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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that NDN should care how shit this looks from my garden. FENCE THREAD - pic enc.

235 replies

PauperTroll · 28/03/2019 19:11

He's put up curved trellis all the way along the wall and stapled tatty strawberry netting to the back (our side) of it so he's not overlooked by the houses perpendicular to us.

But it looks horrible from my side. And the trellis has made it very tall.

I'd saved up for a few years to do my garden up a bit this spring and now this has made it look crap. I can't really afford to put something up on my side to hide his netting.

There's fuck-all I can do, I assume - I asked him (nicely) if I could remove the netting and if the trellis would be obscure enough to stop the neighbours overlooking him. He said no, that it was on his property, and that he wasn't going to remove it and that if I didn't like it I could install something on my side to cover it.

Is there anything I can do???

to think that NDN should care how shit this looks from my garden. FENCE THREAD - pic enc.
OP posts:
Omzlas · 28/03/2019 21:37

That wall reminds me of the perimeter wall you see around prison exercise yards, I actually think it looks better with the added extras

Sorry OP

NotSureThisIsWhatIWant · 28/03/2019 21:39

Netting is horrible. I can recommend a very invasive quick growing climbing plant that will give your neighbour the privacy they crave and plenty of nicely smacking flowers throughout the year... it will destroy the netting no problem. Your neighbour may even love it...

NotSureThisIsWhatIWant · 28/03/2019 21:40

Honeysuckle, that is. Have been fighting agains my neighbour’s one for 5 years and the bloody plant always win... I may even need a new trellis soon

saraclara · 28/03/2019 22:52

I'd be growing something up that wall anyway. It's pretty ugly.

(And whoever said she can't is wrong. The photo is of the OP's side of the wall)

BrendasUmbrella · 28/03/2019 23:47

The wall is a lot uglier than the trellis. Get some quick growing climbers. Cut some off when they reach wall height and let some others continue to grow up the trellis, so if he pulls them away it won't ruin the whole lot. But if the goal is privacy he probably won't mind.

yumyumpoppycat · 29/03/2019 00:00

hmmm no op response - maybe it wasn't a reverse after all.

Singlenotsingle · 29/03/2019 00:04

If paint the wall to match the netting, and then put in some dwarf trees alongside the wall. We did that a few years ago and now we get Victoria plums, comice pears and apples in the autumn (plus the blossom in the spring). We put in a dwarf cherry tree last autumn. It's great fun. And they aren't expensive!

PregnantSea · 29/03/2019 02:46

I think it looks ok? And I'm always happy if someone else wants to make fences higher. I like the extra privacy.

I think if it's over 6ft you can ask him to take it down because that's the maximum fence height allowed. Check that though because I haven't looked at the rules in years.

Thesuzle · 29/03/2019 03:43

Hi OP
Check with council how high fencing can be. In older homes , its usually the left hand side that belongs to you. (With your back to your house)
Paint wall, plant evergreen climbers

AnxietyDream · 29/03/2019 06:46

Agree with other that assuming it's his wall and under the height rules, no he doesn't have to care how it looks to you.

You sort out your side. I do think it will look different once it has things growing up it, so I wouldn't panic too much.

chillpizza · 29/03/2019 07:29

I don’t get why people moan about fences maybe being slightly higher than 6ft. More privacy I could understand if it was maybe 9ft but not an extra foot. My fences are a mixture of 5ft-7ft depending on which fence you look at. 7ft being where the neighbours kids have their climbing frame. Although it’s not actually fence as it’s slightly set back and only starts at 5ft off the ground Grin so no rules broken.

SoupDragon · 29/03/2019 07:32

I'd be growing something up that wall anyway. It's pretty ugly.

(And whoever said she can't is wrong. The photo is of the OP's side of the wall)

You still can't attach anything to it unless you actually own the wall.

Disturbedone · 29/03/2019 07:51

I would be annoyed at him blocking my natural light more than anything else...

Seeline · 29/03/2019 09:08

My fences are a mixture of 5ft-7ft depending on which fence you look at. 7ft being where the neighbours kids have their climbing frame. Although it’s not actually fence as it’s slightly set back and only starts at 5ft off the ground  so no rules broken.

Actually, it doesn't matter if it's a fence or not - the regulations cover any ' means of enclosure' (other than hedges which come under other legislation). And the regulations require the height to be measured from ground level, whether or not the enclosure starts at ground level. So anything above 2m in height when measuring from ground level requires planning permission.

Original poster
PauperTroll · 29/03/2019 09:49

Sorry to post and then bugger off. A relative was taken into hospital yesterday so now I feel a bit daft whinging on about a trellis.

Thanks for all your thoughts though. in reply...

What, you don't like my prison chic wall?? Grin Sorry I should have mentioned that I'm planning to paint it a darker colour and grow plants up it. Those blocks are pretty hideous but that's pretty much all I can afford to do.

His trellis makes the structure over 2m high, I'm not particularly worried about the height, I'd be happy if the netting went and the trellis stayed.

Now I think about it, I'm pretty sure that the wall is mine. It's the first home I've owned so I'd never considered who owns what wall but it's attached to my house. Guess I'd need to check the deeds. I've attached a photo of how the trellis is actually against my house (honestly not drip-feeding, I'd just never looked at it properly before Blush )

NDN made some big deal about how he'd built the wall but I don't know if that's true as the one on my right hand side is exactly the same Confused

to think that NDN should care how shit this looks from my garden. FENCE THREAD - pic enc.
OP posts:
DobbyTheHouseElk · 29/03/2019 10:00

Quickly looking at the second photo. He has put his trellis on your house, I’d say that wall is yours looking at the photo. Looks like he’s pinned his fence to your wall as it’s before your fascia.

BlackSatinDancer · 29/03/2019 10:07

I do think the trellis looks better than the wall. I would paint that wall pronto as, subject to the colour, that could massively improve the look of the garden.

If the wall plus trellis is over 2 metres high and therefore requires planning permission, I might have a word with NDN and say I'd be prepared to overlook his lack of permission if they were to remove the netting.

If you just had the wall before I can understand the trellis on top is a big shock, but it isn't unpleasant. Your NDN may have felt very overlooked and not enjoyed being in their garden. Maybe they intend to grow some climbers up it?

IHateUncleJamie · 29/03/2019 10:17

Check your deeds. If the wall is on both deeds then he can in theory put trellis up as long as it’s not above 8ft in total height.

If his trellis post is attached to your wall at the side then he needed to get your permission to do that.

If the wall is jointly owned then unfortunately he can put netting on your side. In which case, you can paint your side of the wall, put a trellis planter at the base of it or attach a trellis panel to your side and grow plants up it.

IF however you own the wall then he cannot put that up at all without your permission.

So check your deeds, first and foremost.

MrsPlesWearsAFez · 29/03/2019 10:18

Sounds like he may be chancing his arm here.

Definitely check your deeds.

Surely his wall/trellis shouldn't be attached/drilled into your property?!

WeeDangerousSpike · 29/03/2019 10:25

It looks like the wall is on your side of the boundary and he's put a fence up against it? But you'd have to check your deeds to be sure.

Can you get trellis of your own and make a sandwich so the netting is in the middle?

DobbyTheHouseElk · 29/03/2019 10:26

It looks like NDN house wall is the one with black gutters so he has put the trellis on your wall. But there isn’t room for it on his wall due to his downpipe. I think he is chancing his arm. He knows what he’s done and thinks he can bully you into thinking it’s his wall.

redwoodmazza · 29/03/2019 10:36

Check your deeds.

If the wall is on both deeds, then he can put trellis up on it but only to a certain height.

If he has attached his trellis post to your house wall, he needs your permission.

If the wall is jointly owned, he can put the netting on whichever side he wants.

IF you own the wall, he cannot put anything on it without your permission.

So check your deeds - soon!!!

TheLastNigel · 29/03/2019 10:49

The netting should be on his side. Other than that the trellis is fine. I'd paint the wall or put your own trellis up on the actual wall and grow some nice stuff up it. Asda have climbing plants 3 for a fiver at the moment.

Diplodoci · 29/03/2019 10:53

His trellis makes the structure over 2m high
Report to the council. It’s illegal and they’ll serve him an enforcement notice to take it down.

littledoll33 · 29/03/2019 10:57

@PauperTroll

I think it looks OK, and would appreciate the privacy tbh.

We moved into a house that had a 6 ft fence (in the back garden,) between us and the man next door some years back, (he was about 55 - divorced several years earlier.) I had 2 young girls - 10-12 y.o. at the time, and the man next door replaced the fence between the 2 back gardens that was his responsibility. It was OK actually and didn't need replacing, but he replaced it anyway!

Long story short, he put a bloody 3 footer up! Every day me and the girls went into the garden, he would be sitting in the kitchen/diner window, gawping at us. He may have meant no harm, but it creeped us out, and we took to sitting round the side of the house, where he couldn't see us..

After a while, DH installed a 6 foot fence on our land - 2" away from his, as we got sick of being stared at in our own garden. Why he put a 3 foot fence up is questionable, but I think I know why. Hmm

Upshot is, I prefer privacy and would welcome what your neighbour has done!