Gardener splits opinon by cutting down neighbour’s overhanging plants – before throwing them over the fence

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A gardener has split opinion by cutting down a neighbour’s intrusive climbing plant and then throwing the substantial cuttings back over the fence.

The Russian vine had grown up and over the fence but the neighbours had told Luke, of Just Gardens, to keep off their foliage nonetheless.

Russian vine – fallopia baldschuanica – is a sutbborn and often invasive climber which is in the knotweed family and also goes commonly by the names mile-a-minute, Bukhara fleeceflower, Chinese fleecevine and silver lace vine.

Luke commented on the video of him trimming the plant back: ‘Neighbours over the fence shouted “don’t touch our vines”.

‘I thought, as if they’d even know. It’s a jungle!’

OLD MANS BEARD, this was just too much coming over the fence from the neighbours. I cut it regardless! #garden #gardentok #gardening #overgrownyard #foryou #fyp #satisfying #oddlysatisfying #diy #explore

 Luke, of Just Gardens, was told to keep off the neighbour’s Russian vine, but he cut it down anyway before throwing it over the fence

Russian vine (picctured) – fallopia baldschuanica – is a sutbborn and often invasive climber which also goes commonly by the names mile-a-minute, Bukhara fleeceflower, Chinese fleecevine and silver lace vine

Even though your neighbours might get offended by you cutting down their plants, you are within your rights to cut down anything which comes on to your property – unless you are in an area with special rules around conservation or preservation.

This was pointed out by one commenter who added that if you do so, you are also required to offer your prunings back to the owner of the plant they came from.

Luke replied that he just ‘threw it back over the fence’ much to the amusement from other repliers.

He added: ‘This was just too much coming over the fence from the neighbours. I cut it regardless!’ 

One viewer of the TikTok commented: ‘Oh the entitlement of these people that won’t let you trim their mess when it’s on your side ! Go for it!’

Someone else said: ‘It’s your side, do what you want mate!’ 

READ MORE: Warning over NINE plants that spread as quickly as Japanese Knotweed

However, others were disappointed by the renovation, with one saying: ‘But it looked so much prettier hanging over!?’

But Luke revealed that he felt compelled to trim the vines as he was concerned by the amount of weight they were putting on the fence.

Russian vine is often used to cover up what people think of as ugly features in their garden – shed walls, fences and other borders.

But within a few years it can grow as high as 10 metres and five to eight metres wide – hence the ‘mile-a-minute’ nickname – which can leave people overwhelmed by the effects of the plant.

This is not helped by its hardy nature, combined with it being easy to grow in a range of settings.

So, the likelihood for Luke is that he will have to return to this issue once again in a couple of years, because while you can cut back your neighbour’s plants, you cannot force them to kill or dig them up entirely.

A word of caution though to anyone planning on taking similar action: If your cutting back of any branches, vines, or roots which encroach onto your land causes that plant to die, you are liable and would be considered negligent.

Be careful when you are pruning a neighbour’s plants to not cause significant damage that will impact its health.

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