The hedge has gone...

[bigfishlittlefishtupperwarebox]

So this happened in November, but haven't been able to tackle the problem really until now due to weather etc... Sorry it's long...

I have lived in my terraced house for about 10 years. My neighbours have been here longer. There is was a big hedge between us that I have looked after and kept chopping lower and lower (by agreement as they were unable to keep on top of it). It started at bedroom window height when I moved in and have had it at about 7' for the last few years.

My neighbours are odd but lovely people. They're getting on and don't work. They are night owls so get up about 5pm and go to bed in the morning. He does the gardening at night. It's frankly quite strange but you know, live and let live etc. They are friendly and bring Christmas presents for kids etc, we get on quite well.

I went away for a night in November, and the next morning my DH called to say something had happened at home. He had heard funny noises in their garden (in the dark) about 5pm but just forgotten about it. The next morning he got up and looked out of the window, and the majority of the hedge was gone. Cut off at the ground and laying in their garden! So, we now have a massive hole where there was a lovely hedge! Yes they were planted on their property so I assume we have no recourse, but bloody hell, they could have said before they just took it down!

We paid for the other two sides of the garden to be fenced last year and left that side as the hedge was healthy and we knew they would not be able to chip in for the fence. We can't afford to pay for this side to be fenced. I have asked them what they are going to do there and after a lot of um-ing and aah-ing he said he is going to build a fence, but seriously that could take him years, he's that kind of guy.

What would you do to cover a bloody great gap about 15-20 feet long?? There are 2' fence posts with a sort of chicken wire type fence there now that was the original border to the garden, that's all. Would bamboo screening look crap?? What he he'll do we do to make the garden look relatively ok again? It looks awful now and I could cry looking out of the window

So you looked after it because it was too much , but they were capable enough to chop the whole thing down ?
Nothing you can do about the hedge now , but start planting one on your side or go half on a fence.

Yep, they couldn't look after it, it was about 3 feet deep in their garden as it was never trimmed, so they couldn't even get to the trunk at the top to keep the height down. They got some electric saw thing and just chopped them all down. I'm absolutely gutted.

That is bad of them. We have a large hedge on one side (owned by ND), but at the moment they are as high as the second floor and cut off the sun from our garden.
I would LOVE for them to cut them down...But I digress.
Some ideas here..

www.ukgardensupplies.co.uk/acatalog/Section_1.html

trellis/post & wires and fast growing climbers (honey suckle, jasmin, clematis)?

Bamboo or rush screening could be a quick cheap(ish) temporary solution.

If you plant something at the same time it will hopefully provide the longer term solution

They won't pay toward a fence. He's bought some cheap panels but they've been laid out in his garden since the start of December. We need to cover the hole as cheaply and quickly as poss - we won't be able to dig down for new fence posts as the guys that fitted our other fences had to hire a little digger as there were so many roots...

Will bamboo/rush be ok just attached to small fence posts or will we have to build some kind of frame does anyone know??

I've attached the 1m high bamboo screening to a basic chain link fence before now. I just used pieces metal wire twisted around the posts (a few on each post) and at a few intervals along the fence to hold it in place. It was fairly quick and easy to do.

It doesn't last forever and you can still see through it to some extent but it provided a good temporary fix to hide an eyesore.

As well as bamboo you can get willow, brushwood, reed etc. Some might be sturdier or less see-through than others.

I guess if its their hedge they can chop it down but I would be gutted too, especially as you've been looking after it, it must look an eyesore. I would put up some sort of screening, attach it to the small fence posts, it'll hide the gap and then you can plant what you like as long as its on your side of the garden, many shrubs grow quite quickly.

Large expanding trellis panels should be sturdy enough nailed/cabled tied against the shorter fence panels for you to use them as a frame for attaching bamboo screening.
You have my sympathy, we have neighbours like this, I cannot tell you the tricks they've got up to in the last few years, from digging out a hedge on my land with a view to giving themselves an in-and-out driveway (the 'in' being across MY drive!), to filling in my drainage ditch (and we live on a marsh so our ditches are kind of important). They had no understanding of 'that's my fence/hedge/drive, don't mess with it'.
They're moving on soon (I think, I haven't seen nor spoke to them in about 2 years).

Do they not have some kind of responsibility to maintain a border between the two properties? I would really push them to pay for a new fence.

I honestly don't think there's a chance in hell of them paying toward a proper fence as his argument is that he's going to put one up. I said how quickly, he said he could maybe do an hour a day. I have seen him out there maybe 4/5 times since... I'm going to get some screening and hope for the best... got to be better than this!

Fucking hell what the fuck have they done that for???? It looks awful :-( so sorry.

Bamboo screening or the expanding terlice stuff should be fine attached to the Short posts.

Yeah, it's a mess isn't it! Fingers crossed for the screening...

They haven't cleared away what's been cut down, but at least the boundary is clearly marked. What's the screen on your side at the end? Can you not add to that and secure it to the posts? I know you were used to a hedge, not just some wires and posts, but it's not that bad. If someone chooses to remove their plants you can't make them replace them. If you prefer a hedge then plant your own on your side.

If digging down and instalation costs are the big stumbling block about raised planters with lattice panels screwed to them and climbers planted in to grown up the panels. If you pushed the planter/ panel against the chain link it wouldn't be going anywhere, especially once you fill the planters with soil.

OMG! What nutters. And what a shame.

Wire, bamboo screen, and plant some Mile a Minute along it.

the remaining fence looks perfect for a cheap screen now, but would also look for trellis/climber in the long run

Ooh, I like the raised planters idea for longer term! Definitely going to try the screening for now, just to get us through this year. I know it was their hedge etc, it's just falling that we spent a couple of grand in it this year to lay fake turf and fence the rest. It makes the whole thing look shit.

The bit at the far end is trellis attached to a frame that was already there, there was a rickety old fence panel screwed to it that we got rid of when we did it up last year.

Thanks for your help all!

Like the little dog in the pic.

You can get things like this, as others have said: www.wilko.com/screening+trellis/wilko-willow-screening-4mx2m/invt/0416859

Won't last forever but there are lots of different versions of this kind of thing. This one is cheaper: www.wilko.com/screening+trellis/wilko-screening-fern-fence-4mx2m/invt/0297069

Two rolls would probably do it.

Where’s the little dog in the picture?

Cocktails - I can't see it either

Oh poor you it is awful. Could you not help him get it done? Are you not responsible for a particular fence? Here we are all responsible for the fence to the right of our properties much to my new neighbours disappointment when he asked if we would go halves in his extremely long fence. Our house and out houses take up about half of ours on our paying side😃

We bought some wooden trellis to divide our garden but it might be too. Expensive. I think the bamboo would work and it does last ok . I bought some for DDs student house and she took it with her. They were there two years. It was just from one of the cheap places like Wilkos. I have seen Hazel fencing in there too as I was thinking of screening off the wood shed but the DH tidied it up. Have a look on Pinterest.
I think they should have at least ask you but if it was three feet in and encroaching on their space and elderly if they asked you could have at least had the option to look after it for them. We used to cut our elderly neighbours grass for him. We put a gate in new fence specially. New neighbours didn't like it but tough. He put play house in front as if we would go in now! Then asked me if he could heighten fence near shed and I said no because my veggie raised beds are there. Three days later he put one on his side I was furious. Our veg doesn't grow very well now because it blocks the light. They did it for privacy for veranda but I used to go elsewhere if they had visitors even if I was doing veggies. Now I can't SEE if they have visitors so I dont move even though I can hear everything so he put it up for privacy and they get less!
I really feel for you it looks so awful have they seen it from your side. I would be asking them around and say,

"What are you going to do about that! "Give them a time frame.

Can't see the dog either😬

I think Alexa means the football ......