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

[PauperTroll]

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???

He doesn't get to make your side look shit, he has to do that to his own side.

He doesn't have to do it to his own side at all. There is no law that says he has to.

I'd go as far as saying the wall is built too far towards your side OP. It doesn't look from the second picture as if it's right up to your boundary (by the fact he's added those thick posts his side and they're still on your house wall). Did the NDN claim part of your land by building it too far towards you?

It's preferable to the mountain of rotting mattresses and bin bags strewn everywhere I can see in my neighbour's garden... Wish they'd build a prison chic wall!

But yes, if it is your wall you're fine to ask him to move/remove/xhange anything he's done to it AFAIK.

I I could be wrong but looking at the photos the trellis is not actually attached to the wall but to wooden supports the other side of the wall and so on his property and not in fact part of wall.

The wooden support also looks attached to op's wall.

Yep, the trellis is screwed into the wall.

Bloody hell Roomba that's terrible. Can't the council do anything on the basis of environmental protection?

He probably wants to grow some climbing plants up his trellis, you should try the same. Frankly, the wall looks awful, like it's a prison yard, not a garden.

I had similar problem: a neighbour cut a wonderful conifer in their garden which made out garden look better, the eye was drawn to that tree and now it's gone and there is a bare wooden decking underneath. So we removed the decking and I planted a few climbers, but it will take time for them to spread. I feel for you on the neighbourly issue but in order to make things look nice for you, you have to grow something, do some gardening.

Bloody as mentioned upthread: "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."

Also the plants won't grow on trellis covered in mesh.

Is his trellis attached to your wall op? Make him remove it.

Depends if it really is my wall!

DH now says he remembers a conversation a while back when NDN claimed that he'd had an 'agreement' with the previous owners that even though the wall was attached to their (now my) house and on my side of the boundary, it would belong to him because he'd paid for it.

"DH now says he remembers a conversation a while back when NDN claimed that he'd had an 'agreement' with the previous owners that even though the wall was attached to their (now my) house and on my side of the boundary, it would belong to him because he'd paid for it."
Isn't this the sort of thing that solicitors are supposed to sort out before you purchase a property. Maybe go back there for advice.

Nothing of the sort came up when we bought the property (5 years ago)

Lovely NDN the other side just said "that sounds like a tall tale to me!"

Taller than his bloody trellis!

This now feels bigger than just a problem with the ugly mesh. We intend to sell in a couple of years and need to know the truth about ownership of the boundary wall. Also want to do this without creating a dispute of course.

Surely if he's going against the accepted wisdom that a wall attached to my house on my side of the boundary line actually belongs to him, the onus would be on him to provide a written agreement?! I could always ask him nicely if I could see it.

^^should have read

if he's going against the accepted wisdom that a wall attached to my house on my side of the boundary line actually belongs to me.

I'm confusing myself now.

I think your NDN would need proof he paid for the wall and also proof of an agreement between him and previous owners that he was allowed to build it on to their land/property while remaining his for maintenance and changes purposes. If he doesn't have proof and the nice neighbour is correct about owning the other boundary on your garden it seems possible that you can claim the ugly wall as your unfriendly ndn could be making the whole thing up.

Have you spoken to neighbours on the adjoining side to unfriendly trellis neighbour - what does their boundary wall with him look like - if it is the same wall it is possible he built both.

Is it possible to get in contact with previous owners of your house?

you might need to get a solicitor if you want it all officially sorted. You bought the house without knowing so I guess you could sell it without knowing - from the gov website boundaries are often not clear unless their is a legal document www.gov.uk/your-property-boundaries

It might not show up clearly on the deeds, but the previous owner will have filled in a long form that asks who owns what.
Even if the NDN owns it cos he built it, you could ask him to remove it from your land.

the plants won't grow on trellis covered in mesh

Climbing plants have different methods of climbing. Some attach themselves by aerial roots eg ivy ( which I wouldn't recommend because it's a thug) , some lash themselves around supports e.g. honeysuckle, some have tendrils and need support for the tendrils e.g. clematis, some have nothing and need to be tied to supports e.g. climbing roses and winter jasmine.

In your situation, I'd paint the wall green and wire it. I'm sorry I can't make links, but it's not difficult or expensive to do, though you'll need a drill. Basically, you attach wires horizontally at 18 inch intervals to the wall. Browse round for climbers that grow to 6 - 8 feet and train them to the wires - fan the stems out and tie them in to the wires so they spread out nicely and clothe the wall. A foot or so at the top won't really need tying for most stuff but should (mostly) obscure the trellis. They'll also hide the wall and give you something much nicer to look at

Can I be confident that it's on my land?

He's making me doubt myself!

If you look at the second photo, its line is perpendicular from a point on my house. Logically, the property boundary is where my house ends, right?

Fucking hell I'd LOVE it if I could just take the bastard thing down.

Looking at your second photo it’s clear he has bolted his fence posts to your wall.

I think even if he paid for the wall he doesn’t own the land it sits on. If I were to come and build a patio in your garden it wouldn’t make it mine.

He’s a CF.

The yellow circled bit if you can take another photo of this. This shows his house is recessed at bit.

The red line is the edge of your house.

So he’s put the wall on your property and the trellis as well.

Thanks Dobby. I've got up on a chair and taken this. I've not looked at it from this angle before and now it looks pretty obvious that it's against my house.

As far as I can tell he hasn't affixed it to my house wall, just the garden wall. Still, CF!

Great photo Pauper.

I don’t think there is any way he can argue his case. It’s obvious that it’s your property as his is recessed behind. He’s such a CF. How did he pin the netting on from your side? I’d ask him to remove the trellis, netting and wall. It’s not his wall. Otherwise it would start further back, but his drainpipe is in the way.

Because I'm a dolt at garden stuff I assumed that the green mesh came with the trellis and he just hadn't bothered to take it off. It's been up there for a while and I figured I'd ask him to take the mesh off when I sorted the garden. So when I asked him and he told me he's stapled it there on purpose I was

Seems that the neighbour has accepted before the wall was on your land OP but otherwise the deeds should show you clearly the boundaries of your land and whether it is a straight line from your house or not...