Miles of weeds have swallowed haha

[Moo]

We went to Blickling yesterday and did the Poor Man's walk (round the lake and the perimeter of the gardens, which is free). The gardens are protected by a huge haha, beautifully kept with not bramble in sight. But as result they've had to keep the peasants out by surrounding it with barbed wire and the like.
Perhaps next time the National Trust is holding out the begging bowl I'll suggest they copy Joce and save themselves a bob or two.

 

[Schoolmarm]

After all the only bit being 'robbed out' isn't owned by you so there's not a lot you can do about that. .

No. Joce owns all of the wall. It surrounds and supports her garden.

 

[Penners]

We went to Blickling yesterday and did the Poor Man's walk

Is that anything like the Funky Chicken?

I like the idea of brambles as nature's barbed wire!

 

[worms]

I like the idea of brambles as nature's barbed wire!

Every time I find a self-seed bramble in the garden, it gets planted into the hedge in a vain hope that I'll eventually have enough to keep the local "urchins" out. Of course all this does is increase the number of self-seed brambles growing in the garden...

And in a few years someone is going to have a heck of a job tidying up my "wildlife hedge"... which I guess brings us perilously close to being back on topic!

 

[Penners]

But no matter how quickly your brambles self-seed, I'm prepared to bet that the urchins are breeding faster.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Alas, too true.
I had a horrid run-in with one on Sunday, he was whizzing up and down on a quad bike just by the much-discussed haha. When challenged, he let out a few choice expletives and said he could ride his bike where he liked. Unfortunately the row escalated as his father was walking behind, with two dogs and a little girl. I told them in no uncertain terms that they'd better be prepared to be fenced out, and that they were welcome to stick to the footpaths on foot but no vehicles were permitted. Then I took a photo of the registration number of the bike and called the police. The police were very interested, came round, and discovered the bike had no insurance. I don't think we'll be seeing that family here again. 8)
Now if he'd altruistically ridden his bike over the brambles and ivy a few times I might have held back on calling the police.
Only a few more weekends with the chainsaw now and we'll be able to instruct the fencers.

 

[Penners]

The police were very interested, came round, and discovered the bike had no insurance. I don't think we'll be seeing that family here again.

Well how refreshing. The police actually taking action against a wrongdoer.

Well done, Joce. I think you had every right to a moment's schadenfreude. :twisted:

 

[Flyfisher]

I like the idea of brambles as nature's barbed wire!

Here's an example of the next step up in the arms race - I doubt anyone would want to push through this sort of hedge!

(Admittedly not much use in these here parts until global warming really kicks in though).

 

[Penners]

That would do the trick!

 

[Juju]

I've got a similar problem to Joce - not the weeds but the retaining wall aspect. We have a dry stone wall holding up our garden as we're about 4 ft higher than next door. At the end of the garden, the fence fell down so we decided to leave it open without any fencing and in fact I regarded it as a bit of a ha-ha. It overlooks the very end of the neighbour's garden which is used by another neighbour for growing veg but really there's not much at this end, we're not intruding on her privacy. Anyway, she's always putting things on our wall - first it was a few random stones, then some chicken wire and now (she probably guessed we were away on holiday) she's piled up several rows of stones all along the section where there's no fence. There's no rationale for it, it's not going to last long in the wind or if a cat jumps on it or when the ivy starts growing through it etc. Up to now I've decided not to tell her to stop putting stuff on our wall as it seemed trivial.

Just to confirm - it is our wall, we paid huge sums for it to be repaired - so therefore according to garden law she's not allowed to put anything in it or on it. And I guess it's part of our listed status curtilage. Is it worth talking to her about it or for neighbourly relations just leave it? Perhaps she feels overlooked but all I can see is an old shed! We only go up that end of our garden to the compost bin and we've put lots of honeysuckle etc up so it should be a nice view from her side. I just worry if I leave it, I'll discover that she's mortared the stones in or something worse! I also want to make more of that section of garden - we worked hard the first year we were here to clear masses of ivy in order to reveal it and Mr Juju rebuilt the remaining stone structure on top it and created some steps (and broke his leg in the process...) so I'm starting to feel a bit territorial about it but don't want to fall out with the neighbours...
Juju

 

[Penners]

Oh dear - such situations are always difficult, aren't they Juju?

Do you know the woman well? What kind of a person is she? If she's the irascible type then I have a nasty feeling that you may have trouble getting the message through to her without any ill-will.

How would it be if you spoke to her along the lines of:

"I notice that you've been stacking up stones on our rather fragile old wall - is this because you feel rather overlooked by us? I'm sure you know that we wouldn't want to invade your privacy, but the wall is listed and a bit rickety. Instead of the stones, would you like us to plant a nice shrub on our side to shield the view of your garden? Then we could both enjoy it."

Of course, this assumes that you'd be willing to plant the shrub! And I don't know whether the geography makes this a possibility.

As with all such situations, no matter how emollient you try to be the outcome will inevitably depend on how prepared she is to be neighbourly and co-operative.

 

[Juju]

Thanks Mr P. I don't want to plant anything else near the wall as there is a problem with ivy and we already have a large holly tree close to the wall but yes I planned to put veg etc in pots on/near the wall so they would actually be higher than her construction. We are on friendly terms but I think she might take it the wrong way no matter how diplomatically I put it. I'll wait for the right time to talk to her about it rather than go round there specifically. I'm sure the local cats are going to knock it down anyway - hope they don't get hurt in the process though Maybe I should use that as a reason for it being taken down - mind you that might encourage her to mortar it in! We'd have no objection if she wanted to put a fence her side so long as it was not attached to our wall.
Juju

 

[JoceAndChris]

When the summer weather comes, if you can bear it, whist you're enjoying a glass of wine in the garden or BBQ you could invite her over for a glass? Such things are best worked into a large body of inconsequential chit-chat.

Though personally, if someone put something on my land I'd remove it immediately under cover of night. In fact, I'd extend that philosophy to things that weren't on my land that I deemed rubbish and that spoilt my view. I recently removed a great stack of rubble sacks that fell into that category, ( I see it as my duty to keep this hill free of litter) and my MIL goes one step further and poisons conifers (I should stress that these trees have not been lovingly planted).

This wall stealing woman ought to have it made clear that her behaviour is completely unacceptable. I maintain my earlier point that the more you are seen to garden your property the more you underline it as yours. Even just a couple of daffodils in pots would send her a powerful message.

 

[Juju]

Thanks Joce - I think her wall stealing does need to come to an end! We've tolerated it for a year but it's now time to stop before I come home one day to find she's built a 6ft structure teetering on the edge of our fragile old wall... I tend to bump into her fairly regularly so I'll make the discussion informal and diplomatic. In theory i could just push the stones off but I won't do that :twisted:

Juju

 

[JoceAndChris]

Your method is best, I'm sure. Though it would be rather fun to push one stone off every day and place a large cat poo in its place.

 

[Flyfisher]

Always a tricky issue but I agree with Penners' suggestion about playing the 'listing' card. Explain that the wall is listed, that you even needed consent to do the repairs you mentioned and that any alteration is, strictly, a criminal offence unless approved by the council. Hopefully, this approach will mean you can raise the issue in a more detached manner than just being an awkward neighbour. After all, it's not your fault is it?

 

[worms]

my MIL goes one step further and poisons conifers

:lol:
There must be a Les Dawson joke in there somewhere! Cue Penners...

 

[MdB]

Somebody near to was in a similar position to you Juju with his neighbour putting something on the wall he owned and had built. The dispute escalated with the Police called multiple times until a number of people ended up in hospital and then the police station.

The above was completely stupid but it does show you how neighbourly disputes can get out of control. In this case completely unnecessarily.

 

[TomW]

I can see why you may feel annoyed Juju, but it seems fairly obvious that this woman is not happy with the gap you have left since your fence fell down and this is her way of letting you know.
People like their privacy and she may just feel uncomfortable if she thinks you could be out and about and watching her (even if you're not).
I would simply ask her if she would like the fence reinstated and see what she says.

 

[CatherineB]

Tom has a point. There is a halfway house, here, I'm sure, and perhaps it would be best to start off by asking the neighbour what they would like to see down there. Then if this differs from what you want (or are allowed to have under LBC) you have a starting point for sensible negotiations.

(Of course, if the great and good of PPUK really are descending for a party soon, you will need to explain to your neighbour that it is becoming a Party Wall....
:lol:
OK, I'll get my coat)