neighbours growing ivy on our old lime and mortar brick wall

[fairy]

Garden is enclosed with an old lime and mortar brick wall. It is in keeping with the victorian house and probably as old as the house. We own the wall and the buttresses are our side.

Neighbours one side desided they didn't like the old wall and took to growing ivy against it, despite me telling them how much damage ivy does. Naturally the ivy is damaging the wall, pushing through the pointing in places and pushing the wall itself, though I've tried to keep the wall going with a bit of repointing.

Further along the wall, between the houses, for a period of a good number of months the same neighbours constantly flooded the sideway due to poor plumbing which eventually was rectified after I approached them a couple of times.... but mean time the lime and mortar wall was undermined in a couple of places and the water leaked through. The wall has begun to lean a little at that end.

I'm guessing it will cost a good penny to rebuild the 35ft long wall, which one end is 6ft. How do I stand legally? What is my best course of action? Any advice appreciated.

 

[gregers]

weed killer,at night.that should do the trick.

 

[fairy]

ha ha tell me a good one I've tried most

 

[munchingB]

syringe glyphosate into the stems with a hypodermic needle and send your neighbour the quote for repairs to the wall followed by a county court claim notice : )

 

[fairy]

To do that would mean climbing over the (now dodgy) wall into their garden - only have easy access to the top of the wall and what gets zapped through the wall.

I need to get quotes for repair, but I fear the advice will be "rebuild".

County court claim - would i need a surveyors report and solicitor to do this?

I did take photos of the flooding and also the ivy for evidence should it be required.

 

[TheVictorian]

Tip a big bag of salt over the wall when it's raining. That will sort it out over the long term.

 

[JohnD]

cut it off where you can reach, and dab liquid glyphosate concentrate onto the cut ends of the stems, using a small paintbrush. It will soak in and be drawn down. In time it will kill the roots. The bigger and lower the stems, the better.

It is very difficult to kill ivy by spraying the leaves as they are waxy and not absorbent except when very young and pale green.

It might help to send them a recorded delivery letter stating that they do not have your permission to affix anything to your wall, or to grow plants up it, and that you hold them responsible for the cost of any repairs caused by damage to the wall.

If they are tenants copy it to the letting agents and landlord. You can easily obtain the name and address of any property owner and mortgage company from the Land Registry for a few pounds. It is a government body http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/ do not use any enquiry agency or commercial company which will make extra charges by tricking you.

Keep it on file in case of a future claim.

Make the letter very very short and to the point.

 

[WalksWithTurkeys]

You need proper advice, killing their plant might well be illegal. Maybe contact citizens advice. You have to do things properly if you end up in court, using letters sent by recorded delivery for example, even though your neighbours are next door.

 

[fairy]

Thanks for the advice so far... They own the house.

Being a victorian house, the damp course here is very probably slate.
Very probably the ground became saturated with the grey water flooding undermining the garden wall in a couple of places.
An issue developed with our electrics tripping and an electrician identified damp skirting board along the wall which butts onto our side way next to the wall.

crazy situation.

 

[gregers]

i remember spraying a roof structure with a spirit based woodworm fluid,years back and because it was a tad windy the over spray went into the neighbours garden and over night killed virtually everything

 

[D4N1EL]

I've tried killing my neighbours ivy with all sorts of weed killer an it normally only kills the pats that get sprayed. I read somewhere that ivy has a waxy layer on the leaf, for best results spray new leafs before the waxy layer grows. Have you got any friends in the chemical industry? Get some para quart, it kills anything

 

[JohnD]

cut it off where you can reach, and dab liquid glyphosate concentrate onto the cut ends of the stems, using a small paintbrush. It will soak in and be drawn down. In time it will kill the roots. The bigger and lower the stems, the better.

THIS WORKS

 

[big-all]

as long as you realise as well as they must not attach anything thing to any off your property or trespass on to your land
you must also not touch any off there plants or property
unless they trespass onto your land then you cannot do any harm or damage to the plant but you can prune on the boundary and by law offer the cuttings back to them

 

[fairy]

k... so the ivy has attached itself to our wall due to ivy 'going forth and multiplying' lack of control or the neighbours wish to cover the wall.......(or lack of common sense)

so is growing ivy onto our wall a trespass? ...when it has penetrated between the bricks where it has 'eaten' into the lime and mortar? starting to slowly push the wall...

to prune on the boundary... easy to trim the top...
but it is a 4ft high wall by a good 30ft long wall being damaged

are you saying in theory I could sever the ivy from the wall belongs I don't in essence damage the plant.... though it would be likely to flop over and/or re-attach itself. Just hoping the roots aren't doing too much damage as it is along a soil path route.

 

[munchingB]

just poison it from your side and dont worry about the consequences : )

if you are going to grow ivy anywhere then you have to it responsibly as with many plants that are vigourous, invasive or self seeding.

if they cant make the effort to look after your wall then you shouldnt worry about their plant.

there is no way any court in the country are going to be able to prove that you killed their plant.

blame me if you want to. just do it.

its a horrible plant if left to its own device so i wouldnt feel bad about it.

i wouldnt hesitate to poison a neighbours plant were they not prepared to manage it for themselves.