FenTiger

Along the old fence belonging to neighbours who installed a new fence is what I think is a rubber weed barrier. It also seems to be being used to stop soil spillage from same neighbours. I believe this was previously attached to the neighbours old fence and over time the wire holding it rusted so parts of the rubber weed barrier were no longer attached to their old fence. My thoughts are I am adamant as per described above what the rubber weed barrier was used for. (Our garden is slightly lower than new fence neighbours).
The rubber weed barrier has nails and rusted wires which as per above were used to fix to neighbours fence. I think at ground level there were wooden planks all along, .... nails used to fix to wooden planks???
I've spent an hour and 45 minutes trying to pull up a section I have sawed through but it seems stuck. Probably goes a bit deeper or is "L" shaped. A local friend has lent me a spade with teeth. Hope it does the trick.
I honestly feel the rubber weed barrier should be new fence neighbours responsibility.
Damn .... cannot upload photos.

Sachina

Are you sure it's a weed barrier and not a damp barrier for the wall?

FenTiger

it's along the old fence line.

FenTiger

Jack_Russells4ever

Just wondering out loud... to your knowledge has their ever been bamboo planted near their? That looks like it could have been used to stop invasive plants from going under the boundary or as suggested above maybe it is a moisture barrier for a wall or masonry fence? Just considering the possibilities. duh, I missed the weed barrier. I need new glasses.

FenTiger

We do have a hedge along that fence. No wall along there.

Is it possible that rubber barrier was to stop roots from our hedge getting into neighbours garden?

Jack_Russells4ever

That is a possibility or another thought, maybe a property owner at some time had a digging dog that they were trying to keep from digging out. IDK just another possibility.

FenTiger

Digging dog - hope it's not the one belonging to neighbours. If it is .... it's going to get through the new one.

No idea what to do about the rubber barrier. It sticks out above ground level by about 8-12 inches and the above ground part just flops one way. There's some nails and rusty wires. I thought cut the part above the ground but that's about 5 metres long and behind a tight hedge. I'd need to hire someone 5 foot tall or less to go behind. I think a mini electric saw would make light work of it but I'm not spending lots for a j9b I think neighbours should be responsible for (if that's the case).


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Pulaski

An impermeable barrier sounds like it might have been used to deter a dog (especially as think as it looks), or invasive roots, or possibly reduce soil erosion, but generally I would avoid a barrier that stops water flow across the land as it may just cause other problems i.e. flooding elsewhere. If directing water flow is the goal, then a drain or ditch would be IMO, the proper solution, not some plastic attached to a fence, which is ugly to boot!

FenTiger

As you see it's flopped towards our garden when I'm certain it was previously attached to neighbours old fence. It's actually made of tough rubber. Neighbours garden is slightly higher so no idea if primary aim was to contain soil on their side. If that was the purpose I'd have thought they would remove old barrier and put new one in. Long term ..... I hope flooding does not come from their side.

Peter_in_Hungary

IMO What you have there is a (re-purposed) rubber conveyor belt as used in quarries to move the crushed material around. Typically they are about 40 - 50 cm wide but width varies and they come as long as needed.

As suggested above I suspect it was put there in the past to stop a digging dog from crossing the fence line. When it was placed there and in which direction the dog was digging is probably anyone's guess (unless the neighbour owns up)

I would remove what has become unsightly and leave the rest well alone. Its tough old stuff a and quite heavy and once you have struggled to get the stuff out you then have the problem of disposal, meanwhile what remains will continue to do its job for years and years.

FenTiger

Local friend said the same as you it being rubber conveyor belt for quarries. There's one here.
It's bloody tough to remove. Same friend has loaned me a spade with teeth so hopefully I can remove it. I will try cutting it up in small pieces so we can dispose of it. It seems to have hardened from age so probably cannot be re-purposed. Maybe use it for dog kennel roof!

hobgoblins

The joys of dealing with what previous owners left behind ! The original owners of my house who lived in it for many years didn't seem to throw hardly anything away and what they did throw away was dumped at the bottom corner of the garden ... and it is slowly working its way back to the surface year after year. I noticed last week an old bicycle tyre has now started to protrude so went and had a closer look and amongst the usual medicine bottles, bits of plastic, an old spark plug along with a light bulb was these .... !!

FenTiger

Pulaski

I recently acquired a mid-priced metal detector in exchange for some credit card points. In the first instance I intended to use it to find two pieces of rebar that I had driven into the lawn to mark the optimum spots for our two bluebird boxes.

I have yet to find the rebar, but have so far found a variety of things in/under the lawn, including six U-bolts, four pieces of chain, several pieces of aluminium drink cans, a matchbox car, a AAA battery, and a Mexican reale ("piece of eight") from 1618-1619. Unfortunately the reale is a reproduction, which instead of being solid silver, appears to be some sort of plating over a copper core. But it's still by far the most interesting thing I have found so far!