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Neighbours complaints about my ivy

(84 Posts)
Dazy Sun 08-Oct-23 14:20:04

Hello ,
My neighbours are pestering me about my ivy . I didn't plant it , don't especially like it but don't have a problem with it...been living here for 15 years and it grows all along the border hedge and fence.
Currently it's flowering and attracts wasps. That'll be resolved in a week or two when they disappear. Doesn't bother me in the slightest, and I like the privacy it affords.

But they're insisting I sever the roots and then I'll lose all privacy as it's thick.
What are my rights ?
Thank you

Allsorts Tue 10-Oct-23 23:10:50

It's your Ivy, why don't you keep it tidy? it might not matter to you but it's her border too and she doesn't like it. I think you should try to get on with neighbours and not cause them upset, she might be more friendly and not snooty at all.

nanna8 Wed 11-Oct-23 00:50:34

Hate the stuff. It grows all over our fences and up the trees ,too, given the chance. No sooner do I rip it out than it grows again . That and tradescantia ( wandering Jew as they used to call it ). They murder other plants, the pair of them.

NotSpaghetti Wed 11-Oct-23 07:21:53

Allsorts it takes two to be civil. Some people are just not interested in getting on.
The husband is civil. The wife is unpleasant.

It may just need trimming off the hedge/fence on the neighbour's side given they don't like it - and it's their prerogative to cut it back to the boundary if they want to.

They should just do that and stop trying to police someone else's garden - surely that's what most reasonable people would do.

icanhandthemback Wed 11-Oct-23 10:56:02

Dazy

Thanks everyone, your replies have been immensely helpful.

To answer some of the questions - the woman next door says it's causing rashes in their family. I find it hard to believe as they're hardly ever in the garden and they never touch the ivy. I thought you only reacted if handling it. The husband is perfectly nice but the wife is rude and very snooty.

I think you'll find there are gardening gloves which will help them avoid any rashes when chopping down the ivy. All sorts of things in our garden cause me little rashes but I get round it by covering up and wearing gloves.

M0nica Wed 11-Oct-23 13:58:15

We have a six foot fence around our garden. Our very nice neighbours next door do no gardening at all and let the ivy grow up the fence. it squeezes between the boards of the fence panels and beween the panels and the posts and it has cost us literally £000s over the last 25 years replacing the panels that have been broken, dismembered and blown down because of the ivy.

We have asked him many times if he would stop the ivy growing up and through the fence - ( and the brambles and the nettles, but mainly the ivy) so destructively, but he does nothing.

I am afraid my sympathies are all with the OP's neighbours.

MaggieS101 Wed 25-Oct-23 14:57:44

My dearest Dazy,
This doesn’t need to escalate. I suggest nipping down to your nearest garden centre (if your knees are up to it😜) and purchasing some weed killer, specifically for ivy. Some of the brands can be rather pricey but I recommend Roundup, this worked a treat!! If you want to borrow any spare weedkiller I have loads, I live in a block of flats in London, so could use the free space.

AreWeThereYet Wed 25-Oct-23 15:49:37

We have asked him many times if he would stop the ivy growing up and through the fence - ( and the brambles and the nettles, but mainly the ivy) so destructively, but he does nothing.

M0nica I wonder if you live next door to us 😁 We moved into a new build and the builders had put a new fence round our garden back to back with an existing fence. There wasn't a sign of ivy when we moved in although the land was an old nursery.

The very first time our (not very friendly) neighbour spoke to me he said 'We had none of this Ivy till you moved in'. I thought at first he was accusing me of planting it. He didn't even say 'Hello'. Unfortunately now that there are two fences back to back it's almost impossible to get rid of the Ivy, it grows between them. We've sprayed it and pulled it out for years and it just comes back. We're having some of the fencing redone next year so maybe we'll have a chance to put something down between the fences to stop things growing, I don't know.

loopyloo Thu 26-Oct-23 08:11:03

This is the trouble with gardening.
Things are planted then fizzle out or they do too well and become invasive.
We have very old ivy in several places that needs to go.
Will take some pictures.
Online it says spraying with white vinegar is good.