Neighbor's Hedge/Vines - How Would You Handle This

I have my own fencing problems at the moment as well.. ugggg same thing we share a fence and split the costs. Mine are dog problems. But enough about my issues.


Anyways, since he has been the one to trim back the vines and so forth and they are his vines, yes he should be responsible.

I would just trim whatever is on my side. They can have whatever they want on their side.

I would not expect the neighbor to take care of it.

Honestly, I would just deal with anything on your side of the fence.  

We have a similar issue with our neighbor. She planted jasmine vines on her iron fence along her driveway. As usual, she plants things with no consideration for how any of her 3 neighbors will have to deal with the overgrowth.  The vines got so bad that they were growing over the top of the fence and onto the roof of my house!  I spoke with her and her attitude was it was our issue.   She has been a thorn in my side for nearly 30 years though. 

I had my yard guys trim them back to her fence and she blew a gasket.  Told her to deal with it because anything growing past her fence onto/over my property was fair game.  My crew just trims them back every few weeks when they start to encroach.   Had hoped that big freeze would kill them but no such luck!  

It's a maintenance issue for you. Sure, he helped you in the past but that doesn't commit him to doing it forever. Also, what kind of vine is pushing so hard it is pulling out nails? At 12 years old, it's possible it's not the vines fault that the boards are coming undone. The average life span of a fence is about 10-15 years, depending on weather.

I wonder what the % of lawsuits there are about shared fences.

I have a neighbor from hell and let's just say our shared fence is the bane of my existence. They nailed boards and hung a tarp to it to extend the height and now the wind/snow/rain has treated it like a huge sail and is currently destroying the original fence. However, when approached they informed us they can "decorate" their side of the fence however they see fit.

Unfortunately I wouldn't count on your neighbor to help. See if you can get someone to cut back the vines coming through and repair the best you can.

If HIS vines are damaging the fence, then HE needs to better maintain HIS vine on HIS side of the fence.  If he actually did this, it wouldn't impact you.  If the fence needs to be repaired because of HIS vines, HE needs to pay for that.  Additionally, I would be trimming anything that is growing on my side of the fence.

I think you need to have a conversation with him and set some expectations.  I surely wouldn't be spending any money to repair a fence until HE removes the vines or you are just going to end up right back here.

Because he has helped in the past, I would go to him and ask for help based on the fact that you are alone and can't reach said vines. My bet is he will come do it. When he does, I would ask him if he has any ideas as to how to keep your side clear.

If the fence boards are close together, you could have the cracks caulked to help slow it down.

Bearing in mind that I may be the almost least confrontational person in the world...

Once it's on your side, it's technically your problem. I think the way I would address it is along the lines of "Hey, neighbor, I was going to call XYZ next week to take care of the vines growing over my side of the fence. I wanted to let you know in case you preferred to handle it yourself to make sure the vines kept growing the way you wanted them to."

I am newish here. I am the fence gardener. The whole fence line is mine.

Your neighbor sounds nice. I am sure he would help. Is your fence wooden? I don't think the vines are knocking down the slats. I think age is. It would be a good time to discuss repairs because you share the fence line. I noticed the neighbors around me that installed wooden fences a decade ago the fences are degrading without anything against them.

My fence is chain link with wiring. I live in a corner house. All three sides of my fencing have a variety of plants and flowers. The fence line that faces the street my husband and I take care of. The fence line for the back of my home is the same but the neighbors also use it to drape their garden along it. We both take care of it. We both have plants and vegetables against that fence line. The fence line facing the side of my home the neighbors are in their twenties. It doesn't seem to bother them. I think they enjoy the cover so they can go outside and smoke weed in privacy. My husband and I still maintain it. If there was an issue we would be glad to fix it within reason. We would not fix if it would jeopardize our dogs or the security of our home. We would try to find a different solution.

In my area, whatever grows on my property is my responsibility to maintain/trim. I would expect to trim the vines that poke through the fence, but I’m sure different areas have different expectations. I would have a conversation with him about his (and your) expectations.

SweetieBugs **GypsyGirl**
You can cut the offending branches, growth, but as far as I know you cannot damage the plants growing on the other side of the fence. Before you would use Roundup or anything else, please make sure it is legal.

**GypsyGirl**. Just a CYA...