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!

Do you live on a hill? Confused how you can see over a 6ft fence into there living room unless your higher up than them an if that's the case they shouldn't beable to see in you living room 🤔

My neighbours at the back had a garden which was the width of ours and our neighbour to the left. They had a beautiful mini orchard at the bottom of their garden which provided complete privacy. The blossom in spring was spectacular and the trees provided habitat for many birds and insects. One day we returned from work to find that every tree had been razed to the ground and because of the gradient we suddenly found ourselves overlooked by five properties. To add insult to injury their 9 year old daughter spent most of her time peering at us out of her bedroom window. We stood it for one summer then sold up. Our neighbours to the left put up an 8ft fence with a trellis on top three feet inside their back boundary fence so as not to break the covenants on height of fences. As we moved I am not sure if they got away with it but can certainly understand why they did it.

This thread has made me panic...ive got 3 areas in my garden with bamboo in it...2 my ex husband planted and one that has just randomly started growing....how do i kill it ?

It's not unreasonable to mourn the loss of trees.

So just to confirm, the trees were in your neighbours garden and he decided to have somebody cut his own trees down and you don't like it. Um welll...... tough luck really. My neighbour has trees that tower over my tiny garden blocking the sun on my table and chairs which leave mess everywhere.....we all just get on with it don't we. Plant your own trees and move on

We live in a converted hospital, ground floor with a garden, the builder who did the conversion has now built a nine story block of flats literally within about 10 foot from our back fence with windows overlooking our garden. It is possible to see into our living room and bedroom. We have blinds but obviously don’t want them down all day. Incidentally it has taken away all our sunlight from about 4pm. I feel your pain.

We have vertical blinds in every room apart from bathrooms. Weren’t that expensive and you can have them turned so that you still get light but no one can see in.

I didn’t vote because you are & you aren’t.

You are unreasonable to have the hump with your neighbours for cutting it in whatever style they want, or cutting it down completely. It’s on their land, it’s their trees, they can do what they like.

You are not being at all unreasonable for finding an alternative, quick growing plant/tree, to plant and maintain in your property, to replace the privacy that you one had & enjoyed.

I’d go for privacy glass, or the sticker stuff you can apply to deal with indoor privacy.
For the outside the pleached hedges are wonderful but don’t discount the fact the trees may have a TPO. if they are cut down without approval the person responsible will be fined and forced to replace them ‘like for like’. That’s the whole point! If it was just a fine developers would chop them and cough up. The whole point of the order is that a tree of the same maturity and species will stay in that spot.

Put up some trellis and buy a few mile or minuit plants cheaper and you can cut them down if you need.

I planted bamboo to hide an ugly grain store at the farm next door. Its been perfect. It hasn't ruined the garden at all and now, 10 years after planting, its still small enough at the base to get my arms around. It hasn't spread shoots out at all. It fans out from about shoulder height and is now about 18 ft high. Its the black stemmed variety if that's any help. Got it in B&Q.

Re. Bamboo in pots, I am thinking of putting some out the front of our bay window as it looks straight out onto the pavement.. How deep would the pots need to be? Would troughs work..?

This thread has made me panic...ive got 3 areas in my garden with bamboo in it...2 my ex husband planted and one that has just randomly started growing....how do i kill it ?

Cut the bamboo down as close to the ground as you can. Cover in salt (I used about 3 kilo. The cover in black sheeting/taurpaulin. Apply patience.

There are other more expensive ways but they require a lot of chemicals. Salt may not be wonderful for the soul but it’s preferable to the chemicals and a hell of a lot cheaper!

Soil. Probably not ideal for the soul either.

Thank you @Grilledaubergines i will give it a try.

myusernamewastakenbyme

I had the main lot dug up, then I dug up and chopped off all the runners I could find. I also used salt, but I favoured very tightly focused application to the cut off trunk or stems of the plant where I couldn't get the whole thing up, because I didn't want to lose the plants that were mixed up in it.

It does work. I still haven't got it completely, but it hasn't recovered from what I've done to it and it would take years of neglect to do so, which it's not going to get.

Don't panic. Your situation sounds salvageable. My one had been allowed to run riot for years. The original stand was half the width of the patio, and had sent runners to the other side of the garden. I've still basically won!

You can get glass that is slightly tinted that lets light in but not see- through from outside. We are the same as you and fiercely private.

Totally am with you on privacy.
quickest and I mean quick that I know are those cypress trees, think thats what they are called, look like conifers only thin grow straight up rather than out. Neighbour planted some last year above their roof now!

@frostedviolets totally understand where you’re coming from

We have 100 ft long garden, so does behind us. Fence is their responsibility. After we moved in, the fence fell down in a storm. Neighbour used roof felt to bridge the 12 ft gap in fencing. Of course every rainy day or when it rained, it would come off and he’d take forever to replace. Neighbour on one side was getting fence replaced so we decided to do our side too, same company, and fence. So we asked back neighbour if he’d like to do his portion too. No. So we then asked, what about if we paid half. Nope. So then we asked what about if we paid for it all across the back - which he was happy with and we did.

Next year our kids get a trampoline. We put it at the end of the 100 ft garden so it’s not close to anyone’s house (every one has very long but narrow garden. This guy develops a habit of always coming out and watching our daughters on the trampoline as well as the neighbours kids next door.

Up went leylandi. We keep it trimmed at the top and our side so it looks like a very, very tall hedge. Super private and you have a great talk hedge in about 3 or 4 years, even with trimming the tops a little each year. Top trimming is needed to keep as a hedge and not as a tree shape.

Their trees their business.

You need to either plant your own trees or put some higher fencing/bamboo in.

YABU purely because you are relying on someone else for your privacy and that's just bizarre.

I second Budleia, it grows quickly, easy to cut back if you need to and makes a lovely sound when the wind blows.