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Ideas to create a screen for hideous flood works construction

dwainesmythdwainesmyth Posts: 2
in Garden design
Hello guys and gals, 

first time poster, long time lurker.

i have a stream at the bottom of my garden from which I have made good use of. 



The above photo is one view and brow is the other view (below)  as the flood works construction came upto my boundary. 

I’m looking to screen off the concrete works looking down the stream. My initial idea is to construct a shelf from one side of the wall to the other 3 foot above the river and pot bamboo to cover the hideous view. 



Any other suggestions most welcome

many thanks 

Posts

  • amancalledgeorgeamancalledgeorge Posts: 2,736
    That's one tricky location...is that bank yours to plant on it? If it is it would make more sense to me to use its slope and not go against it with a "shelf". But presumably you'd have to make sure the water can move through without hindrance which would make planting anything difficult. You may have to think about being creative with a screen. This South Korean example is a nice contemporary way to trick the eye and provide permeable screening... https://www.dezeen.com/2018/01/08/stainless-steel-poles-screen-living-spaces-and-gardens-at-south-korean-house-by-augmented-reality-architects/
    To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow
  • dwainesmythdwainesmyth Posts: 2
    Hi George Thanks for the reply. Yes I am able to plant on the bank though I think it would be difficult to screen it off completely using one side? I like your SK suggestion though feel it may be too modern for my garden and conflict with the look somewhat?
  • KeenOnGreenKeenOnGreen Posts: 1,831
    What about stretching a mesh/fence of some kind across the gap, attached to either side, and then planting some vigorous climbers on either bank, to cover it.  Virginia Creeper would give you some nice Autumn colour, or something evergreen if you want permanent cover (Ivy?).  
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    edited April 2020
    Are you able to gain access to the other side of the stream? Following on from what KeenonGreen suggested, if you could hammer in a vine eye to the top of the stone wall the other side, you could possibly hang a mesh screen from the tree on the left to the vine eye on the right. That way, it could be classed as temporary and could be undone if the need ever arose.

    I rather think that planting on the bank might also be the way to go, I was thinking of skunk cabbage but I think that's now been banned, maybe giant rhubarb or similar perhaps? 
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • GreenbirdGreenbird Posts: 237
    I really like you're wall and path. Really nice taste in materials.

    I'd plant a fast growing understory tree/hedge on the bank below that tree. Hazel or dogswood perhaps.

    It does look pretty bad now, but you may find that sediment buildings up along the concrete and riverside plants will quickly colonise. During summer, it could become and corridor of sedge, bullrush and flag iris.
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    If you have access to the other side of the steam then you could even do something like this:

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    It seems to me the pole screening would be a bit expensive and open to vandalism tho would be an elegant solution.

    The bridge would be expensive and also invite unwanted intruders from what looks like waste or unused land on the other side.

    I'd have thought a weeping or a twisted willow planted in the bank near the edge of your plot and angled out would grow up quickly and hide the eyesore.   Maybe sneak one in the other side too if no-one's looking but not too close to that wall where its roots may cause problems. 
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
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