There is some sort of creeping plant that is coming from behind the shed from another house and spreading into my garden. It is an extreme nuisance.
It has spread very fast this summer. Half of the fence on one side is completely covered. Its spreads like a web so it is hard to take it off.
What plant is this (Live in the UK)? How do I get rid of it and prevent it from coming back? It is not clear from where this plant has started creeping, it has come from someone else's home.
I concur - Virginia creeper. Confirmation when it turns a beautiful red in Autumn and then sheds all its leaves.
I inherited it growing up the front of my house. It grows about ten feet per annum and you absolutely have to hack it right back every year before spring. On the plus side it doesn't send roots into the mortar like ivies do. It clings to the walls using little sticky pads (which look a bit like gecko feet where they stick to stonework).
I made a memo this year to cut it back a lot more severely! Last year I didn't hack at it hard enough and had to go hacking at it again in July.
Yes, this looks like Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper). It has spectacular autumn colour but is very vigorous. Here are some options for you to consider:
Have a friendly chat with your neighbour. Explain that the creeper is a problem for you and ask if they would mind if you dug it up. Find the source/sources of the creeper and dig it/them up. Then physically remove the plant and carefully treat any regrowth with Roundup (active ingredient - glyphosate).
Remove the existing flimsy-looking fence and replace with a more substantial fence. Maybe good quality five or six foot close board panels on top of one foot concrete gravel boards, all between concrete posts. Then don't allow any more creeper to grow over, under or through the new fence.
Accept the creeper as an interesting garden feature and manage it the best way you can. This might involve (a) not allowing any creeping growth to root in your garden, and (b) using a powered trimmer to trim the climber back to the existing fence at least once a year (maybe in the winter after the leaves have fallen).
What is it?
If it's a vine with leaves of five, I see Virginia Creeper (quinquefolia). Gorgeous scarlet in the Fall, it climbs quickly to 30'.
Saying goodbye
Spray carefully with a non-selective weed killer if you must, which will absorb down to the roots (wherever they be!) and die.
Grrrr... Virginia Creeper!
It looked nice on my first house (a 100-year-old, two-story brick structure). The vines crawled up the brick walls. Once a year, I'd cut down the largest of them (so the vine wouldn't get on the roof). Neighbors told me that it might harm the brick, but the vine looked like it had been there forever, and the brick seemed fine.
But the next two places I lived (including my current house) had it in hedges. It will quickly overwhelm a hedge, choking the sunlight from the hedge leaves.
It is very hard to get rid of.
Allocate a weekend each spring to pull it off whatever it is growing on, and then pull up as much of the root as possible. The roots run horizontally under the soil, helping with the spread. Do this for enough years, and it will eventually be under control (sort of).
I've yet to find anything that does a good job of killing it.
