Neighbour removed my ivy

time2deal2

glasgowdan wrote: »

As far as I can tell the ivy was still in the OPs property/garden, just attached to the neighbour's wall which forms the boundary.

I side with the neighbour here. Having someone else ivy crawl all over my wall would wind me right up and I'd cut it off as soon as it appears.

If you're in Oz then how would them knocking your door have helped?

It's not empty. If someone came by the tenants would have swiftly informed me, we chat regularly on whatsapp. The wonders of modern technology. Also my upstairs neighbour knows the owner, so he could have spoken to her for my details. I'm not hard to contact.

I am fully supportive of my neighbours desire to remove the ivy. And I agree it's gotten out of control. I've not been there for 2 years and we left it neat and tidy, but clearly time and growth took over. I know it being there a long time is no excuse, but as it's never been an issue before it wasn't really top of mind. It's just all a bit of a surprise to see if all fallen into the garden like that.

Anyway, all sorted. Gardeners coming over the weekend to tidy it all up and remove everything. I've emphasized they need to be extra careful with the tenants goods as they move everything through the house. They will assess any damage to the fence and side neighbours too.

Thanks for the advice all.

DavidP24

Not only are they entitled to cut it at their boundary they are obliged to return it, you can't blame them if you do not maintain YOUR plant and allow it to grow on their wall and damage the mortar of the brickwork.

Many building insurance policies have exceptions for ivy.

I suggest you cut it at the base of the wall and then leave it to die so you can remove it with as little damage as possible to the brickwork, as stated above the roots will need to be treated with systemic solution.

Mojisola

DavidP24 wrote: »

Not only are they entitled to cut it at their boundary they are obliged to return it

They are obliged to offer the trimmings back to the owner.

If the owner doesn't give his/her consent, the person who cut down the vegetation has to dispose of it.

dacouch

DavidP24 wrote: »

Many building insurance policies have exceptions for ivy.

That's an alternative fact

glasgowdan

Not relevant in this case though as the ivy wasn't growing over the neighbour's boundary

Doozergirl

Mojisola wrote: »

They are obliged to offer the trimmings back to the owner.

If the owner doesn't give his/her consent, the person who cut down the vegetation has to dispose of it.

Think about it. We're neighbours. I grow a tree right by the boundary line and the tree grows significantly over your boundary. In a storm, part of it falls into your garden, who do you think is responsible for that? Who owns the tree?

Do I get the luxury of deciding whether to take the cost of getting rid of the mess?

Doozergirl

glasgowdan wrote: »

Not relevant in this case though as the ivy wasn't growing over the neighbour's boundary

It's definitely going over a fence! And it also looks like it was heading around and over the building!

Mojisola

Doozergirl wrote: »

Think about it.

I don't have to think about it - that's the legal situation.

In practice, I doubt many (if any) people have been accused of 'stealing' the prunings instead returning them to the neighbour.

It's more likely that there have been rows about 'fly tipping' when the prunings are dumped in the neighbour's gardens instead the neighbour being given the chance to refuse them.

swinstan

I'm in the same position as the original poster, except I'm the neighbour who owns the wall. The ivy in our case has reached the roof and has started to grow inbetween the roofing slates. The house was built in 1905 so the ivy on the wall is likely to be causing a problem too. To be clear, the boundary is the wall itself. The house is not occupied so I have no-one to approach. I tried the sales agent but they weren't helpful. I can with step ladders and long handled loppers reach from my property to cut some of the stems, although not all. I am minded to to this to minimise damage to the roof in particular. I did think of the land registry to contact the owner, but he is recently deceased. Any advice at all would be appreciated.

Carrot007

swinstan wrote: »

I'm in the same position as the original poster, except I'm the neighbour who owns the wall. The ivy in our case has reached the roof and has started to grow inbetween the roofing slates. The house was built in 1905 so the ivy on the wall is likely to be causing a problem too. To be clear, the boundary is the wall itself. The house is not occupied so I have no-one to approach. I tried the sales agent but they weren't helpful. I can with step ladders and long handled loppers reach from my property to cut some of the stems, although not all. I am minded to to this to minimise damage to the roof in particular. I did think of the land registry to contact the owner, but he is recently deceased. Any advice at all would be appreciated.

1. Start your own thread.


2. Cut it down and dispose of it. You have tried all reasonable steps. This of course assumes you can easily access next door to do it.