Narrow strip behind garden. Landscaping advice needed

[bideyinn]

The council has just informed us that the strip of land behind our house, which is at the end of a lane, belongs to us. It would be a great opportunity to extend our garden as it's very wide except that we have a lovely old brick wall and I don't want to knock it down. So we're trying to think of what to do with it? It would be great to plant for screening as we're very overlooked at the back. And we've thought about a greenhouse at one end. It's an area about 2m x 20m, any ideas?

Crikey! Congratulations!

Could you have a small section of the wall taken down and a old style gate added? You might even have enough bricks for an arch, if your lucky and that floats your boat.

Maybe room for some fruit trees and vegatable plot(s) as well as the screening and greenhouse?

We'll have access from the gate at the other side of the garden, and the lane. We have talked about knocking down a bit if the wall but have decided against I think? It's just an awkward shape. It's full if brambles, nettles, small self seeded trees etc atm as well as a fair bit of rubble. My neighbour at the back doesn't like trees but I really think that might be the best thing to do.

Any gardeners got any interesting ideas?

veg garden? (PITA clearing it though)

wildflowers and a summer house? (if the soil is poor the wildflowers will be v good)

wildlife garden? tbh it's probably a lovely habitat for wildlife as it is, but you could look at introducing features and plants that would encourage that

It is a lovely habitat atm and I really like it but my back neighbour wants it cleared. Her garden (and the one next door which also backs into this strip) are a bit higher than mine. They booth have wooden fences and a bit of decking at the fence. They don't want the brambles growing through.

Access is through the gate to the left of the back wall. So it's a long narrow strip open on only one side. If we get a greenhouse/summerhouse it will have to on the far right so we'll need to be able to walk through whatever we plant. It would be perfect for a vegetable patch but what we really need is screening. It's a suburban environment, in an end terrace with a wide largish garden . Semi detached house to the rear but because they are higher and have conservatories etc they have a good view of ours.

Not sure what the soil is like? It's going to be a big job to clear.

clearing brambles will be a big and ongoing job - we have done this to make a veg patch with a strip of land at the end of our garden that had been left for years, and we routinely have to dig up new bramble shoots and roots. tbh i don't think it's up to the neighbour to demand what you do with it, but i do understand that obviously you want to keep good relations and if you want to do something with it anyway then it's fine.

here are some screening ideas

i think silver birches and hazel bushes both look gorgeous as screens but not sure whether you have enough space.

Espaliered trees make great (and beautiful) screening whilst taking up very little space at ground level, they are so common here (Netherlands) that I didn't think you could really have meant anything else as a screen. Daft of me really

Sorry 'pleached trees' is the correct translation - espaliers are the low version.

we have a lovely lilac screen at the back, but it doesn't screen in the winter obviously

Pleached beech screens well year round, with the exception of a couple of weeks of slightly sparse screening in spring.

they're lovely. do they need much maintenance?

Someone suggested Rowan trees to us but I'm worried about the berries. I favour Birch (we have one already) but I'm not sure how many I'd be able to plant?

The espaliered trees sound really interesting. Fruit trees?

A bit of training if you buy them smallish and an annual or biannual trim (depending on the tree sort), very little faff at all and a hell of a lot of result.

x post. Rowan fruit isn't poisonous, it's foul unless you process it massively but not a danger at all.

It was more the berries in my neighbours garden I was concerned about. We have an elderly Rowan elsewhere.

Just had a look and the pleached trees are beautiful. It's going to cost a fortune isn't it?

They aren't exactly cheap, no. Not a lot of mature trees are TBH. Price depends on what sort of tree you go for - beech are one of the less expensive and most screening options and lime are also very popular. For a 20 meter spread you'd probably need say, 8 - 10 trees but they are stunning, low maintenance and will be a real plus point if you ever decide to sell up.

It's possible to DIY them, of course but that will take time.

I've also seen them faked with ivy on a trellis on legs but that going to be a lot more work with clipping.

They are very beautiful and would transform our garden. Might need to ditch the greenhouse idea?

You can add a greenhouse at any time though, when the budget allows. You would just need room to put a ladder up so you can clip.

I honestly can't over emphasise how fab they look!

Yes I really think they would work and definitely add value to the house. Just need to convince Mr B ;) he has some contacts in landscaping so might be able to cut a deal. Otherwise we're looking at 1k really which is a bit too much!

Thanks for the idea btw, and the others. That link was useful too. Any other ideas anybody?