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Neighbours Virginian creeper

dilbydilby Posts: 78
in Plants
Hi all -I have an area at the bottom of my garden where my neighbours Virginia creeper keeps growing through, over and under the fence and into my garden, up my plants etc. i can’t believe how quick it can be! Due to the nature of the fence there are many ways it gets in and although it’s manageable, it’s frustrating to have to keep on top of and I’m worried that there are parts I’m missing that will become stronger and harder to remove later ones. I’m tried to be friendly and talk about some other problems (his asbestos shed roof runoff falls into my garden and when I suggest he install some guttering he told me it was my problem and refused!) so I don’t want to cause a dispute. So my question really is how likely is is that I can just regularly keep on top of this thing and keep it in check or do I need to risk confrontation now to prevent it eventually becoming a huge problem to deal with later? Thanks!

Posts

  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,719
    edited September 2022
    My sympathies.
    Disputes between neighbours can be horrible.
    Re gutter.
    You are not allowed to screw anything to his shed ..so no idea how he expects you to put a gutter up.

    Could you put a plastic sheet on your side sloping back towards his land to channel water away from your side.?
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • gjautosgjautos Posts: 429
    I've always found virginia creeper easy to keep on top of. Yes you have to pull it out and cut it back regularly but its not much effort and alot easier than dealing with a neighbourly dispute. Re the gutter, is the water falling onto plants? That wouldn't bother me it's an extra watering for them!
  • dilbydilby Posts: 78
    Silver surfer said:
    My sympathies.
    Disputes between neighbours can be horrible.
    Re gutter.
    You are not allowed to screw anything to his shed ..so no idea how he expects you to put a gutter up.

    Could you put a plastic sheet on your side sloping back towards his land to channel water away from your side.?
    gjautos said:
    I've always found virginia creeper easy to keep on top of. Yes you have to pull it out and cut it back regularly but its not much effort and alot easier than dealing with a neighbourly dispute. Re the gutter, is the water falling onto plants? That wouldn't bother me it's an extra watering for them!
    Thanks for replies both. In regards to the creeper that’s good to know - it hasn’t been too hard so far but I’m just concerned that it’s gojng to become a huge problem. There are various gaps and places where I’m sure it’s growing that I can’t reach and just didn’t want to get to a point where it was a huge problem. I hear terrible things about it but it’s likely just hearsay.

    In regards to the roof, it’s frustrating but what I’ve done is attach a pipe to his existing guttering that ran nowhere and have it come to one of my water butts. The Water butt has an overflow pump so it’s not too much extra hassle. My only concern really is that it waters my veg and is coming from an asbestos roof but from what I understand unless the asbestos is disturbed it’s unlikely to cause any problems


  • borgadrborgadr Posts: 718
    I agree with @gjautos that it's quite easy to control. My neighbour's virginia creeper spills over my fence.  I cut it back when it goes too far, and in autumn I just enjoy its stunning red colouration.  It's also gradually covering the roof of my ugly garage which is no bad thing.
  • StephenSouthwestStephenSouthwest Posts: 635
    edited September 2022
    I wouldn't worry about the asbestos - the fibres are only a problem if you break it and breathe it.
  • dilbydilby Posts: 78
    StephenSouthwest said:
    I wouldn't worry about the asbestos - the fibres are only a problem if you break it and breathe it.
    borgadr said:
    I agree with @gjautos that it's quite easy to control. My neighbour's virginia creeper spills over my fence.  I cut it back when it goes too far, and in autumn I just enjoy its stunning red colouration.  It's also gradually covering the roof of my ugly garage which is no bad thing.
    Thanks for the help everyone, you're all very kind. Love this forum, it's such a help for novices like me!
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited September 2022
    Whose fence?

    You could try painting your side with something plant-hating.  Creosote comes to mind, but that has been banned (or was it just the EU?).

    I did some thought experiments on controlling Virgiinia Creeper, I came up with the idea of a flame thrower (but stop short of setting the fence on fire).  Boiling water might work at soil level.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    We have a similar problem with a thuggish jasmine coming through our fence from the neighbours. All I do is dig up or prune any that has come though that I don't want and I also put old pallet wood boards at the bottom of the fence, which helps prevent it rooting under there. If it doesn't get a chance to root and run in your garden the it should be easy to manage. 
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