Neighbour complaining that our rose is weakening their fence

[jakesmith]

I’ve had a look online for poles / stakes, not had much luck finding anything that looks remotely suitable can anyone link / post up an image to something suitable please?

[Wacky Racer]

It looks an unkempt overgrown mess tbh, I'd cut it down as much as possible, it's not even got any shape to it.

Just my 2p.

[jakesmith]

Wacky Racer said:

It looks an unkempt overgrown mess tbh, I'd cut it down as much as possible, it's not even got any shape to it.

Just my 2p.

Yeah actually you’re not wrong it is too big now I look at the pics! But hopefully there’s a middle ground between this and nothing at all

[Stephanie Plum]

Roses should be pruned every year, they grow back more strongly and with more flowers for it. Cut it back hard, you won’t kill it and then prune it every year after flowering. Guessing it’s a rambler by the look of the growth, so cutting now will mean you’ll get a few less flowers next year, but then cut it back after flowering again next year and you’ll have a plant that looks better in the long run.

At the moment it’s an unkempt mess and your neighbour is within their rights to ask you to sort it. If you don’t know what you’re doing get a gardener in for a morning to do it properly.

[PositronicRay]

I put one of these up, next to the fence. It's a bit crap, but does the job and once the rose has grown through and over, it hides the crapyness.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingfisher-Assembly-Garde...

[Drogo]

^ I was thinking along the same lines.

Construct frame work away from the fence on your side and keep it trained.

[Chrisgr31]

motco said:

If the fact that the arris is on your side is any guide, the fence is yours anyway. It is not a golden rule though.

I was going to make a similar comment serves the neighbour right for putting the fence up the wrong way round.

I assume the rose looks magnificent when it flowers, but there is clearly too much weight at the top. Which way is north?

I would be inclined to try and train it more. You could do with it trailing along the fence lower down as well to create a wall of flower. You either attach wires to the neighbours fence (technically shouldnt) or put in your own posts and wires. Could use angle iron, wrought iron or whatever.

In my experience climbing roses are fairly tolerant of being hacked about so just attack it with the secateurs. Start from the furthest end and just aim to reduce the some of the bulk of the plant. and if can lead some of the branches lower down.

[Bill]

PositronicRay said:

I put one of these up, next to the fence. It's a bit crap, but does the job and once the rose has grown through and over, it hides the crapyness.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingfisher-Assembly-Garde...

That'd be a cheap solution. You could have a few in a row even.

Or get something similar knocked up with a flat top and decorative cross braces on the side against the fence.

The only issue is loss of a foot or so of width of the driveway as the arch needs depth to be stable. IYSWIM.

[MrJuice]

I've got a lovely rose bush on the boundary which was supported by my fence. It started to hang a bit funny cos of the weight so I thought I'd prop it up. It was super heavy. The only solution was to cut it right back

Bit of a shame but it'll grow back. Just was not as vibrant this year as previous years

[jakesmith]

It’s the neighbours’ fence, they put the arris the wrong way, it was cheeky, they did it between exchange and completion on our house when it was unoccupied but for the previous owners not us.

I can’t lose more than a few inches width on the drive as we have 3 cars so anything other than some stakes is a non starter

[DoubleD]

It does look a little messy. I cant even grow ivy so I will keep out of how to deal with it!

[Cold]

Before you hack it back carefully prune that to a more acceptable size take plenty of cuttings to pot on. Eventually you would be able to cover your new metal structure in rose bush.

[DozyGit]

jakesmith said:

I’ve had a look online for poles / stakes, not had much luck finding anything that looks remotely suitable can anyone link / post up an image to something suitable please?

Jake, get those drive in post holders 100mm and buy a nice wooden post 100mm by 100mm, then get a pack of stainless screws or nails. Drive screws in at about 45 degrees from vertical so it forms a v from the upper post, go around post like a spiral to the ground.

Carefully spiral the rose up as it grows tying it. Will form an absolute beautiful rose tree. Do so with cuttings too, so you can have different posts or twine different colour roses.

[Pheo]

Get some support posts in, run steel wire, cut it back (follow relevant pruning advice) and tie it into the new supports to move it off the fence.

Simples.

[speedyman]

Are you sure its his fence, as usually the owner gets the post side of a fence and from the photo it appears its yours. Or is the Audi his?

[jakesmith]

speedyman said:

Are you sure its his fence, as usually the owner gets the post side of a fence and from the photo it appears its yours. Or is the Audi his?

It's their fence & my audi ... they maintain it when it got damaged twice (the fence not the audi!)
I think they were just cheeky putting the posts on my side as the previous owners of our house said they erected it between exchange & completion on our property when it was empty & noone was around to stop them. Their cheekiness apparently extended to taking a small sliver of our driveway too but the previous owners were unable to prove it and I don't fancy a boundary dispute. Against this context, putting the fence the wrong way around as well is metophorical chump change!

[Skyedriver]

jakesmith said:

It’s the neighbours’ fence, they put the arris the wrong way, it was cheeky, they did it between exchange and completion on our house when it was unoccupied but for the previous owners not us.

I can’t lose more than a few inches width on the drive as we have 3 cars so anything other than some stakes is a non starter

Ah, neighbours fence, neighbours trellis, remove it.or refif it to taught wire strainers with posts at each end.

[It's fixable...]

We used stainless steel cable basket to support our trained roses. It wont ever rot out and as the rose grows it obscures the basket.

I am lucky, we use it at work so over time i have used spare stuff and it was free.