On 10/1/05 17:25, in article , "Michelle C"
wrote:

snip
I have already decided that I will trim the vines on their side of the
fence. But now I'm wondering who is right, and who is wrong, in this
situation? Am I right to think my neighbors are cranky? Does the law
obligate me to trim vines that enter my neighbors yard? Should they accept
the minor chore of vine trimming in return for having such a beautiful
backdrop (their words) to their garden?

IMO, your neighbours are in the right. What you have planted is one of the
most vigorous plants known and it will indeed strangle theirs in days, let
alone weeks and you have planted more than one. As time goes on the problem
will get very much worse and you will be lucky to have many plants still
visible in your own garden!

I'd say they have the right to enjoy their garden and what they have planted
without having it intruded upon by your taste in planting on *their* side of
the fence. I'm afraid I think this is a classic case of the wrong plant in
the wrong place and that your neighbours have been pretty patient about it.
I don't think telling them they didn't even have to pay for a plant they
don't want and which is a nuisance to them is going to help your case much,
BTW! And the canoe they had which annoyed you has now been removed, so is
no longer an excuse that you can legitimately use for the vines. If you
removed the vines would it be possible to replace the current fence with a
more attractive one and if so, whose responsibility would that be? Perhaps
you could agree to share costs with your neighbours?

I think too, that what they did was exactly what is so often advocated on
this group - they made a polite, pleasant and friendly approach to you
personally when the opportunity arose, instead of turning it into a
confrontation once the problem starts again next summer. Even *thinking*
about it as a potential legal problem is starting you down the road of
making enemies out of what seem to be reasonable people. After all, as it
is their garden being invaded and their plants being harmed, it is *they*
who could have threatened you with legal action. Much better to avoid that
route!

For what it's worth, we usually ask people buying this plant from us if they
are aware of its thuggish tendencies and warn them against buying it if they
have any doubts about its final location. In my old house, I had a 12'
granite wall against which my neighbours had planted a Polygonum
baldschuanicum and every year I had to cut it back every two days to stop
it destroying a Clematis montana and a Rosa Albertine. It was a blasted
menace and they're really quite lucky I didn't dip the ends in weed killer!
I think you have Polygonum aubertii and an American site I found says this
should not be planted among or near other plants and that in one season it
can grow 15 feet or more.

This is a UK oriented gardening group BTW, so you may get different
responses on rec.gardens which is US oriented.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)