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Gardening

Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

Neighbour’s Enormous Ladder

7 replies

GloiredeDijon · 20/03/2026 10:02

Asking here because Gardening tends to be populated by reasonable people as opposed to the sometimes bizarrely aggressive folk on the rest of MN.

I have a relatively small garden and live in a semi rural setting in a group of bungalows.

The end of my garden adjoins a neighbouring garden with theirs at a right angle to mine so side on.

Beyond their garden is woods so I have a lovely view or at least I did.

Since January 1st this neighbour has leant a twenty foot plus ladder against their fence on the opposite side of their garden and this now completely dominates my view.

It might sound like nothing and of course in the scheme of life it is but I am pretty much housebound due to disability and my garden is one of my few remaining pleasures.

I look out on it from my bed, where due to chronic ill health I have to spend a lot of my time, and now all that draws the eye is this blimmin shimmering aluminium tower!

I have tried, and am trying, to ignore it but it is driving me mad.

I only know these neighbours very slightly having helped the wife look for her cat a while ago but even then she is not the warm and chatty type so I am really unsure if I could ask if it was at all possible to move the ladder, and unlike permanent structures I think I probably don’t have any real right to object so it would be at their discretion.

I am sure they have no idea that this might be upsetting to me although they do have form for being generally inconsiderate both to me and others but it isn’t intentional. They just don’t seem to think about their neighbours much.

I appreciate some people might just be able to go round and ask them to move it but to me the prospect of that is awful as the last thing I need is any conflict with neighbours.

They have plenty of storage so it isn’t that which is the problem and they aren’t doing any work so I have no idea why this ladder seems to have become a fixture.

No way I can arrange anything to screen it from my side due to the sheer size.

Any helpful ideas at all please?

OP posts:
Stillhere83 · 20/03/2026 10:15

I think you're well within your rights to politely ask! I had this with a neighbor once with a basketball hoop, which they'd tucked behind a tree so that they couldn't see it - hanging it over my fence instead...

senua · 20/03/2026 10:24

The standard problem with ladders is that if you leave them lying around then burglars might use them to gain entry to the house. But that argument doesn't really fly if you are all bungalows ...
Sorry.Grin

Actually, thinking about it, what do they want it for? Tree lopping? (the season for that is now over)
It can't be doing their fence much good, having the ladder leaning against it like that.

Agapornis · 20/03/2026 10:58

Can you or a friend give it a sneaky push on a windy night?

GloiredeDijon · 20/03/2026 11:55

Agapornis · 20/03/2026 10:58

Can you or a friend give it a sneaky push on a windy night?

I would be tempted if I was physically able or could reach!

I have even thought of trying to come up with a cover story to somehow make me asking them to move it in their favour but am stumped.

OP posts:
Agapornis · 20/03/2026 12:06

Long broom stick?

TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 20/03/2026 13:19

I would ask if they'd mind if you could pop around, bring a cake or scones or something and just say what you've said here. You'd have to have a heart of stone not to move it somewhere less visible.

Better still, invite them to come to you for afternoon tea because then they will see the ruined view from your angle. Mention in passing that you spend most of your time looking out at the view, ask if the ladder could be moved, it catches the sun a lot.

TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 20/03/2026 13:19

I would ask if they'd mind if you could pop around, bring a cake or scones or something and just say what you've said here. You'd have to have a heart of stone not to move it somewhere less visible.

Better still, invite them to come to you for afternoon tea because then they will see the ruined view from your angle. Mention in passing that you spend most of your time looking out at the view, ask if the ladder could be moved, it catches the sun a lot.

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