I like to think we are a friendly bunch of people in here, and comments
like;

As you are an American, I suggest that as someone has upset you, you bomb
the hell out of them, invade their garden, occupy it, take their natural
resources to pay for the damage, and then insist that they thank you for
showing them the American Way.
Have a nice day y'all.


are totally uncalled for ......Duncan!

However, I would have thought the best place to post your question,
Michelle, would be in rec.gardening.
The legal situation in the U.S. will probably be quite different to the U.K.
But morally it would be the same, and I think it is a shame that it was
allowed to get to this situation in the first place.

Three years ago, my neighbours were storing a canoe up against the chain
link
fence that separates our backyards. It was an eyesore. My opinion is that
I
have no right complaining to my neighbours about what they do on their own
property, so I took a pro-active approach instead. I planted some Silver
Lace vines on the chain link fence. This worked very well and by the end
of
summer it hid the canoe, and it looked really nice.

It would have been better for you to have asked them politely in the first
place if it was possible to store the canoe in a less obvious position.
They may simply not have realised it was causing a problem for you. If on
the other hand they decided it was their backyard and they would put things
where they wanted to, then you at least would have had the measure of the
type of neighbour you have next door to you.

The following year, they got rid of the canoe and planted a flower garden
in
its place. Even though I no longer needed the vines, they looked so
beautiful that I kept them.

Did you consider, as they were new neighbours that maybe they were busy
interior decorating, and as is the case in a lot of new house owners, the
garden (or yard) has a tendency to be the last thing cleaned up?

Considering the wide range of plants, shrubs and screening material that is
available these days, I am surprised that you chose a vine to cover the
fence, most urban gardeners I know spend hours trying to get rid of the
stuff, not buying it in! And under you own admission, you have to cut your
side back every two to three weeks, which is quite often compared to most
other plants in the garden.

In the U.K. you would not be legally obliged or allowed to cut your vine on
their side of the property, but you would be legally obliged to accept back
any trimmings of your vine that they had cut from their side.

But ask yourself is it fair that you have made more work in their garden
for your pleasure? Especially as the original problem was sorted and
replaced with less objectionable plants and shrubs.

During the Christmas holidays, I invited these neighbours over for a
holiday
drink, and James said "Michelle, you're going to have to do something
about
those vines." When I asked him what he meant, he said that the vines were
growing into their yard and are strangling their plants.

Its a shame you didn't admit to planting the vines to cover the "eyesore"
canoe at this point, this may have invoked an "I'm sorry you should have
said" response. Again another lost opportunity.

I changed the topic and wasn't the same for the rest of the evening. I was
insulted that they would come into my home, drink my wine, and use it as
an
opportunity to criticize me. Plus, it's winter! Why is he bringing that up
in the middle of winter?

But you invited them to drink your wine and eat your food???? Winter is a
good time to talk about plants and flowers, something to look forward to.

To be honest if I were you, I'd swallow my pride and remove the vines (if it
is possible by now as they seem quite established), before they
inadvertently "catch " your vine with weed killer!

You said in a later post that the neighbour complained about trees blocking
the light and the mess of the leaves in the autumn, well they must have
realised that when they viewed and purchased the property, so they have no
grounds to complain.

--
(remove the troll to reply)
Always look on the bright side of life (De do, de do, de doody doody do)



"Michelle C" wrote in message
...

snip
Now, three years later, they are a magnificent backdrop to the rest of my
flower garden. It's a backdrop to their flower garden too, and they didn't
even have to pay for it.

snip
I told him that it's a vine, and all vines need trimming occasionally. I
told him I trim my side of the vine every two or three weeks in the
summer,
and it only takes about five minutes each time. I said that's a small
price
to pay for having such a beautiful plant that is covering what was an ugly
chain link fence.

He told me that he and his wife shouldn't have to trim it at all, because
it
was my vine. He said if I were willing to trim it on their side of the
fence
from now on, they wouldn't have a problem with it, but if I don't do this,
I'd have to "do something about my vines". He of course means I should
kill
the plants to make him happy.

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?

TIA!
Michelle