Next door's garden

Oh, you do so have my sympathy! I have one neighbour who loves her garden, but not to the extent of weeding. The full 25 m of our joint boundary is ridden with ivy and brambles and she seems to have no idea. The chap on the other side happily admits that he’s only interested in cutting the grass and growing vegetables, so I have pretty similar weeds on both sides. I spray with weedkiller, and tell myself that it’s cheaper than replacing the plants on my side which their weeds would smother . You really do have my sympathy

JaneJudge

Is the vicarage owned by the Church? Have you seen this?

I like where it says the law says you should hand the clippings back to them!
But I'm evil like that, and I'd give them every single bit to dispose of!! Lol

No offence meant to anyone but i would love to live next door to that lovely garden, i would ask tenants if i could pick blackberries, the wild plants are so much nicer than the cultivated ones. You will get wildlife too from the garden. Heaven, i would spend hours dreaming in the garden.
I think cultivated gardens are pretty too but give me a wild garden anyday.

Wildflower meadows are SO labour intensive to set up then maintain!! I'd think more along the lines of a bit of guerilla gardening........dosing along the boundary will leave you -and them with a no man's land of bare ground, but you can get some more pots and troughs!

The vicarage will be owned by the diocese. Contact the diocesan office. Someone there will be responsible for the upkeep of vicarages and rectories.

I am sorry the vicarage garden is encroaching on yours, but you have written the most poetic description:

'......the sun shines across the gardens from my direction,
there's a good strong wall between us, raspberry canes shoot up in my lawn, brambles tumble over the wall and send suckers over into my space, ivy and other creepers invade along with that pink flower called, I think, Rose Bay willow herb, and weeds are everywhere... I watch the thistle and dandelion seeds float over in clouds and there's nothing I can do.'

No practical suggestions whatsoever, but I do admire your prose!

MadeInYorkshire

I would be spraying the encroaching weeds with weed killer!

?

Exdancer.

I feel for you.
We are now getting "weed attacked" from 3 sides, left, right and bottom of the garden, by neighbours who, for various reasons, do not maintain their gardens at all - in one case for over 2 years.

Some advice which may help you though.

All tenancies stipulate where the area of responsibility lies for the maintenance and care of the property and the grounds, (I am a landlord).
It would be very unusual for a tenancy agreement not to include who is liable for the upkeep of the garden.Also included will be an agreement to not cause "nuisance" to neighbours, either through noise, pollution, antisocial behavior etc. You have taken the first step in contacting the Parish council.

You now need to contact the Church and the tenants, both.

I suggest a formal written notification, explaining that the lack of maintenance to adjoining grounds is causing a nuisance to you, and ask the landlord/tenant to remedy the situation. If this is not addressed to your satisfaction, you can then pursue a civil claim against them under private nuisance legislation. (not expensive, and easily doable).

This could be the prompt they need to stop their indifference impacting on your enjoyment of your garden

Good luck.
Meg.

Wishing you well exdancer. Hope the Diocese can act. I can empathise. The property next to ours has been empty for many months, the garden has run wild, now full of brambles and other nasties. The battle to keep them out of our garden is constant and exhausting. I totally understand how overwhelming it can be.

A lot of information here, thank you.
Yes the weeds do 'bother' me. I'm elderly and work hard to keep my own patch tidy and I think its unfair to sabotage my efforts in this way.
I have written to the Diocese to see if they'll help, I do attend the church.

You definitely need to contact the Diocese. Just Google "Which diocese is (name of town/village) in?" Then contact the diocesan office with the problem. The Church is not directly responsible for the vicarage, and may well not have the money to sort the garden on the dioceses behalf. Give it a go, and good luck.

What a great opportunity to make allotments. As far as I can tell there are always waiting lists for them. Yes, a rotivator would be needed to start with, but the edges could still support birds, bees and other insects if left wild. You need to find the local person with the energy and passion for such a project and give them a nudge. Good luck.

I too live next door to a vicarage that the church now rent out.
They have maintenance people who come round maybe once a year to inspect trees , fencing, anything that needs doing. The tenants mow the lawns. it is nothing to do with the parish but the Dioceses Main Centre in a small nearby town oversee and have the rent for this house. Perhaps you could go down that route. Whoever receives the actual rent may well be responsible for upkeep and it may not necessarily be your local parish.

The Diocese is responsible. Call your local Cathedral and ask to speak to the property rental department

Someone is receiving rental income for said property - presumably the church - whoever it is, it is their responsibility to either get the work done or ensure their tanants do, dependent on what the rental agreement states

I would be spraying the encroaching weeds with weed killer!

The Land Registry will tell you who actually owns the property. For £3.00 on your credit card or similar you can buy a copy of the registration. From that you can follow up with the Landlord.
Make sure you use the official Gov.uk web site and from that search for Land Registry.
I’ve done this recently and it was very helpful.

Aspolnan says be cautious you don’t want to draw attention to a space that could be a profitable building site. I don’t know the layout of the land but if you imagine a house/houses on that plot you might rather contend with the weed issue. Wildlife havens are all the rage at the moment so you could try that approach when talking to the vicar, suggesting wildflower meadow with a local person who’d mow it at the correct times. Understand your frustration as you keep your garden well cared for. Hope you can reach a happy conclusion.

There’s a local church here who s large garden is given over to foraging they often have afternoons where people are invited to go and forage and a leader will take the group around I haven’t been as it clashes with my work but it sounds like a great idea
I think worthing has a great idea of turning it over to the community but would it work ??

Maybe they're into rewilding?

It’s probably full of biodiversity Exdancer. Can you not live with it?
I’m sorry that the weeds worry you x

We have this situation as no vicar at present. Our diocese - Birmingham - gets the money from tenants, not our church (grr!). The property is managed by an agent and the garden is maintained to an extent. Your diocese will have a buildings officer who will know about this.

I would be wary, in case in puts to mind, someone to build on it! just saying!

As Septimia has said, the vicarage is probably owned by the diocese. Do get in touch with them.

It is sad to hear this for a number of reasons. Firstly that you are in this position. Secondly because so many people don’t have gardens and would love the space which is going to seed. Wouldn’t it be good if those wanting a garden could go into the vicarage garden to tend it and whatever they produce is theirs to keep or pass on. The residents would benefit from a better outlook and you would benefit from reduced weeds. Even a mix of beautiful wild flowers would help the wildlife.
I hope it gets sorted to everyone’s satisfaction.