gardenica
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Gardening by the fence while the weed-killers are used at the other side of it?

Hello, I was wondering if someone could help. We were hoping to plant some espalier fruit trees and grapes (attempting some organic gardening) alongside our fence. However, on the other side of it is a big overgrowth of brambles and ivy that our neighbours are on and off trying to get rid of by spraying it by various weed-killers. Is there any hope of us planting anything edible on our side of the fence? Sadly, that is the only sunny spot we have! Many thanks for any advice!

pepperhead212
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Welcome to the forum!

I wouldn't plant anything there that I am going to eat! Sounds like the only option you have is talking the neighbors out of spraying any more of that, but then, what has built up in that soil through the years?

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applestar
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I agree. There is also question of which way rain and irrigation water drains.

In addition to the poisonous nature of those chemicals and effects From ingesting plants, the plants themselves may not be able to grow.

Personally I think it’s better to create a “buffer zone” along boundaries with neighbors or public areas where you have no control over what they spry or spread — plant your garden at least 8-12 feet INSIDE your borders, and make sure your garden is on higher ground above ground seepage. Be prepared to create physical barriers against spray drift — fence, hedge, or if necessary, protective cover.

gardenica
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Thank you for your messages. I was worried I would get these answers :-( I believe they have sprayed the area only once or twice (could find out with what). Our garden is slightly on the higher side in comparison to theirs. Is there something that you could suggest for the weed killing that could be somehow biodegradable? I have tried boiled water with vinegar and salt, but the brambles came back instantly. There has been an effort to remove them manually, but it is a big job and they seem to keep coming back. It is quite difficult to remove all of the roots from the heavy clay soil we have got here.

PaulF
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About the only success will be with chemical woody weed killers of either Triclopyr or Glyphosate. Triclopyr has a residual life in the soil of between 30-90 days. It is non-toxic to bees but is toxic to fish. Glyphosate( Round-Up) has a half life in the soil from 2 to 40 days and has been branded with some very nasty publicity. There have been studies showing the presence of the chemical for up to 147 days but that was on frozen soil and at extreme rates.

If used at the suggested rates of application Glyphosate can be very effective and probably the safest of any weed killer. It does not tend to move in the soil and affects only the plants and roots. As with all chemicals, follow the directions. A second and maybe third application may be needed.

I had a blackberry bramble patch 10 feet by three feet inside my garden space and used Round-Up to get rid of it and had zero bad effects on my vegetable garden planted a week or two after treatment. I did have to physically pull a few canes later but mostly they were gone.

I don't care much for Monsanto (no longer the owner of Round-Up) but cannot fault the proper use of the chemical for doing its job and with no ill effects.

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applestar
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A couple of thoughts —

- Ivy, branmble are acid-loving type plants >> fight them off by making soil more alkaline — you didn’t indicate your location... does your area tent have more acid or more alkaline soil?

- you don’t really want to grow things against a fence anyway — particularly heavily needy plants like espaliers and grape. Grape I believe prefers alkaline/lime soil. Fruit espaliers would depend on what, but it’s imperative not to mix-plant fruit trees and vines that have different care needs or can host diseases or pests that affect a companion plant

- you could have a heavily mulched ornamental fenceline bed along the fence to neighbor to smother/weaken the bramble from emerging on your side as the first line of defense

PLUS

- since you need a path of some kind along your espalier and/or grape, what about alkaline heavy path like concrete pavers or crushed sidewalk?

Kind of like this — how were you envisioning the espalier-grape border? I couldn’t figure it out. I tried putting an access walkway Between the espalier and grape.... On 2nd thought .. maybe grape next to the paver path, THEN the espalier ... but it would depend on sun direction, height of planting (grape trellis/arbor and height/type of espalier, etc.
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HoneyBerry
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I am sorry that you have this problem. I have a similar problem, only the neighbors spray more often than your neighbors. They brought in a layer of rocks and they spray it regularly with weed killer, right next to my fence. It is obvious that it is seeping over to my side. What used to natural vegetation is now only dirt. I don’t use weed killer at all. It is frustrating.



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