Vine on neighbours side of fence

Abbafan1972

We have neighbours at the back and the gardens back onto each other.  The fence at the bottom of our garden (which I assume is shared) is covered in vine on the neighbours side and has been for a number of years (we've been here for 25 years).  Until recently the vine was coming over the top of the fence and over the conifer trees that we planted years ago to cover this fence as the vine has broken it and I don't know how long it will be before it gives way.  Over the last couple of weeks, we have trimmed the conifers and plan to get rid of them, they are only small.  There was a lot of conifer rubbish, yes, but most of it was the neighbours vine, we have had to get rid of it ourselves, filling up our council garden bin and my dad taking some to the tip for us, along with some other rubbish. 

My problem is, I don't know what to do about the fence panels.  They run the whole width of the bottom of the garden.  On the one side years ago we put false fence panels on our side to hide it, but the conifer side there is a raised bed surrounded by bricks.  We were thinking of putting up some bamboo screening on the back, but this old fence panel that is exposed is bowing in towards our side.  Hubby saw the neighbour over the fence and she doesn't seem interested at all, only said that she has cut the vine at the root or something but the fence panels are covered in it.  I know if we tear the panels down and replace, we will end up paying for all of it.  Plus we have a cat and as soon as the panels come down, she will be off exploring and I don't her to get lost.   

Has anyone got any advice please?

[Deleted User]

Interesting to know if the neighbour wants to keep the vine really.
Cutting it at  the root could well just prune it into growth - ask whether she has tried killing it at the root because if she hasn't next year it'll be up and strong again.
Whichever vine it is they've strong growth habits and this thing will want to live unless weedkiller has been used, frequently !

By bamboo screen you mean one of those wicker-looking fence panels or bamboo plants planted as a screen ?
If the former, they're quite flimsy and unless tacked onto something more substantial they'll topple.
If the latter, you'll create another rampaging plant getting out of control.

I think the other option is to bit the bullet and go halves on new fencing once the vine's been dealt with.

Abbafan1972

[Deleted User] said:

Interesting to know if the neighbour wants to keep the vine really.
Cutting it at  the root could well just prune it into growth - ask whether she has tried killing it at the root because if she hasn't next year it'll be up and strong again.
Whichever vine it is they've strong growth habits and this thing will want to live unless weedkiller has been used, frequently !

By bamboo screen you mean one of those wicker-looking fence panels or bamboo plants planted as a screen ?
If the former, they're quite flimsy and unless tacked onto something more substantial they'll topple.
If the latter, you'll create another rampaging plant getting out of control.

I think the other option is to bit the bullet and go halves on new fencing once the vine's been dealt with.

Yes a bamboo screen is what I'm thinking. It will be attached to wooden posts.  I'm not sure why she would want to keep the vine!  We could ask to go halves on new fencing but she doesn't seem interested at all!

tr7phil

Abbafan1972 said:

Yes a bamboo screen is what I'm thinking. It will be attached to wooden posts.  I'm not sure why she would want to keep the vine!  We could ask to go halves on new fencing but she doesn't seem interested at all!

Maybe she makes wine with the grapes, I do with mine and very nice it is too.  Mine is against the fence as well, although it's not fixed to the actual panels as I like to be able to maintain the fence without destroying the vine.

Moss5

https://www.primrose.co.uk/fixings-c-65_10916_11900.html

https://www.primrose.co.uk/willow-screening-c-318_67.html

I used my conifer hedge to attach a couple of straining wires to each tree trunk.

The Willow screen was cable-tied to the wire.

Abbafan1972

tr7phil said:

Abbafan1972 said:

Yes a bamboo screen is what I'm thinking. It will be attached to wooden posts.  I'm not sure why she would want to keep the vine!  We could ask to go halves on new fencing but she doesn't seem interested at all!

Maybe she makes wine with the grapes, I do with mine and very nice it is too.  Mine is against the fence as well, although it's not fixed to the actual panels as I like to be able to maintain the fence without destroying the vine.

I don't know what it is to be honest.  We just call it "vine" but have never seen berries on it.  She doesn't seem the sort to be making wine!  I will have to post photos.  I did look up "Japanese Knotweed" just in case but I don't think that's what it is. 

Belenus

Abbafan1972 said: .... Plus we have a cat and as soon as the panels come down, she will be off exploring and I don't her to get lost. ....

Most cats would not see a fence as an obstacle to prevent exploring.

Our back garden is fenced in on all three sides yet we regularly see cats in our garden. They will scale a six foot fence with ease and happily walk along the top which is only a few centimetres wide.

We like cats so they are welcome. Our garden is paved with gravel borders and artificial grass so there is nowhere for them to foul so they don't cause us any problems.

Abbafan1972

Our cat is quite old now and just sleeps in the garden and doesn't climb (she's a little overweight), but will wander if there is a gap at ground level. 

Belenus

Like you, our garden backs onto the rear of a neighbour's garden. The 8 foot fence is theirs but we maintain it as there is so much vegetation on their side they can't get to it.

We get on fine with them and there are no issues. They allow us to trim their vegetation as much as we want so we keep it at the level you can see in the photo.

A few weeks ago we noticed a small gap in the fence had opened up due to shrinkage over the years so I removed three vertical feather edge panels to move them slightly sideways to fill in the gap.

As I did the work the neighbours were in their garden. They heard the noise I was making and came down to investigate so I told them what I was doing. They were quite happy about it.

However their one year old dog, a large Tibetan Terrier, was very curious. He is a big friendly lump and he pushed his way through the vegetation and squeezed his way through the gap I had opened up and managed to get most of his body onto my side of the fence. 

His owner had to grab his back legs and pull while I pushed him back. He ended up with his shaggy coat covered in leaves, twigs etc.

Photo:

https://i.postimg.cc/qMZGt1Kj/9-garden-july-2017-3-c.jpg

stragglebod

Was hoping for a photo of the dog with its backside sticking out of the fence

theoretica

The vine seems irrelevant to the actual question which is that the fence between your properties has deteriorated and your neighbour seems happy to leave it that way.  Many fences aren't shared responsibility, but belong to one or the other properties - is this one hers or yours?