Neighbours complaints about my ivy

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Our neighbours are letting their ivy invade our garden ( theirs is covered in it stopping other plants from thriving). But what happens in theirs isn’t my business. However, I now cut all their invasive ivy in our garden and place this in their bin ( as per agreement). I once paid a gardener cut and remove ( neighbours refused to chip in), therefore doing my best to keep it under control.

You really don't want to start a war with your neighbours .
You never know when you'll need them !

I get on exceptionally well with my neighbour , but she complains about the ivy which climbs up the brickwork of both our houses .
I cut it back every year and I'm trying to kill it off .
I know that it damages brickwork .
So it's a perfectly reasonable complaint .
But I get fed up with her honeysuckle , laurel and weigela which invade my garden - not to mention her four cats , which use my flowerbeds as a toilet !

I miss the ivy that grew over the garden wall in my last house. It was covered in bees at this time of year. I always cut great lengths of it to decorate mantelpieces and the banisters at Christmas. My neighbours were lovely. They trimmed their side and I trimmed mine after the bees had gone. Even when I cut it right back it quickly grew back.

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.

I am not sure that this is legally the case. I am sure I read that your neighbour's have the right to cut stuff on their boundary and should offer it back but if you don't want it, you can't just throw it back over.
Similarly, you don't have the right to go round to their side of the fence to control your plant so if they don't want it in their garden, they have to cut it back.
Some years ago, the next door neighbour to a family member removed a load of laurels that had been up for years between the two gardens but originated on the family member's side. It took years to sort out because there was a boundary dispute too. When they were found to be in the wrong, the neighbours tried to claim back the costs of having the hedge cut back but the solicitors said that this was not the law.
If it were me and I wasn't bothered about having an Ivy hedge, I'd probably say that they were welcome to replace with something you agreed with at their cost it if they were that bothered. If not, you will do your best to control it.

I chopped down the variegated ivy not long ago without a problem.

It was the common stuff which grows under and over the fence which caused a problem a few years ago.

Callistemon21

Yes, I've had an ivy rash from common ivy.

Yes I was recently cutting mine and had a really nasty blister on my hand which then swelled up and was quite infected for about a week.. never had it before..

Baggs

Wood pigeons loves ivy 'fruit'. And it provides good shelter for bats if it's thick enough.

Oh no!
We don't want more wood pigeons here!!

Wood pigeons loves ivy 'fruit'. And it provides good shelter for bats if it's thick enough.

Is it actually wasps or bees? There is a specific ivy bee.

Ivy is very useful in wildlife terms. If it's only growing along a border wall and fence, can't the neighbours keep it under control on their side and leave the rest be?

Yes, I've had an ivy rash from common ivy.

Yes, two points. Ivy is great for wildlife and it’s yours - so no one can or should demand you get rid.

But on the other hand you don’t want to fall out with neighbours.

Perhaps compromise and tell her you’ll trim it back a bit or thin it when it stops flowering.

Take care if you are going to tackle the ivy. I have been working on clearing ivy off a fence for the last few weeks. At the same time I have had a horrible itchy rash over my neck and round my eyes. The penny dropped today when the rash had returned after having calmed down last week and I realized the only plant I had touched all weekend was the ivy.

Apparently, it can be an irritant and I don't normally have allergic reactions to anything at all.

I'd top it and make sure it didn't go over to their side.

It's a strange year here - many of my plants are still flowering and some which should have flowered in the summer, eg clematis, are sprouting and have blossoms.

Roses, geraniums, fushchias, clematis, sunflowers, buddleia, nasturtiums, cosmos, carnations, verbena, penstemon, campanula, honeysuckle and of course sedum, all in bloom. Nothing on the ivy.

We seem to have more butterflies now than we had all summer too.
Of course, we might get a sudden cold snap.

Ivy is a wildlife saviour at this time of year, when there is so little pollen available. Wasps are pollinators and also predate greenfly and even some caterpillars, so are a useful garden asset and only attack when attacked first.

If your ivy is growing on a shared fence and hedge, and not increasing the height over 6 feet, then I don't see how your neighbours can do anything. they certainly have no right to tell you to cut it right back.

If it's NOT a shared boundary but ENTIRELY yours, then you may be considered to have a responsibility to keep their side neat, otherwise not.

Made in Yorkshire Sounds like you've had a battle too. I too have arthritis and a spinal condition and doing anything much beyond deadheading is pretty much beyond me. Plus it's a housing association house so I'm limited as to what I'm allowed to do. My garden is only around 7 metres front to back but quite wide and my neighbour's plot goes all the way across the back. I think I'm stuck with having to pay to have it blitzed every few years, my neighbour is not fit enough to tackle anything herself either.