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Neighbours Ivy damaged fences severely
Laurajaynew86
Posts: 6
Ok, so I have had trouble with my neighbours after being nice and kindly asking them to take control of their trees and ivy as they are severely damaging my property. They ignored me and we're extremely rude, but when I trim down some stuff that I'm legally allowed to I get abused to the point I have to call the police.
Now the ivy is that bad it's completely taken over my fences and rotted them where I need to get new fences but a. They legally should pay as their ivy has been illegally growing on mine and damaged my property and b. If I did get new fences it would take a lot of work and money as the ivy would only do the same to the new fences.
As they are neighbours from hell.. How should I approach it?
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Although as Edd says, the ivy won't directly have caused the fence to rot, it does retain more moisture around the fence and that, combined with not being able to get to the fence to treat it will have hastened its demise.
As you neighbours are of the unfriendly variety, your options really are very limited. You could put a new fence on your side of the old rotting one and would then have total control of what grows on it. You could remove ivy from that without having to encroach on your neighbours property.
There's no easy solution when neighbours fall out.
I might have misinterpreted your question, but I'm sure there is no legal requirement to keep ivy off of fences. It's not an act of vandalism is it?
You are welcome to cut the ivy from your side of the boundary. And if it comes from next door, I guess technically with the law, you should offer the spoils back.
Personally I prefer the look of ivy to fencing, and walls and housing look much better for it too (destruction aside). I wish it would love a chain-link fence as much as a wooden one! I'm only really a fan of post and rail and picket fences. Wooden fencing does serve a purpose when privacy or keeping animals out is paramount.
I can sympathise, I've an annoyingly small stretch of wooden fencing. The neighbours never keep the base free from debris, or cut back climbers. There's even a nice bag of cement thrown against one section leaving a lovely depression and bend in a panel. It's pretty much ruined. I hate it. But once there, it's hard to get rid of.
A friend of mine who doesn't own the freehold on his flat has had loads of fun and games getting sections replaced at great expense and time, with very poor results. Hedges are so much nicer. I even prefer my chain link fence with shrubs up against it. But each to their own.
Are they your panels to replace? I guess you could just replace with something bigger and stronger, and take the hit. A better quality fence should last longer ivy or no ivy. I wonder if there is an alternative.
Last edited: 14 June 2016 09:26:07
This is a really awful problem and I feel for you Laura.
Our old neighbour was exactly the same. He was horrendously rude and threatening and his ivy had got to such a state that in the end( as I was unable to maintain the fence due to the mass of ivy on it) the fence just rotted away underneath and I was left with a fence shaped ivy boundary.
I refused to replace the fence as I knew that this would go the same way.
We even offered to dig up all the ivy roots his side but he didn't want us to go near any of his property.
In the end we had to leave it and two years ago joy of joys he met a woman and sold up. The new neighbour is great, loves gardening and we have finally been able to put up a new fence.
It is illegal to let anything grow up your neighbours fence unless you have their express permission but sadly to enforce this would cost you thousands of pounds in court which is why many so many people just don't bother.
He even came round one day and started shouting at me. He said he couldn't sell his house as there wasn't a proper fence!!! I just laughed in his face and shut the door. Later I sent him a note to say if he cleared the ivy completely I'd be happy to erect a new fence. He never replied funnily enough.
Brilliant! Hoist by his own petard. Don't you just love it.
And aym280 yes there are people out there who just do not give a damn and never seem to be brought to book.
My husband once set fire accidentally to the fence at the bottom of the garden, I was ever so cross - I said why couldn't you have burnt horrible neighbours fence down instead..........by mistake of course :-)
Well there are ways to make people leave.
Apparently an old christian/pagan spell is to to bury a very small statue of St Joseph on their property and they will move soon after.
Personally I'd plant a very large hedge your side of the fence as plants absorb fumes so much better than fencing.
Just been following this thread as I found it when searching for info on fences damaged by ivy. We have a close boarded fence with rails our side which is our property. The neighbours have rented their house out but the tenant is a single mum who has no idea how to look after the garden. The owners are a lovely family and I have told them that their ivy and a leylandii have damaged the fence, breaking between the panels and the weight of it is pushing the fence over. They have said I can do what I like to get to the fence from their side, and the tenant has told them I can have access through the gate. We have to replace all the fence posts with godfathers, as they have rotted at the bottom and need to push the fence upright. The fence is on top of a brick wall as their garden is lower than ours, so we don't need access to replace the posts. We just need to remove the weight of ivy off the fence to stop further damage. However: 1. what do we do about the damage to the fence, which includes the top rail being pushed off and broken boards? 2. Why should we clear all the stuff off the fence from their side and bear the cost of removing it? Can we just leave it in their garden? We have spent years keeping it off our side, with their permission, and removing the rubbish, but it grows so quickly and is very dense on the top. 3. We can't cut down the tree, the trunk of which is pushing against our fence. 4. What rights do we have if we enter their garden and damage any other plants/shrubs as we can't get to the ivy without cutting down several of their shrubs?
BTW I saw this on Today's Homeowner web site, about ivy damaging fencing: Wooden Walls and Fences: Ivy can easily work its way between boards, opening the joints and damaging the structure. The roots can also penetrate small weaknesses and cracks in the wood grain, increasing the risk of rot. And, if that’s not enough, ivy can harbor wood destroying insects and other pests.
I hope someone sees this and can give me some advice.
Sorry, I am not qualified to advise on legal issues, but I'm intrigued by the mention of replacing fence posts with godfathers. Did you type something else and fall foul of predictive text, or is "Godfather" a technical term known only to the fencing fraternity?
I presume Godfathers are the stub concrete posts you can get to replace the rotten bottom section of timber posts. The timber post is then bolted to these.