Will weed membrane stop my new fence being ruined?

[TT86]

Hi Folks

We are replacing a fence next week between us and next door. Next door has some pretty wild Ivy that he wont take out.

I'm thinking about leaving the old fence pictured in situ and having the new fence built in front of it.

Is it worth stapling weed membrane to the old fence to try and protect the new one or would the ivy still find it's way though?

I'll cut back anything that intrudes over the top. It's such a pain, when we moved in we had loads in our garden intruding into both sides and we've taken it all out.

[The Gauge]

If you put a new fence in front of the old, will you lose the view of the brick wall, as that looks a decent feature in your garden

[hidetheelephants]

Ivy's a bd, weed membrane would just give it something to hang on to. As above, the brick wall has aesthetic appeal tbh.

[OMITN]

Who owns the wall and the “fence” on top of it?

[TT86]

Thanks folks

It's not clear who owns the wall. A few weeks ago we replaced this section of fencing at our cost



I should have clarified we want to keep the wall on show so the fence will be a 900mm topper again. . Only issue is that due to the neighbours vegetation the posts will need to go on our side at this end up the garden.

By keeping the old bit of fence it means the new fence will be prouder our side but I figured at least some of the ivy is being held back

[Chumley.mouse]

Maybe offer to take the ivy out for him ? That way it’s win , win for you both .

I had some conifers on a boundary once which the neighbours didn’t want to remove, amazingly once I offered to do all the work they were happy to have them out . The wife even offered to help to me cut them down/ up. But unfortunately failed to appear.

Tip. Never fill your van with freshly cut down conifers and then leave it till the next morning to take to the tip. The whole windscreen was covered in spiders webs the next day . Took ages to get rid of all the creepy crawlies

[steveo3002]

i would be careful not to drop any bags of salt or glysophate on the ivy when working

[borcy]

I don't think it'll make much of a difference. Ivy is pretty fast at growing and their side of the fence looks pretty wild plant wise.

Either way i don't think it'll be long before you have to cut the ivy back.

[Mr Pointy]

steveo3002 said:

i would be careful not to drop any bags of salt or glysophate on the ivy when working

I'd also be careful not to paint the fence with anything toxic - I was going to suggest something like anti-fouling paint but the RHS is a bit less combative:

"Prevent ivy attaching – RHS-funded research found that applying two coats of clear ‘easy-on’ anti-graffiti paint or fixing copper or zinc sheets, or copper mesh, to walls and fences, completely prevents ivy attachment without affecting plant health."

https://www.rhs.org.uk/prevention-protection/ivy-o...
https://urbanhygiene.com/product/anti-graffiti-coa...
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/pdfs/jola-2016-volum...

The best results were from copper or zinc mesh (the aerial roots didn't stick at all) but that's probably expensive & susceptible to being removed.

[TT86]

steveo3002 said:

i would be careful not to drop any bags of salt or glysophate on the ivy when working

Yes absolutely, I mustn't be clumsy!

[TT86]

Chumley.mouse said:

Maybe offer to take the ivy out for him ? That way it s win , win for you both .

I had some conifers on a boundary once which the neighbours didn t want to remove, amazingly once I offered to do all the work they were happy to have them out . The wife even offered to help to me cut them down/ up. But unfortunately failed to appear.

Tip. Never fill your van with freshly cut down conifers and then leave it till the next morning to take to the tip. The whole windscreen was covered in spiders webs the next day . Took ages to get rid of all the creepy crawlies

I asked him before about me trimming it and he replied yes as long as I don't go too mad! He's a bit of a nature fan, no mow may etc.

I might propose as we are paying to put the posts his side and see how he takes that. Would mean removing the old wooden fence altogether but a chance to be fairly brutal with the ivy at least.

Good advice re the conifer!

[OMITN]

Two months into owning our previous house (first house we owned after being apartment owners) and we woke up one day to find that the ivy the previous owners had grown over the yard walls had peeled off….



I hate ivy. No-one will blame you OP if it accidentally suffered a light death….

(Sounds like the clear anti-graffiti paint on the neighbour’s side is the best choice)

[gmaz]

Maybe composite fencing will prevent ivy getting a grip, like it would on an organic surface?

https://www.charlesandivy.co.uk/collections/compos...

Copper mesh is quite cheap so worth a try to see if it helps

https://www.temu.com/uk/copper-mesh-roll-for-build...

Edited by gmaz on Monday 30th June 10:29

[steveo3002]

grows up anything imo

id suggest you make the fence panels removable and every year or two remove the panel so you can push the ivy back and spill a bag of salt on it

[TT86]

OMITN said:

Two months into owning our previous house (first house we owned after being apartment owners) and we woke up one day to find that the ivy the previous owners had grown over the yard walls had peeled off .



I hate ivy. No-one will blame you OP if it accidentally suffered a light death .

(Sounds like the clear anti-graffiti paint on the neighbour s side is the best choice)

Sorry late reply! That ivy on your house was pretty crazy! I'm sure you were glad to see that back of that!

Will deffo look into the anti graffiti paint and the copper suggested below.

To update the post I messaged my neighbour and to my (great) surprise he was agreeable to me trimming the ivy back to allow the posts to be fitted his side (we covered the cost in full and the other end of the garden he has the posts his side). I also want our chicken run as flush to the wall as possible to minimise fox entry points.

As I cut and removed the old fence which was fixed to the wall with wooden posts in metal feet I was left with literally a self supporting wall of ivy!



On cutting this at the bottom the rest on the wall gave way and fell backwards in a curtain effect like yours above.

On further speaking to the neighbour's wife she was agreeable to me cutting it right down to the floor level. This was substantial growth so I would imagine it'll take a fair while to recover and become a problem.



Fencing chap came today and it's looking super! £750 all in which I don't think is bad at all. Will scrape down my side of the wall of old ivy growing my side and the Mrs will want the fence painting black to match the rest of the garden.

5 bulk bags to the tip today and I am done!



Thanks again for the tips- you pushed me to resolve it properly.

[Wacky Racer]

Much better.

Well done.

[KAgantua]

Bit annoying you had to do it. I hate lazy arse neighbpurs.

[OMITN]

Great work OP ! It looks so much smarter. Black fence will be fantastic against the brick.

(Yes - we were pleased to get rid of it. It was on every wall of the yard. Ended up repointing all the way round and then painting.

The house was lovely - the social housing neighbours on one side less so.

I still miss living in Didsbury..!)

Edited by OMITN on Wednesday 2nd July 21:12

[TT86]

Thanks folks! 😀

When we moved in last year both sides of our garden fences were COMPLETELY covered in ivy to the extent you couldn't see them and I was pleased to be rid of it for both ours and ours neighbours sakes. It's just a shame not everyone thinks the same!

Btw, the ground in the pic is awaiting rotivating and seeding- this end was a jungle I cleared so very much a work in progress ha!

[hidetheelephants]

TT86 said:

Thanks folks! ?

When we moved in last year both sides of our garden fences were COMPLETELY covered in ivy to the extent you couldn't see them and I was pleased to be rid of it for both ours and ours neighbours sakes. It's just a shame not everyone thinks the same!

Btw, the ground in the pic is awaiting rotivating and seeding- this end was a jungle I cleared so very much a work in progress ha!

If you're planning on cultivating the ground give no-dig gardening a look, saves a huge amount of back-breaking labour.