Well that’s my privacy gone

[frostedviolets]

I know I am probably going to be told IBU but I am so so upset.

Neighbour behind has rows of mature massive trees.
Mostly planted right against my fence so they lean in and left unpruned they cover almost half of my garden.

I constantly have to prune them back to the boundary which is a real pain in the arse but I love the privacy they provide, without them i can see straight into their house and garden and they mine.

Every year they get some bodger with a chainsaw to behead them all about half way down in a straight line so they look utterly ridiculous now they appear to be chainsawing them down completely.

All my privacy gone.
I’ll no longer be able to go into my living room or bedroom or garden without being clearly seen now.

I have an espalier tree growing in front of the fence that I am very careful to keep in a single flat layer so it doesn’t fall onto neighbours to have to keep pruning it but it’s small, it’ll be fucking years before it gets anywhere big enough to provide me with some screening.

WIBU to plant bamboo or even the devils work, leylandii or something?!
What grows mega fast and mega big..?

I’ll keep the side trimmed back so it doesn’t cross their boundary.

I need privacy!

How about louvred shutters for the windows that are now overlooked?

I agree a trellis on top of the fence is a good idea too, but I wouldn't use russian vine. Passiflora grows really fast, and mine has had leaves all through the winter too. Much prettier than russian vine.

Pittosporum is tolerant of all climatic conditions, fast-growing, and a huge range of foliage. I always plant a pitto hedge whenever faced with a privacy issue.
greenmachine.nz/collections/pittosporum

Totally get the upset, and dismay.
A real shocker.

Dozens of great ideas on here.

Short term I would look at some screening maybe half way between theirs and yours to give some privacy while you plan a long term solution.

Net / lace curtains / voiles are all disgusting!

I feel you. We came back from holiday to find a huge London plane tree that was just outside our dining room window in the grounds of the block of flats behind us had been cut down.

As we were a second floor flat, Instead of leaves, squirrels and birds the view our lunch/dinner guests got was a man who stood naked at his open window all day and night throwing things at cats while listening to the world service at top volume. At night he was illuminated by the 2000w strip lighting in his flat.

We'd try and avoid guests spotting him through judicious seating arrangements but it's sometimes didn't work our due to numbers. Halfway though the starter you'd see a guests eyes narrow as their eyes focused behind you and they'd stutter... 'err, there's a naked man over there... he's, throwing things...'. We'd have to calmly acknowledge it and hope it didn't put them off their arancini balls.

I was fucking furious at first but I came to think of him as one of the family.

This company grow and install mature hedges for instant screening

treeandhedge.com/hedges/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItO6Sp4Kh6QIVVu3tCh1kQQOYEAAYAyAAEgLQtPD_BwE

I didn't look at the prices it will probably cost an arm and a leg.

alternatively you could buy the most mature laurel you can find and afford at a garden centre,and plant them yourself, they are very quick growing, maybe chuck a Hawthorne in to the mix too.

Wild life love laurel and Hawthorne.

Net / lace curtains / voiles are all disgusting! I don't blame you for not wanting those! And it wouldn't solve your garden issue. Bamboo and a trellis sounds like a good idea.

My bedroom us overlooked by half the estate. I have thin cotton voiles all year round so I can get dressed without traumatising anyone.I like them. Looks like I’m in a music video when they waft around if I have the windows wide open!

frostedviolets My neighbour has done exactly the same! so I feel your frustration. His trees were flowering plums and because they shaded the fenceline then nothing much would grow in my yard, so I didn't bother, now it's totally bare.

During lockdown his mates have been arriving every day or second day for their beer drinking sessions and because my house has large windows across the back, they have a full view not only into my yard but also into the house. Prior to his tree removal, my yard was very private but now even his next door neighbour can see into my yard and I can also see into their yard...not that I want to, but it's not only me who has lost privacy.

So, I've decided to plant Lagerstroemia (Crepe Myrtles) as I like their mottled bark and beautiful flowers plus someone sells them on Gumtree at a good price, I think it's a small home nursery.

NO lace curtains here, someone once reminded me that lace curtains belong in a brothel so every time I see them that comment comes to mind...so I'll pass on the lace curtains, thanks!! ;-)

Good luck to all those in a similar situation and hope you all find a solution that suits your lifestyle and house.

I love voiles and nets

Where I don’t have them I have decorative window film from blossom and brush

So pretty

Taller fences ? If 6ft shouldn't be able to see in your garden very easily

Just because trees are tall doesn't mean they'll have TPOs on them. We have huge trees in our garden and we are in a conservation area but they don't have TPOs.

We have very problematic sycamores. They seem to grow fast OP.

Either plant something, put a sail shading, or a archway with creepers over it or something else part way up your garden, that way you get faster privacy then go for one of the options given above (personally I like eucalyptus) which over time will grow to give privacy and you can remove the intermediate screen if you wish to.

Don't see what's wrong with blinds

Most people who live with houses around them have to put something up at the window to provide privacy 24/7, you get used to it.

I have vertical blinds up at my big windows that I open halfway during the day, it means people who look in can barely see a thing and I get great semi-filtered sunlight. Horizontal blinds would do the exact same thing, only better.

Having bare windows would make me feel exposed.

To be fair to the OP she's not being unreasonable- at the end of the day she liked the privacy and now it's gone. It's annoying her, but she's looking to take measures to react to that within her own sphere of influence and seeking advice. It's actually the very definition of reasonable behaviour.

Sorry @Pinkyyy

Why are you apologising to me? @hiddenmnetter

As PP have said, it's not a legal requirement to have a hedge that is no higher than 2m. The height requirement may be an issue if a dispute is logged by a third party (i.e. a neighbour) if they are adversely affected by the height of a hedge.

Bamboo generally comes in two varieties - runners and clumpers. Runners (typically phyllostachys) tend to be invasive. Clumpers (typically fargesia) as the name suggests, grow in clumps and are therefore really easily controlled. If you are looking for a quick growing clumping variety then Fargesia Campbell Robusta is very good and will grow up to 6m if you wish. It is easily maintained as a narrow hedge.

If they were that big perhaps they were rotten at the roots or the roots were causing damage.

@TiddlestheCat, please could you recommend a variety of evergreen, scented clematis? That sounds exactly the sort of thing I want to cover a new fence.

You'll get used to it. Don't plant bamboo or lleylandii, both can cause massive amount of damage, everyone thinks they'll keep on top of it but then bang, they're out of control. All it takes is one winter where you don't have time to cut it because of bad weather etc and then you need to get someone in to cut them and then it's costing you either £300 a year to keep them short or you're stuffed. With conifers you only get regrowth if you don't cut too much so you can't cut a conifer in half when they get too big or you're left with brown stumps. Bamboo can rip through tarmac.

Not to mention the damage to soil etc

They might have cut them back because of a lack of light to their house or someone else's.

Don't plant leylandii - endless trouble to you.

I had a bamboo near my house and it was fine. Just get advise and chose carefully. It's not Japanese knotweed!! I sold house in feb and survey was all fine too.

It didn't spread at all.

Boylovesmeerkats - that's not true of all bamboos or conifers. Running bamboos can be quite invasive and damage tarmac and pipework, but clumpers don't and are much more easily controlled.

Leylandii gets a very bad press but makes an excellent hedge if it is looked after. It won't re-shoot from brown wood but there are other varieties of coniferous hedge that do. Thuja Plicata (Western red cedar) grows almost as fast as leyland cypress, but can be hard pruned back into 'the brown' if needed and will re-shoot.

I would love it if my neighbours cut down their massive trees! Garden to the left has a huge Leylandii up against my fence that blocks light off huge chunks of my garden for half the day. Just as the sun reappears, I get a couple of hours, before it disappears behind the garden backing onto our from 6pm - they have a row of 4 large conifer / Leylandii trees. I’d have the sun most of the day, if it wasn’t for those trees. It’s difficult to keep plants going.

Anyone who has tall, thick, evergreen trees - please think of your neighbours. I love trees and dappled light - they offer privacy too.

@Tappering it gets a bad press because it's horrendous. There are so many nice varieties of tree and hedge. I think if you've got a large garden it's fine but for suburban gardens less so, there are 4 gardens adjoining ours so one persons 10m tall hedges can impact on everyone.

You're right about bamboo too, really even quite invasive plants can be great and I'm a keen gardener myself but I know many people will just get any old thing and the maintenance might be ok in year 1 but get quite tiresome by year 15!