Neighbour's huge new extension, how can I create privacy in the garden again?

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My neighbour has built a large new extension that now heavily overlooks my 30ft long garden. The end fence (which is theirs) is already slightly over 6ft tall as it stands on concrete gravel boards. The extension ground floor stands 3ft higher than the top of the fence as their land is higher. So they can look out of their huge kitchen window and see all of my garden. In addition, there is a large bedroom window above also giving a birds-eye view. I'm thinking the only thing I can do is plant trees but they won't totally disguise the house. My neighbour is against me planting any kind of dense hedging like Yew or trees because the fence is already at max hedge height 6ft and it would block out the sun to their tiny garden.

I thought about putting in some very tall posts with only thin wires between them and then growing roses along them, so it's tall but pretty from both sides. So perhaps adding another 3 -4ft higher than the fence. The extension is nicely built but it devalues my house now as I'm so overlooked. Any ideas?

I think that rather than creating a barrier at the fence it can easier to create sections of the garden which break up your view & theirs.

horticulture.co.uk/how-to-get-privacy-in-an-overlooked-garden/

We had four double storey houses built opposite us, with large windows, all facing directly onto us. (Our house is a bungalow). There wasn't a single room in our house that they couldn't see right into (I know, because I could see into all of theirs), and the only area of our garden where we had privacy was in the small space behind our house. No screening. It was so bad we had to take out a loan to fix it, or move house. It was like living in a Petri dish under a microscope.

So, we had to sacrifice a strip of our garden between the houses and ours to go to screening, and we planted a mix of deciduous and evergreen trees, staggered in two rows. Different heights, shapes, foliage.

So, not a hedge, because you can be told to reduce the height of a hedge, but a 'mini woodland' is different. You could do this on a smaller scale. Mix of small trees and bamboo in pots.

When we requested planning permission to raise the fence for privacy reasons, we included our tree planting plans - with diagrams - citing guidance the council uses for their own screening of developments. We did this because we knew loss of light was going to be a big issue for future occupants.

We hope that the fact consent was given to the fence + planting combo will protect us from inevitable requests to cut down trees because of loss of light etc.

Seven years on, neighbour mutterings are starting, but we are prepared for it.

As for the developers of those houses - the massive windows were put in to showcase the views of the hills behind our house, zero consideration for our privacy.

The houses might have been purchased too with that in mind. But now they look onto trees close up, not hills in the distance. Planning doesn't protect a right to a view.

The only winner here was the bastard developer who made a mint out of the houses, messed with our lives, then moved on.

dunsterhouse.co.uk/utopia-wooden-pergola-w3-0m-x-d3-0m?infinity=ict2~net~gaw~cmp~17959287735~ag~~ar~~kw~~mt~~acr~6854345728&gclid=Cj0KCQiAgOefBhDgARIsAMhqXA42ASg014dAtCzDTTirP1g11lh0QzcI-wINzDWKuyzZhpugbYb1onQaAifEEALw_wcB

i would put up some sort of gazebo to sit under and grow climbers up it giving you privacy to sit in your garden and something to look wonderful.

Agree, I have planted 3 Rowans to soften the look of next doors extension, they aren't big enough to do so yet but grow quickly. Very reasonable cost too, I got mine from Ashridge nurseries.

If you can afford it I would suggest getting a garden designer / landscaper to design a couple of solutions for you. You could pay for the designs and do the work yourself. They might come up with clever solutions and I’m sure it’s not an uncommon situation

I also agree with the correct bamboo. It’s a near instantaneous screen, hardy and you can hack it about.
I’d also consider a ‘proper’ solution that takes longer to grow, with bamboo in containers as the stop gap.
I wouldn’t be concerned with their bleating about light.

Plant the trees. They don’t have any right to stop you and they shouldn’t be asking you not to screen the massive extension they chose to build. CFs.

I’d go for trees trained into a pleached or lollipop shape, ideally something evergreen. Some options:

Lollipop magnolia grandiflora
Lollipop “red robin”
Pleached quercus ilex here
pleached eucalyptus here be careful though as they are thirsty

We planted three well placed pleached laurels and it worked a treat.

Definitely don't plant laurel - bloody awful stuff!

Our half acre garden was completely enclosed by laurel 'hedging' when we bought the house. It had obviously been neglected for years so that much of the hedging had matured into enormous trees. Not only that, but it had spread elsewhere throughout the (completely neglected) plot. Some of the laurels were actually on the neighbour's - much bigger - land in a vast woodland area they don't ever set foot in, but over the years this 'hedge' had encroached roughly three metres into our garden.

We're gradually cutting it back where it overhangs our side, but the little suckers are everywhere and personally if I never see another laurel it would be a day too soon.

In your case @0o0o0o0 I'd look at bamboos in huge pots or pleached trees - either Hornbeam or fruit, both of which we've planted here.

When we were in a similar position (but larger garden than yours and the neighbours in question with their extension and trampoline were at the back) we attempted to increase the height of our (we'd paid for it and installed it) fence with trellis/plants but we're told to f* off by said neighbours. As we were considering selling anyway and didn't want to a) apply for planning to increase height or b) get into a dispute, we decided to sod it and planted a mix of the dreaded leylandeii and bamboo which were already mature specimens.

This - they can’t have it both ways and huge extension and a negative impact on you. I’d put in your owns fence - trees and trellis honeysuckle or clematis all over it etc

@LibertyLily you have my sympathy. our last house was the same, laurel had spread and grown out of control, roots of the bastard stuff everywhere meaning you couldn’t dig it up easily. The berries were completely acidic on the cars paint.
i can see it’s attraction and under control it is pretty green all year coverage, but it should definitely be on the invasive “use with caution” list. I see it used on every development, it’s such a shame as there are such better options for wildlife.

good luck in your war against it!

I have a Arbutus Unedo (strawberry tree) in my small garden. It's evergreen grows quite quickly and has little white flowers in spring/summer that the bees and butterflies love.The flowers are followed by fruit that look like strawberries hence the name.
The fruit isn't harmful if eaten, but I can tell you they do not taste like strawberries!

We bought a giant garden triangular sail which creates a barrier. Works very well as an easy barrier and creates shade in the summer.

Is max hedge height actually 6ft, or is that max fence height? I looked into this before planting bamboo for similar reasons and it seems it's just fixed boundary dividers like fences and walls that can be no more than 6ft. They might not be in favour of a hedge, but they don't really get a say in what you plant in your garden if you can legitimately do so.
I'd highly recommend bamboo, great for screening, grows fast and is low maintenance. Of course the neighbours can trim any parts that encroach their garden but as it likes to grow straight up and the bushy part is near the base on our side of the fence this hasn't been an issue. In fact one of the two neighbours on the other side of the fence incorporated into their covered seating area.

Or if you prefer evergreen then a row of laurel.

I agree with above but would also intersperse

I would purchase,Forsythia (which is fast growing) Mexican mock orange (grows well in shade and also is evergreen and has a wonderful aroma in summer, also variegated laurel and laurel - so you have a mixture of plants that will grow slowly (5/6 years to be) but in the long run give you privacy of that 3 foot at the top of the fence.

By the time they grow and cover the eyeliner of your neighbour they will have forgotten about it and it'll happen gradually and then the plants will stop growing

Espalier trees that are trained to be horizontal and 2 dimensional.
Your neighbour can hardly object the you want to maintain privacy in your own garden. They should have engaged you more during the planning to find an amicable approach.

Interestingly my neighbour decided to extend her property to within 3m of our already mature trees and are now demanding we fell all the trees as her extension is cracking due to movement in the soil.

Bamboo or Budleia in pots on your side of the fence, it grows very quickly and high.

Lots of interesting suggestions here and I haven't got much more to add. We are overlooked (in a city, no hope of screening) and I hate it. I hope you find a good solution.

I did want to say ... great diagram!

We have pleached Laurel. It’s great. They sit above a six foot fence. Within two years of being planted, we had total privacy. They are evergreen so we still have privacy in the winter. Pleached Red Robin are another good option as they are also evergreen.

Pleached Laurel

Looks like this when planted but complete coverage in a couple of years.

Well yes that does happen 🙄 and more fool them for not sorting that before going ahead with extension.

but it is often the other way round, and it can often be that no one actually planted deliberately. Many houses have boundary borders against the fence. One over zealous squirrel can create a sapling chestnut that no one sees at the back of the border for some years. Same with birch seeds, and acorns. Before anyone realises there’s a young tree 6 foot high showing above the fence at the back of the border. The owners go” awww, that’s nice..I’ve got an oak tree in my garden” and don’t take it out whilst they still can….then it just gets taller and taller, till they claim it’s always been there .

whist some trees like oak and beech take a while to grow and give time, birch and chestnut shoot up and make nuisance trees in the wrong place within a few short years.

as I said I love trees, every garden needs trees for insects and birds, but it must be right tree, right place. Unless you’ve got a garden at least 30m long and wide, or boundaries run to open rural space, there isn’t room for a full size mature oak, horse chestnut or other big native species. Sure, if you inherit a tree with a preservation order than you have to leave it but the building is usually built accounting for that.

so, my take is that if it were My neighbours who wanted to extend to within 3 metres of my trees, I would negotiate with them to get it removed and replaced with a new , already quite mature tree in a more suitable place - at their cost obviously…you never know you could get a more lovely year round interest tree instead of a rather dull one , and get a border makeover at heir expense whilst I was at it 🤣😉. It’ll cost them..but so will subsidence and an insurance policy that states they have trees within 3 metres.

but I agree, they were stupid to not negotiate this with you from the off. 🤷🏼‍♀️🙄

Goodness, anything pleached takes a lot of careful pruning at the right times. I’d stay clear as it only takes one year to miss the vital shaping and it’s difficult to get them back to their lovely shape.

I always think that people who have these are either keen retired gardeners or pay for a gardener

Bamboo can be highly invasive . Please don’t plant on boundary . Neighbours next to me are in a constant battle with their neighbours on other side to get it under control.
there are increasing number of cases being bought to courts around this.

Ok, you could think differently about this with a bit of physics, to avoid the expense and disruption of plating right along the boundary fence

I assume you aren’t as bothered about having privacy over your entire garden(ok , nice in ideal world but …). However, they’ll be certain spots where you want it - around your seating areas, eating areas , the nude sunbathing bit 😉.

so, have you thought about planting something right next to those areas? Eg a tree in the line of site between your seating area and their window? This way you need something of far less height and length to achieve the same effect ..you could achieve something very nice and cheaper with a well placed trellis and plating, or a covered seating type structure.

This is also the only real way to address being overlooked form upstairs windows - you’ll not be able to plant anything along the boundary that’ll achieve that effect in a few short years.

Trying to get privacy from a boundary fence that protects the whole garden from even upstairs neighbouring windows is a pretty difficult pursuit - and needs lots of maintenance to keep it looking nice.

go out in the garden, sit and stand in areas you really want privacy and then hold up a pice of paper at height that obscures you line of sight . That’ll tell you how tall the object needs to be to give you privacy in that spot. If you do the same but with another person holding it at the boundary , you’ll see it needs to be a lot higher !