Hedge trimming at property boundary

FlorayG

That is ivy, a climbing wild plant, not a hedge. You will find there is something inside supporting it, probably an old fence that is so rotten it's actually being held up by the ivy. You can cut ivy down to the ground it will grow back; however, it doesn't have a trunk as hedge plants do so it's going to be really difficult to cut only your side, probably huge chunks of it are connected to the other side stems.
The best way to trim that would be to go right to the base and cut off at ground level any stems ( there may not be any, it may all be on the other side and just drooping over). Then go to the top and cut down until you get to the fence top. Then you can just pull the whole thing off in one go but beware the fence may then fall down

eltisley98

FlorayG said:

That is ivy, a climbing wild plant, not a hedge. You will find there is something inside supporting it, probably an old fence that is so rotten it's actually being held up by the ivy. You can cut ivy down to the ground it will grow back; however, it doesn't have a trunk as hedge plants do so it's going to be really difficult to cut only your side, probably huge chunks of it are connected to the other side stems.
The best way to trim that would be to go right to the base and cut off at ground level any stems ( there may not be any, it may all be on the other side and just drooping over). Then go to the top and cut down until you get to the fence top. Then you can just pull the whole thing off in one go but beware the fence may then fall down

Thanks for the clarification. 

From what I see, there are no roots on my side of the fence, so I do suspect that the ivy has just been growing on the neighbour's side and drooping over. Unfortunately I don't think I can cut it all off at the ground level because it will involve me going to the neighbour's garden (well technically that land belongs to the building company but I suspect the neighbour now thinks it is theirs seeing what they have done there) and needing their permission to cut in the first place. 

I don't think I can use weedkiller either, as this will kill the root too, and also I don't want to use weedkillers in general.

So it seems that my only option is to cut it off up to the fence top, and then regularly trimming it to prevent it from growing into our garden in future?

If there are other better suggestions I would be thrilled to hear.

eltisley98

Grumpy_chap said:

FlorayG said:

'Persian Ivy' is a climbing plant ( an ivy) so can't be the whole hedge - that's probably just ivy growing through the original plant
Can you post a picture with a close up?

Ivy can climb on itself and hence become quite thick - we had that.
The OP can cut that plant back hard.  It will grow back.

FWIW - I understand the OP does not need to offer the cuttings back to the neighbour - that was a rule that relates to fruits / crops really.

Thanks Grumpy_chap. Do you have a source for what you said in the last paragraph? I searched online and couldn't find this mentioned anywhere. All they say is that you need to offer a return of the trimming to the neighbour, though in most cases they do talk about trees.

Albermarle

eltisley98 said:

FlorayG said:

That is ivy, a climbing wild plant, not a hedge. You will find there is something inside supporting it, probably an old fence that is so rotten it's actually being held up by the ivy. You can cut ivy down to the ground it will grow back; however, it doesn't have a trunk as hedge plants do so it's going to be really difficult to cut only your side, probably huge chunks of it are connected to the other side stems.
The best way to trim that would be to go right to the base and cut off at ground level any stems ( there may not be any, it may all be on the other side and just drooping over). Then go to the top and cut down until you get to the fence top. Then you can just pull the whole thing off in one go but beware the fence may then fall down

Thanks for the clarification. 

From what I see, there are no roots on my side of the fence, so I do suspect that the ivy has just been growing on the neighbour's side and drooping over. Unfortunately I don't think I can cut it all off at the ground level because it will involve me going to the neighbour's garden (well technically that land belongs to the building company but I suspect the neighbour now thinks it is theirs seeing what they have done there) and needing their permission to cut in the first place. 

I don't think I can use weedkiller either, as this will kill the root too, and also I don't want to use weedkillers in general.

So it seems that my only option is to cut it off up to the fence top, and then regularly trimming it to prevent it from growing into our garden in future?

If there are other better suggestions I would be thrilled to hear.

Once you do the 'big cutback' after that it should be easy to just clip any new growth.
Standard weed killer does not work very well on Ivy due to the glossy leaves.
As already mentioned the Ivy is probably intertwined/holding up the fence, so that would be my main concern.

Bigphil1474

If it's not your neighbours land, you don't need to worry about what they think or say. You may need to speak to the landowner. Sounds like it really needs cutting right back and maybe a new fence putting in. Maybe suggest that to the neighbours, but if it's not their land you don't need to worry about what they think or say. Is the land owning company still in existence?

KittenChops

Please remember that ivy is a great food source for wildlife - nectar from the flowers (great for early, solitary bees) & berries (birds will love these, especially fieldfares who frequently come over from Scandinavia at this time of year)
Could you wait until Spring to chop it?

eltisley98

Albermarle said:

eltisley98 said:

FlorayG said:

That is ivy, a climbing wild plant, not a hedge. You will find there is something inside supporting it, probably an old fence that is so rotten it's actually being held up by the ivy. You can cut ivy down to the ground it will grow back; however, it doesn't have a trunk as hedge plants do so it's going to be really difficult to cut only your side, probably huge chunks of it are connected to the other side stems.
The best way to trim that would be to go right to the base and cut off at ground level any stems ( there may not be any, it may all be on the other side and just drooping over). Then go to the top and cut down until you get to the fence top. Then you can just pull the whole thing off in one go but beware the fence may then fall down

Thanks for the clarification. 

From what I see, there are no roots on my side of the fence, so I do suspect that the ivy has just been growing on the neighbour's side and drooping over. Unfortunately I don't think I can cut it all off at the ground level because it will involve me going to the neighbour's garden (well technically that land belongs to the building company but I suspect the neighbour now thinks it is theirs seeing what they have done there) and needing their permission to cut in the first place. 

I don't think I can use weedkiller either, as this will kill the root too, and also I don't want to use weedkillers in general.

So it seems that my only option is to cut it off up to the fence top, and then regularly trimming it to prevent it from growing into our garden in future?

If there are other better suggestions I would be thrilled to hear.

Once you do the 'big cutback' after that it should be easy to just clip any new growth.
Standard weed killer does not work very well on Ivy due to the glossy leaves.
As already mentioned the Ivy is probably intertwined/holding up the fence, so that would be my main concern.

The fence seems firm so I am not very concerned about it (though I do have the tendency of being overly optimistic quite often). I think the ivy grows on the fence from the other side, and once it passes the fence to it droops, which explains why there is big empty space next to the fence beneath the ivy on my side: so the ivy is acting as a "roof". 

But you are absolutely right that the ivy could damage the fence, so the sooner I get rid of it the better. If it continues to damage the fence from the other side, then that would be another (legal) issue that I will need to deal with, possibly by involving the building company and the legal protection in my home insurance policy.

Aarrrh!

eltisley98

Bigphil1474 said:

If it's not your neighbours land, you don't need to worry about what they think or say. You may need to speak to the landowner. Sounds like it really needs cutting right back and maybe a new fence putting in. Maybe suggest that to the neighbours, but if it's not their land you don't need to worry about what they think or say. Is the land owning company still in existence?

My solicitor found the land registry deed title for me for that piece of land, and it seems to belong to Barratt Homes (or a related company). So I think this means that the land-owning company still exists. I will try to get in touch with them first.

eltisley98

KittenChops said:

Please remember that ivy is a great food source for wildlife - nectar from the flowers (great for early, solitary bees) & berries (birds will love these, especially fieldfares who frequently come over from Scandinavia at this time of year)
Could you wait until Spring to chop it?

Good point. I can only do the cutting in my spare time which is not plenty. But when I do do the cutting I will make sure that I am extra careful. I checked the fence and didn't find any wild animals there.

Flugelhorn

eltisley98 said:

Bigphil1474 said:

If it's not your neighbours land, you don't need to worry about what they think or say. You may need to speak to the landowner. Sounds like it really needs cutting right back and maybe a new fence putting in. Maybe suggest that to the neighbours, but if it's not their land you don't need to worry about what they think or say. Is the land owning company still in existence?

My solicitor found the land registry deed title for me for that piece of land, and it seems to belong to Barratt Homes (or a related company). So I think this means that the land-owning company still exists. I will try to get in touch with them first.

possible that there is an estate management company that barratts passed management of common areas on to - they are more likely to know what is going on - maybe they will come and hack the whole hedge down