Need to block out the neighbours - hedge?

Well basically since we have moved in he has done nothing but moan at us. The house we brought had not had anything done on it since the 80s, so we have been doing it up as money permits. He comes up to the fence and hangs over and is not polite (as he has no manners) and has a dig about our garage, the guttering, the boiler, the sound of my tv at 9pm on a friday night. We are not noisy neighbours, my deaf nan had her tv on louder. And we are getting round to the jobs as we can and in priority as i explained to him. So when he moaned last time i argued back and had a row with him and told him he is weird and to stop staring at us and let my frustrations out. Then i told him i will put a higher fence up and he told me i couldnt etc etc.... This was a few months ago, so now spring is coming i want to get something up asap as i dont want another summer of feeling i cant go in my garden when ive got it so nice.

 

We have a neighbour like that. Fortunately in our case he doesn't live next door, he simply frequents the church club next door the other way. I call him the garden police. I've yet to have a 'full and frank exchange of views' with him, but I'd welcome the opportunity. The trouble is he is a coward. He makes his remarks when he thinks I can't hear him, such as when I'm in the back garden rather than the front, and if I happen to be in the front when he patrols, he merely issues a dirty look, or the occasional tut tut.

Without the opportunity to have a full and frank exchange, ie I don't want to be the one to kick off, as I don't want to be seen to be in any way affected by his arrogance, I have a different way of dealing with it. I just don't waste any mental energy on the matter. Mr Garden Police is nothing to me. I don't dislike him, I don't like him. I'm not angry at him, I don't pity him. Absolute nothing.

 

I live in a close and everyone else is really nice and chatty, but next door to me i get a weird couple. He is like a hippy and she is quite normal (well seems it anyway). But ive noticed no one in the street talks to him, and even if they did i dont think he would be able to hold a conversation.

 

Anyhow, The area i need to cover is only a 4 metre stetch. So im thinking should i have a mixture of plants of just go with one type and then plant smaller plants infront to give some colour in the boarder?

How about mixing the plants mentioned earlier to give a screen (thuija, red robin, laurel)

Im torn on what to do now.

 

If you want a dense screen that is 6' - 8' tall, or more, then it would be best to just plant one thing and treat it as a hedge. Consider the width that the hedge will need to be for the plants to "function", how dense you need it to be, and how quickly it will grow. Starting from 5' plants you'll probably only get a foot-a-year for the first couple of years, you might get more after that (i.e. if the plant is a fast growing type).

Generally you won't get much to grow directly along the base of a hedge - depends how much space you have. You'd probably need a 10' border to get things that looked nice in front of it ... it would help if your side of the fence faces South - there would be more sun to help the plants along. If it faces North then I don;t think much will grow there :(

After planting the hedge mulch it well and cover the ground along the base with woven weed suppressing membrane. I would put a leaky-hose down before the membrane, but if the hedge will be a short enough row that you can water by hand then you don't need the leaky hose. Mulching will keep the moisture in, and keeping the weeds down will prevent competition, so the plants will grow faster. Water them thoroughly when you do, and then leave them a while - probably a week between waterings in Spring and 3 days in hot Summer spells. Don't be tempted to water them little-and-often.

If you want a border instead then you need to be choosy what you put at the back. Most things that are going to be 8' tall are also going to want to be 8' wide ... you can trim them narrower, but that won't really work as well IMHO. bamboo will grow tall & narrow, can;t think of other things offhand. Other problem is how good a screen the plants at the back of a border will actually make. If there are gaps and so on is your neighbour going to use them as portholes to stare at you?

If the area for your "hedge" is really too narrow to do both hedge and border than consider a fence with trellis on the top. An evergreen climber like Clematis Armandii will make a dense screen, and leave you the whole of the area along the front of the fence to plant your "border" in.