AIBU Or is this just tragic? What can I do?

[TigerTooth]

I have a lovely (Ok - very child friendly) but still lovely mature garden.
We're away a lot, for months at a time sometimes, and backing on to our garden is a council estate. At the end of our garden, on the other side of the fence, so not ours, were lovely mature trees.They gave us and neighbour privacy and were beautiful.
New neighbour over the fence has cut the trees down, the whole lot, we now have a lovely view of his home - NOT.
I know I'm not BU as they were gorgeous mature trees but I'm posting really to vent and also to ask any green fingered MN's wwyd? I need something that grows super quickly and not too wide, that will look after itself whilst we're not here. He has also bought with him a menagerie of cats who shit in my garden daily.Any ideas on effective cat deterrents? We've tried a few to no avail. It stinks in the hot weather until we've been round and collected all the cat poo. I miss my green country garden.Before and after pics, it doesn't even look like the same garden but if you look at the trampoline then you can see the extent of his butchery. Any ideas on how to speedily cover the damage?

It looks like the garden backing yours is much smaller so it was possibly in shade all day long, limiting spending time outside and what will grow. Also their back rooms would probably be very dark. The fact that the house is in your opinion ugly is irrelevant to the fact its council.
2 sides of our garden are leylandi and its awful (but on other neighbours side) . I wouldnt get that. Not only very bushy and hard to maintain but a pain if you wanted to extend or do a patio as the roots are very far reaching. We had an extension and had to have extra work on the foundations due to the leylandi. Our backed on neighbours garden is much smaller than ours and they have a 20ft leylandi hedge. We asked if they might cut it down slightly but they didn't want to. It must make their garden incredibly shaded.

You really did not have to mention the word council op there was no need
As for instant cover if you have the money you can buy ready grown trees and hedges that a company will come and put in for you
We hs it done with 8 foot hedges and it was not as expensive as we thought. We wanted to block the view of the 5 bed privately owned house behind us

Yep. Those trees must have taken up almost their entire garden. Absolutely reasonable of them to have taken them down. I don't think that simply lopping the tops would have achieved anything much. Their depth will have been an issue to them, too.
I get the shock though. I don't like being overlooked.

If it were me I’d be gutted too. I hope you manage to find something fast growing to replace them, OP.

I would have been gutted to, however I agree they probably did it as there garden was in shade. I also agree that they might not be happy that you have positioned the trampoline etc so close to their house. My neighbours have done this, erected a large trampoline next to my patio. They seem decent enough people so cannot understand why they are so thoughtless. Bamboo would work, do not plant running bamboo, go for the clumping type. I have planted some in pots up against my fence where the trampoline is and am willing it to grow quickly.

Sad about trees being cut down, but OMG, not a council estate How terrible for you to have to look at it!

Couldn’t relate to this more. Neighbours in front went and cut down the blooming tree that gave us privacy, now they’re getting an extension that’s going to literally look into our house!! guess we just have to deal with it ay

Some bamboo photos to inspire you. Side fence has some clumps of wild bamboo. Front hedge is regularly trimmed and there is a beautiful clump of a yellow bamboo

Are we sneering at council estates again?

Good thing your garden which looks rather like Regents park isn't an eyesore.

Argh this is so annoying! When we bought our house we had huge trees - I think they were Ash - running along the back fence, taller than our house. Our garden was completely dark, no sunlight at all. We've got a road running behind us so no privacy concerns.

Got a tree surgeon out to cut them down to a manageable, sensible level (they'd not been touched in 20 years) and when they looked they were all completely rotten and dangerous. Damage mainly inflicted over the years by squirrels (we've loads here) the cute little fuckers. They had to come down entirely. I was gutted, I loved them and they blocked out most road noise and made us feel really enclosed even if they did need tidying up.

Just a thought - the neighbour may have been forced to have them removed. Our neighbour whose garden backs on to the side of ours started a nasty post on the village FB page about us cutting them down and how much damage we were doing to wildlife and the heritage of the area. Didn't actually come and speak to us at all Never mind that they trees could've fallen into the road onto a car, or person on the footpath, person - we've all got children - in the garden or into our house!

We've added trellis and planted clematis which is growing nicely and will, when we can afford to, plant some smaller trees to replace what we had to take down. Won't be a quick fix though.

I'm not surprised you're sad. It's changed the entire garden. I still miss our trees!

Whilst I have sympathy for the loss of the greenery, YABU.

Our next door neighbour has one, yes one leylandi right next to our fence. It is taller than our house. As it's only one, it's not considered a hedge and he's under no obligation to prune it. So he doesn't. His garden basks in sunshine all morning whilst ours is in deep deep shade from his tree and nothing but nothing will grow beneath it, the birds sit in the branches and shit all over what was once our patio.

If I were your neighbours, I'd have cut the trees down long ago.

I agree that it is tragic when trees are cut down. A lot of loss to local wildlife. You will have to plant your own. I would avoid bamboo and leylandii because there are so many other wildlife friendly options, such as hazel, beech, interspersed with a thorny rose to keep out the cats ( i have cats too ).
By giving a “tithe to nature” you will be returning something that was lost and i do believe that such a deed attracts good energy. Also, when your children are older and more focused on the environment they will be pleased and proud of an ecological feature / solution and not ashamed of the ecological faux pas of the future. I think children today have a strong awareness of environmental protection.

@Stressedout10 I didn't read any snide comments about a council estate. Just that her garden backs onto one. That's a fact.

The trees were obviously far more attractive than looking at someone's house, council or otherwise.

I'd put up a beautiful rambling rose. A very scented one.

I will never understand why people would rather be staring into each others windows than seeing a bit of greenery - much better to just cut the trees down to a more manageable height.

I don’t blame you for being upset OP - your garden looks completely different now. I wouldn’t bother planting something that will take years to grow. I would replace the back fence (if it’s yours) with the highest fence you can legally have - or add some trellis to the top. Plant a range of fast-growing trees and shrubs in front - a couple of cypress trees, red robins, laurels. As long as you give them a good hack back a couple of times a year they are easy enough to control - they’re not triffids!

But all the junk in your garden is a bit .

The junk all over the garden is just a normal day of kids playing with stuff in the garden. Second photo shows it all tidy.

I had a neighbour do this to me...I was crying when I came home.
You need to spend on three super large trees to give you height, then inter plant with Buddlia, laurel and pyracanthas. It will be super private in two/ three years.

But it will cost you, personally I think spending on blocking out an ugly house is well worth it. ( if you were replacing a fence it might cost hundreds so think of it in those terms)

Forgot, do not plant more than three of anything, that way it won’t be subject to the hedge rules.

Here you go, OP. Not cheap but instant. Some of these flowering ones are gorgeous.

www.ornamental-trees.co.uk/mature-flowering-cherry-blossom-trees-c166

Second photo shows it all tidy.

I thought the second photo was the neighbor's yard - view of the "ugly" house.

I would fix some trellis to the fence, along the top and out in a climbing rose (Rambling Rector) or a clematis Montana, or both!

It will be fast growing, it will not block out so much light from the neighbours garden, but will screen your garden from view.

I really feel for you. I think I would plant photinia red robin or laurels like somebody else suggested. Then I would stagger some trees down your garden. I wouldn't want people looking straight into my garden, especially after having all that privacy. Have you considered bird boxes? Good luck.

£50 worth of cherry trees, do not look like the pics.

Tbh big trees that close to the council houses will probably have been causing problems for the structure of the house. And even if not the other garden is tiny so its hardly surprising the new occupier removed the trees . But considering how small the other gardens are - if you plant anything to replace it make sure its not anything with
roots that spread or you may have to remove them in future if they cause damage next door.
I'd put trellis up and a Montana clematis they are pretty and grow quickly.

Op.... Have you got rid of your two bushes or is it just the angle of the pic?!! 🤔