How to screen...

[frostedviolets]

Without upsetting the neighbour?

Said neighbour is really nice and I don’t want to offend or upset her, as her drive is literally next door, I don’t want her to feel that I am deliberately blocking her out, but, I don’t particularly like the view of cars/houses/pavements etc over the fence...

Front garden, currently, has a low boundary hedge, maybe 3 foot or so.
The hedge is not mine, it belongs to said neighbour.

I have lots of plants in the garden already including some tall ones but I want a tall and elegant plant to grow just above the hedge, so the first three foot or so would be bare stem, then airy foliage across over the top of the hedge thus increasing the height of the hedge.

I need something where the foliage isn’t wide.
Something like an espaliered tree.
Except that I don’t think I have enough room to accommodate the fully grown trees trunk.

So I’m thinking a vine of sorts?

I’ve been pleaching a pyracantha. Not sure it’s elegant though. Three years on, it’s five feet high and about the same wide.
I’d look at fast growing large shrubs like Red Robin and just shape them how you want.

Is pyracantha thorny?
It’s the shrub with tiny red and orange berries?
If it’s thornless I wouldn’t mind some of those.

I’m not a massive red robin fan tbh, so many houses have it round here.

I’m aiming for about 6 foot high.

Pyracanthy are vicious spiky bastards, but the bees love them.

I'd put up a 5ft wooden fence with a gridwork top and run a clematis through it.

How about an Acer or Amelamchier

Amelanchier then remove front and back reaching branches then plant a shrub in front to screen the chopped off branches. Never tried this but it is quite a light tree - gives dappled shade not solid shade. Has flowers in spring and nice colour in autumn.

What is your neighbour's hedge? Do you want this to screen the hedge all year or just through summer? You could get the thornless pyracantha which you could espalier.