Need to block out the neighbours - hedge?

Okay, had a bit of a fall out with the neighbours. Not just me, but the other side neighbours have also fell out with them. They are really weird and everytime they go in there garden they stare into my garden and kitchen. The problem i have is they brought the fence just before i moved in and only put in a 5ft fence so i can see the yeti's head when he goes in the garden.

My garden is higher up that theirs, so really in my garden i have a 3ft fence and in theres it is 5ft. So when i stand in my garden i look down into theres and they stare and me. Really odd.

So i want to block them out. Hes already told me i am not allowed to touch his fence. So im thinking i either put in my own fence in my garden or i put a nice looking hedge. But im stuggling as i dont want to put something thats going to get so big and uncontrollable. I need something instant and im prepared to buy them big to buy time. But what would be best to put in that is evergreen and dense as a hedge.

Bearing in mind that there garden is lower down i can only go up to 5ft on my side as that will be 7ft on there side. What would be the height limit. It wouldnt be blocking out any of their sun.

 

High fences make good neighbours, or so they say. I'm not sure I agree.

In your case, I'd just stick a 6ft panel fence all the way along the boundary, just to say on your side. Just like you have no rights over the fence in your neighbour's garden, they have no rights over a fence you erect in your garden. The fact that it would be 8ft on their side, and therefore quite imposing, is not really your problem. How come there's 2ft difference in height between the two gardens? Are you on a hill side? In which case presumably the gardens are stepped so while yours is 2ft higher than his, his in turn is higher than the next neighbour along?

 

In the mean time, if you see them staring at you while you are in your kitchen, just keep taking photos of them. That'll put em off

 

Good idea ziggy. Ive resulted in just staring back at the moment. But its really annoying. He stands at the top looking over and watching you. Its not nice so im hoping to get something done this spring.

Clueless - The houses rise as you go up the hill but only slightly until you get to mine. Then its a bigger incline and my garden is 2 ft higher than theirs. Im the last house at the top of the hill and its onto the road. My garden is road level and the house sits in a bit. There is a walk way around the back of the house and a retainer wall and steps up into the garden area. Its all built very weird.

 

I think I can picture it. I used to live on a valley side, and lots of the houses were as you describe. That being the case, nobody will bat an eyelid if your 6ft fence is actually 8ft on the other side.

When I lived in Sheffield, at the bottom of my garden was a 10ft drop into the next garden. The next garden in question was an old people's home. We had a hedge marking the boundary, so from the biddy home side of the boundary the total height must have been easily 15ft or more. That would be quite imposing, except in the context of the steep hillside it was fine.

 

In the immediate timeframe you could erect a Willow Screen.
All you need are a few posts and buy the screen in rolls from Garden Centres/DIY places.

Once your shrubs have established, just remove the screen - or leave to double the blockade.

 

snapshot

sorry to hear that you are having bother with your neighbour, been there myself and it is not pleasant, i believe that you can not put anything that is taller that 6 foot from the lowest point . which means if there garden is lower than yours you have to use their side as your measure guide, If you go higher than this then they can ask the local planning/ council to intervene

sorry this does not actually help you block them out !! but it will save you wasting your money on a fence that you may have to take down

i was told that i could put up open trellis though and climb a rapid growing plant and that worked rather well :D

 

or get 2 of those fake cctv cameras .... place them on pillars/wooden posts in the corners of your garden , close to the back of your yard (and close to their home), and have them facing your neighbours home

then, everytime you see one of your neighbours, smile broadly and wave ....

that will get them ranting and raving ... the fake/dummy cameras look like the real thing

http://www.snkoutlet.com/page/892954

 

I think a fence can only be 6', but the trick to getting it a bit higher is to put another couple of feet of trellis on the top, and train a climber up onto it.

For a living hedge then:

You could plant Leylandii, which is quick of course. Trouble is you have to keep it cut, it grows 3' a year - even after reaching the high you want of course - and you can not cut it back to old wood as it doens't regenerate - so you must not miss a season's hedge cutting. Ever.

Leylandii is also prone to the Cupressus Aphid (or some name like that) which turns the whole thing brown and kills it after a couple of seasons.

My personal favourite for a green hedge is Thuja plicata Atrovirens (try to get that named cultivar, things sold as "Thuja plicata" may have just been grown from seed of Western Red Cedar, and may be variable). It isn't as fast as Leylandii, but ti still grows reasonably quicker (a foot a year), both make a nice clipped hedge if you take a bit of trouble over it, and Thuja can be cut back to old wood - although it will take a while to regenerate, so its not ideal.

Yew would be the best but is fearsomely expensive for mature plants - it makes a very fine hedge though. You'd be looking at around £200-£300 per metre for 6' plants

If you want something tall and instant, or relatively instant, then I like a Pleached Hedge. Trees trained onto wires horizontally. They start at 6' (or wherever you want) so there is clear space under them, unlike a hedge.

An alternative is Bamboo, although that might not be dense enough for you? That will establish fairly quickly, but its not particularly cheap to buy - probably around £30 per "clump", which is probably on a par with a decent sized hedge plant.

You can plant hedge bare-root until March or a bit later, and that will be cheaper than pot-grown (and, IMHO, you'll get a better quality plant bare rooted). I'll put in a plug for Ashridge Trees from whom I've had loads of trees and hedge plants and been very happy with them. They do a "flat head" Lime, suitable for pleaching, but it will be several years before you have impenetrable cover. For an instant screen you would need ready-pleached plants from someone like Barcham or Seagrave (who have a 25% off sale on at present) - they offer Lime, Hornbeam and probably others (although they are deciduous ...) - just looking at Barcham's site they have trained Limes which have 1.8m trunk and 1.2M square trained frame on top - so instantly 3M although the trained area at the top won't be "dense" just yet. But they run to £300 per 1.2M run I'm afraid :( and Seagrave have fully-formed Hornbeam with heads which are 6'6" tall - so getting on for 13' tall in total - but they will set you back £650 each - maybe you only need one or two for the "bad bit" of the fence though ...

Seagrave's product:

 

Hey Kristen,

Welcome back my friend

 

Blinking Heck mate, in my absence you have been promoted to Purple Haze Text and a "Soup monitor" badge it seems? !!

 

thanks for all the advice. I think im going to go with the thuja hedge. Though what do people think about using red robin or laurel? Cheapest on ebay is thuja, then laurel then red robin when looking at 5-6ft plants.

So i just need to make my mind up over those ones.

 

I think Laurel grows wide, which is fine unless you want something that doesn't take up too much "width"; Photinia red robin probably the same.

I buy a lot of stuff on eBay, but I'm always a bit weary about decent sized plants. An established nursery is unlikely to be knocking them out cheap on ebay - unless they have a cancelled order or they have been out of the ground longer than they are comfortable with. I'd haggle with a well know quality brand name first ...

"Here's a link to an eBay auction, they only want £X why would I buy from you at £Y? ..."

They'll either tell you WHY you shouldn't - and you can decide if that is Baloney / SalesSpeak or not - or they will match the price :thumb:

what size plants do you want to kick off with? I don't think Ashridge Tress are into selling "mature" plants - their line is decent sized plants that will mature and get away well.

I've used ShrubsDirect in the past for some "big" plants and been very happy with them. They have 170cm Thuja for £40 a pop, and a further 20% off if you buy more than £200 worth before 31-Jan
Thuja Plicata Atrovirens, western red cedar : ShrubsDirect.com

 

Red Robin doesn't have to be large. This one is 5 years old, grown from a 12" plant. 2' has been taken off in the Autumn for the past 2 years. Side and front trimmed as required.
The other 2 are a Pink Rhododendron and a green, glossy leaved shrub with reddish pink flowers in Summer.


Photo taken today - hense the sorry state.

 

Care to elaborate why? It might just be cheaper to talk to them and make some sort of compromise?

I'm such a hippy!