A bit of a moan

I used to have a neighbour like that...he said what ever hangs over the fence from my side i should have back as they were mine...thankfully he moved !

I wish this one would move! We were warned about him by another neighbour but I didn't really believe what I was told as I like to make up my own mind about people, but then he was a bit nasty when we planted the trees, so I'm a bit wary of speaking to him. I'm a bit of a coward and like an easy life!

You're right, it is petty. You could always get your own back by chucking your slugs into his garden... that's what my Mum used to do ;-)

why not offer him some bags so the clippings can go straight in and then say you will remove them from his property. He is acting in the law by returning the prunings. Or perhaps suggest you do it together and you never know this might be the beggining of a new friendship.

Asicsgirl - am I the only gardener who is hardly bothered at all by slugs?! With the very odd exception they seem to leave my plants alone, so I don't have any to "pass on" to him! Famous last words, I hope not!

Seaburngirl - I wish I was as optimistic as you, it sounds a lovely idea but I'm really reluctant to speak to him. But I feel better just telling you all about it.

If your garden was left to grow wild Jan65 i could understand why he would throw the cuttings back over, but you seem to be a caring neighbour and tidy gardener, so i also think he's being a bit petty, I have just wrote a blog on the problems im having with Ivy and finding a solution, when i read your blog i remembered it is my neighbours ivy, but i wouldn't dream of throwing it back into her garden..

It takes all sorts to make a world Jan.
Just accept the fact that he is obviously territorial and smile as you pick up the bits he throws over. You'll feel better about it :~)

SBG is correct. Anything that grows over from your boundary is yours. If anyone prunes your plants, and keeps the prunings, even for throwing away, is committing an act of theft. They are bound by law to return the prunings to you.
How this is done, can be a matter of aggreement, ie. bagged prunings placed by your front door, but aside from this, prunings MUST be placed in reasonable locale of the action.
Clearly, it is not always easy to maintain ones property, but the onus is on the owner, and should a neighbour consider legal action, they invariably will win, particularly when "reasonability" has been breached.
A further option open to you, is to write to him. You might suggest that if he would like to pay for a contractor to come in an periodically maintain and remove the ivy, you would be more than willing to pay.
(Jason - Derek's friend)

How very sad that he throws it back into your garden - I asked my neighbour if it was ok to cut back some Kerria as it was almost in our garage guttering - he was great and said "cut back anything that invades, I can't see from my side " - we 'share' the Clematis and Roses that climb up through the trellis on top of the fence so I'm very lucky to have such good neighbours.

I'm glad you got it off your chest. It does no good to bottle things in - bad for your health. I agree with you about him being petty. It's no trouble for him to just pop the bits in his own green bag.
In my previous garden I had roses and clematis etc growing over the fence into next door. The woman living there would chop all the overhanging bits off, although she'd dispose of them herself.
But she had absolutely NOTHING in her garden - not even weeds. I would have thought some colour would have been welcomed by her, but she preffered a boring lawn in the front and bare earth in the back - very strange person :/
I used to ask her why she didn't like to have colourful flowers and she said they were untidy lol

Thanks all for your comments, and it did help to get it off my chest! Jason, I know he's doing the correct thing legally, but I would have thought a quiet word over the fence to see if I actually wanted the stuff back would have been a nicer thing to do rather than just chucking everything back over willy nilly and causing a nuisance. I wouldn't dream of throwing anything into a neighbour's garden in case it did some damage. I just get the impression he's trying to make a point, and he's not an approachable person in my experience. Hywell, that's what puzzles me, that he does this to a fellow gardener, when a little chat would be all it would take. Oh well, at least having a good moan helped!

I am afraid I do the same Jan as my neighbour grows nothing in her garden except on my fence - weeds (ground elder), brambles and ivy all just left which has forced it self through and over my fence tearing my shrubs to bits when its windy. In case she asks for it I keep what I remove for a month then put it in my bin. I think you should control your Ivy so your neighbours is not bother by it!!! Sorry but there are two side to this.

We have had a mutual boundary fence ruined by the ivy growing from the neighbours side. She came round and told us it was high time we did something about it as she believed we were responsible for the maintenance of the fence. I pointed out as pleasantly as I could that since it was a joint responsibility and her ivy was responsible we would need to hold her responsible for the damage. We had asked our solicitor to get us copies of the title deeds of the properties either side of us before we bought the house because our title deeds had seemed a bit short on boundary clarity. We did not hear any more until she sold up and moved. The new neighbour came round with the same request. She checked her titles with her own solicitor before agreeing to split the cost of replacing the fence as long as she accepted that the ivy should go. It has not been up for two years yet and already the ivy is forcing its way through to our side. I never see her as she actually lives in the next street along and the fence is 2m high. I do not want to cause ill feeling but I despair of being able to tackle the issue. The fence cost each of us £1200 and I am not prepared to do that again. I agree Drc726 there is definitely two sides to every problem.

Hi Drc726 and Scotsgran, I'm so sorry that your neighbours' ivies are causing you so much trouble. I do understand that there are two sides to the situation and I have no objection to him cutting the ivy back if he doesn't like it. I do my absolute utmost to keep it in control but other than going round into his garden, which I'm sure he would object to, I can't do any more from my side. Also, we're not talking about a huge amount of ivy here. He cuts it off as soon as it makes an appearance on his side, so there's not masses of it at any one time. It's certainly not the huge problem that you are both suffering from, and you have my sympathies. If the ivy was causing someone that much bother then I would remove it, no question. I wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of that, myself! The fence that this ivy grows on was paid for and put up by us with no contribution from the neighbour. If he was a friendlier sort, I would try to have a chat but he's not, so I don't - I dread causing ill feeling also. But your comments have given me something to think about and perhaps I need to be a bit more tolerant and accept the cuttings back over my fence with good grace instead of moaning.

It probably gives him some twisted satisfaction in making his point in this way. Best just to go with the flow and not let it get to you Jan. I absolutely agree with previous comments about him being entitled to do this and to be unhappy about overhanging foliage but yours doesn't sound like a major nuisance. Far better to go about things pleasantly as suggested by others.It's so easy for this type of ill feeling to escalate. Hooray for nice neighbours.....what a blessing they are!

Get it off your chest jan!
Why do some neighbours insist on being so petty? It really is a tombola as to whether you get a good one or an idiot. Does he think he's making a point by throwing the cuttings back to your side? Why not use them for his own compost?
Our neighbours are over-run with our plants! They grow thru' to their garden like triffids ... but none of theirs come thru' to mine!! ! Maybe that means my plants want to leave home! Oh dear what a dreadful gardener I must be!!

What a wally your neighbour is! ;O)

Thanks Lily and Fluff - getting it off my chest certainly did help! And I will learn to go with the flow and not let a little irritation turn into something bigger. Thanks for all the wise words.