or native hedging.
Good luck.