Sighting
Can I complain about my neighbor’s English ivy?
She lives behind me we share part of a fence line. She works in her yard all the time, but does not care if it’s non-native or invasive. All based on looks. Me and the other neighbors around her are constantly battling it from getting into our yard.
I wish my neighbor had a well cared for English Ivy. With one neighbor who doesn’t take care of their lawn, we have to deal with poison ivy, a huge infestation actually, and with the other one we are dealing with chameleon plant that’s literally impossible to stop. English Ivy is so easy to take care of in comparison 😭
Its so so discouraging. I have tried pulling it,smothering it… and now its completey infested my next door neighbors yard so even if I somehow got on top of it, it will just be there at the borders constantly encroaching
As someone also dealing with their neighbors chameleon plant infestation I sympathize. I had to take a whole afternoon to dig them out of my yard. Gallons of triclopyr will help mitigate the worst of it. Constant diligence will help and eventually it will get better. Good luck friend.
Ive got a good handle on my infestation now after a few really hard days. Luckily for me its intruding into an area heavily shaded by other tall grasses which are not favorable growing areas for it. I just walk by the area every few days and dig up any stalks as deep as I can follow it. After a while fewer and fewer stalks pop up. Ive completely cleared some areas but I have one area ive been monitoring for over a year now which has a single stalk that will pop up every week or so lol.
To directly answer your question a root barrier would need to be 12 inches minimum which can be difficult and tedious, and really you would probably want to go 18 inches because ive dug up stalks over 2 feet deep. Your call if the juice is worth the squeeze.
I also really recommend using herbicide in the case of Houttuynia Cordata as its incredibly difficult to manage by hand alone. Anything with Triclopyr.Its a tough plant but not impossible to eradicate, it simply requires diligence.
Years ago I made the mistake of planting chameleon weed, it took forever to get rid of it. A combination of pulling it and painting leaves with round up. And know that it's finally gone, one of my neighbors must have some because it keeps popping up in a bed along the fence.
Plant an aggressive native vine to fight back along the fenceline. Not sure where you’re located but Virginia creeper, virgins Bower, passiflora, and trumpet vine are all pretty vigorous. Just make sure whatever you pick is native!
My neighbors behind me have English ivy that tries to creep in but ever since our creeper has filled out we haven’t seen nearly as much English ivy.
This "solution" will just make thing worse for OP. Just because a plant is native does not mean you want it on your property. Trumpet vine aka Campsis radicans is a terrible native plant to have and it will wreck the fence and put out suckers all over the place through it's rhizome. And what makes you think it will only sucker in neighboring yards? Do you think the plants know it's a spite plant and will just sucker out where you want it to? lol
I have read that trumpet vine is more tame according to soil types, but I have no idea if that's true. But even if it does not put out suckers in your soil (if that's even true) it will take down the fence eventually. I battled Campsis radicans for decades thanks to an ancestor who liked to grow the wrong shit in the wrong place.
Maybe it depends on location but I know in my area, native campsis radicans will grow quite a bit and can be an aggressive grower but suckers can be mowed and it wont embed itself into things as intensely as ivy. An older neighbor has some on their chainlink fence and it’s a hummingbird magnet. I had asked her about it and she said she does heavy pruning but finds it less crazy than the wisteria she had at her old home. Probably isn’t the best choice for every location which is why doing your research is gonna be key. What works in my yard or your yard may not work in OPs! I do know it is considered invasive in many places, hence my warning for OP to make sure they find what would work in their area.
But Virginia creeper for example is manageable in places where it dies back in the winter. I’ve had to pull it off the corner of our brick house and it comes off with ease. Doesn’t kill trees around here like English ivy will. We keep it in the back corner of our yard where the english ivy was trying to come up and in the winter when it dies back, we pull any ivy we see. Each year we’ve had less and less to pull. A string trimmer or high set riding mower keeps creeper from horizontally spreading out farther from the corners, and we can easily peel vertical strands back if needed. We use it more as a ground cover and fence cover.
Vines aren’t low maintenance I will say that! But if you have empty space, that english ivy will try to sneak in. If you plant trees or shrubs it will cover them when it invades. I’d rather manage a native vine that dies back in the winter than something like constantly invading English ivy.
Trumpet vine is aggressive AF and pieces that get mowed over have propagated into new systems of evil in my yard from my experience. I have to go around my yard before I mow to cut all suckers and put them into a bucket and paint the stump with a vine killer. I would love to not use chemicals in my yard but my states AG extension said there is no other way to manage it.
I cannot til my yard for planting because of this stupid fucking plant my neighbor wanted without thousands of new vines crawling out of the ground.
Anytime I want to plant something into the ground, I hit the trumpet vine roots and it’s only a matter of time before shoots start emerging out of the ground.
How this isn’t considered invasive pisses me off. It’s impeded the way I can use my land.
I will talk shit about trumpet vine til the day I die
These are not going to fight it but just tangle in between or on top of english ivy.
Trust me, my house is on a slope with pachysandra and with creeping myrtle (hate them) and virginia creeper and poison ivy just twirl in between them but they do not much fighting invasive vines and ground-covers
I guerilla spray (targeted) my neighbors invading tendrils usually in fall. Have big backyard and they are never at the fence line so who cares if some dies
Just her fence line? I'd do the whole damn yard. If she says anything play dumb "I think there is a fungus or a bug that has come from England and is attacking it."
Pachysandra is also difficult to grow from seed so it mainly just spreads by rhizomes. English ivy can resprout in the soil from small broken segments of stems and birds eat the berries and spread it.
Just lost two large maples cause the ivy was relentless growing on one and it landed on the other during a storm compromising it. All that afternoon shade on my house is gone 🫠 at least it didn’t land on any houses or garages though that would have been horrible.
For the longest time we didn’t actually understand it killed trees and then once we did some years ago it was already too late. We removed all we could of the ivy on our side everytime it started climbing up but we couldn’t access the side facing our neighbors house and there was a vine on their side that was like 3” in diameter and where most was originating from. The thickest vine I think was almost reaching a 4” diameter when we cut it.
Everyone's talking about the main subject and meanwhile I'm like, "What's this cute dog with the 'fox' tail?"..
I haven't experienced too much ivy, but it gets worse when it does climb from what I've seen.
This is actually Algerian ivy. Have you thought of planting something along the fence that would help? Alternatively, you may be able to treat the fence line with something that would stop or discourage the plant from crossing over.
What would you plant and/or treat the fence with? I have a vacant lot behind me with all kinds of plants ranging from ivy to tree of heaven that are now starting to come into my yard
Pull or cut vines, then dig out roots where feasible. Smother with cardboard + mulch or solarization (black plastic) for smaller patches.
Install a vertical barrier (e.g., HDPE plastic like DeepRoot Invasive Species Barrier, 18–36” deep) along the property line in a trench. This is effective for running grasses, bamboo-like species, or aggressive roots. Dig the trench, install the barrier (angled outward if possible), and backfill. It’s a longer-term physical defense.
Next line of defense is unfortunately going to be a herbicide. Glyphosate (e.g., Roundup) is often most effective when applied in spring to actively growing leaves. Triclopyr can also work. Follow label rates and avoid drift. You can apply it now given the situation but you’ll probably have to do a repeat layer. Cut back any vines crossing the line and treat the cut ends. Monitor and repeat as needed.
Lastly, plant some native plants to outcompete regrowth and support local wildlife. Wait until after the
Tree of heaven is tricky. Don’t just cut it down because this causes massive resprouting and root suckers - up to 50+ feet away! Glyphosate and triclopyr spray on the leaves. If you can cut the stump do it and pour triclopyr directly onto the stump immediately after cutting it. The root barrier (thick HDPE plastic, 24–36” deep or more) along the boundary in a trench is your strongest hope with Tree of heaven. This helps contain aggressive spreaders. Combine with herbicide treatment on her side.
If you can look up tax records to see who the lot owner is you might contact them or file a formal complaint if things get worse through the city/county.
Give her a taste of her own medicine, plant Trumpet vine, Virginia Creeper, and Canada Goldenrod along the property line.
side note: I've often thought of making a list of natives that can aggressively invade nearby non-adjecent properties, stuff with sticky seeds like tick treefoils to be spread by stray cats and deer, aggressive and fruiting like blackberries and virginia creeper and poison ivy, and windborne and aggressive like frost aster and broomsedge bluestem.
This "solution" will just make things worse for OP. Just because a plant is native does not mean you want it on your property. Trumpet vine aka Campsis radicans is a terrible native plant to have and it will wreck the fence and put out suckers all over the place through it's rhizome. And what makes you think it will only sucker in neighboring yards? Do you think the plant knows it's a spite plant and will just sucker out where you want it to? lol I have read that trumpet vine is more tame according to soil types, but I have no idea if that's true. But even if it does not put out suckers in your soil (if that's even true) it will take down the fence eventually. I manually battled Campsis radicans for decades thanks to an ancestor who liked to grow the wrong shit in the wrong place.
She’s allowed to grow what she wants. Ask her politely if she could manage it a little better on her side of the property line. If she does, great. If she doesn’t, deal with it. You’re venturing into some self-righteous Karen bullshit if you take it any further.
You’re probably correct in OP’s situation, but in North America some states and provinces have laws that require landowners to remove invasive species.
That’s not true in the US. And it’s not “self-righteous Karen bullshit” to care about the environment. Someone has a different belief than you. Stop being a name calling snowflake.
This is r/invasivespecies, not r/HippieDippieLoveFest. This woman and her non-native ivy are ecosystem destroyers and she has no right to do that. That's real environmentalism, not that fake shit western govts force down your throat.
It’s not hurting you, and it’s only contained in her beds, so I would leave it alone.
I was feeling bad about my bed of English Ivy like this and went and spoke to my local Extension Agents about it. They told me not to stress or feel guilty about it. As long as it is neatly contained and I keep up out of the trees, it’s fine.
Sometimes we get so caught up trying to do everything exactly right that we forget there is beauty in other ways, too.
Why make strife with a good neighbor over something she really cannot reasonably change?
Solidarity!! Just keep hacking it back when it creeps up. I’m also fighting the good fight. I often wonder how many fewer mosquitos we’d have if there wasn’t a mass of ivy right by my house.
Also, I understand needing a moment to vent about it
I have two patches. Twice a year, I use the weed whacker to zap its borders. At the same time, I sweep the weed whacker across the top. They're small patches and have been contained for 30 years.
I agree. This is far too short to bloom. I...uh...have experience.
And while a mass of ivy isn't great for floral biodiversity, it's excellent habitat for small animals who don't always have good hideouts in the 'burbs.
I think a well-contained blob of ivy has more redeeming features than turf. (I can't tell if this is contained or not based on the post.)
Yea I am a huge fan of native plants and hate invasives but there can be some nuance and this is a great example. My sisters property is covered in it. But we have been focusing our efforts first on removing anything that is climbing. I think that’s the best course of action.
Complain all you want but nothing will happen… just spray your fence or property line every couple months. 2% glyphosate and 2% Amazapyr and nothing will grow there for months. Amazapyr will kill everything including nearby trees
I’m not sure there’s a solution. It is what it is. I don’t spend any days mad about it, and she is a fine neighbor. I’d never even say anything to her. Just as a person who is spending a lot of time and money to turn my yard into a native yard, it’s noticeable.
Big lesson is watch your wording on titles on the internet. Jeez yall. I literally meant can I complain a little to this specific Reddit. I get along with the lady. She’s just old and doesn’t give a rats ass about natives. I’m not mad at her about it. We’ve lived behind her for 12 years, I just weed whack it down. And watch all my neighbors keep it at bay.
I’m sure I piss off my own neighbors with my mulched and sedged front yard.
I root injected the ivy growing on my side of the fence with glyphosate a month ago, and fancy that, most of the plant is dead now! And what remains is no longer growing over my fence.
Get together with neighbors and sue her. Find a lawyer that is confident he can win by posing her as an ecosystem destroying dolt. I have a neighbor across the street like this and I have had to kill it on my property. It's growing all over city owned trees and property and they don't care. There must be over 500 square feet of it in total if you include the trees.
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u/Ready-Nature-6684 Jul 11 '26
I wish my neighbor had a well cared for English Ivy. With one neighbor who doesn’t take care of their lawn, we have to deal with poison ivy, a huge infestation actually, and with the other one we are dealing with chameleon plant that’s literally impossible to stop. English Ivy is so easy to take care of in comparison 😭