I've mostly lived by the premise that if you ask if you can do something, you are often told "no."
But if you don't and just get on and do it, few will be brave enough to tell you, you shouldn't have.
Someone on here may tell you different.
You would have met your match with my mother then. New people moved in next to her, tore down the fence which ran alongside my mother's garage and started drilling and fixing all sorts of things to her garage wall. The garage was actually about a foot inside her boundary and the fence was my mother's responsibility and she had paid for it.
She explained the error of their ways, made them remove everything from the wall and reinstate the fence. Thankfully they only lived there for a couple of years before moving on.
I've mostly lived by the premise that if you ask if you can do something, you are often told "no."
But if you don't and just get on and do it, few will be brave enough to tell you, you shouldn't have.
Someone on here may tell you different.
You would have met your match with my mother then. New people moved in next to her, tore down the fence which ran alongside my mother's garage and started drilling and fixing all sorts of things to her garage wall. The garage was actually about a foot inside her boundary and the fence was my mother's responsibility and she had paid for it.
She explained the error of their ways, made them remove everything from the wall and reinstate the fence. Thankfully they only lived there for a couple of years before moving on.
Good for her!
You must not take what I said too literally.
I would never have done what her neighbours did, as we say, that was "out of order."
As for my fence, I didn't ask, I actually told our neighbours why I was changing it and they raised no objections, they could probably see the benefit and anyway, I was paying for it, as I had paid for the installation of the four foot fence it was replacing, a couple of decades before they moved in.
But so often you come across situations where people are too timid to do something which really won't affect others, without asking "permission." Usually it isn't a problem but on occasions the person asked "just wouldn't like it."
Good luck with your garden projects @gilla.walmsley . I'm sure you'll feel more comfortable in the garden when you have a visual barrier in place so that the creepy man can't stare at you over the fence.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
You can also do this sort of thing too @gilla.walmsley - ass opposed to a standard pergola shape. A screen across on the diagonal [you could have another one further back too ] planting in the bottom right hand corner for screening, and extend the deck out [apologies for the rubbishy 'deck' area in brown!] on the left side, if needed. The grass would need a bit of amending, shape wise as there's nothing worse than weirdly shaped bits to mow, but you get the idea.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Ooh interesting, thanks Fairy girl! See this is where visually I just have no ability whatsoever and wouldn't have ever had the idea of doing something diagonally. I think I would quite like to still be able to see the pond from my kitchen/living room windows but I could still have a screened area that doesn't block it - perhaps half way across the pond - which could also make an area to sit next to the pond behind it (which is something I've been trying to work out). It would be nice to be able to sit near to the pond and be hidden from Mr Creepy's view from the house!
Th was the reason I drew it that way @gilla.walmsley- having a view of the pond from your house is always good in winter Take a couple of photos - from an upstairs window to get it more like a proper plan would be done, print them out if you can, and have a scribble. That's often a good way of doing it. I slightly missed your bit about Mr Creepy. Very unpleasant.
I'd be very careful about adding trellis to a 6 foot fence. That can cause all sorts of problems.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I'm digressing a bit here but just as a general point on landscaping, for anyone who is following this thread with no experience and about to start a "project."
I've always maintained that if you intend to stay in a house for many years, then you need a "long term plan."
I suggest as cost and time is are important elements, you concentrate first on the bit nearest your house you can see from your lounge window. This will encourage you to move on to the next bit as and when time and finances allow
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In small gardens like ours, 85ft long, two thirds is 18ft wide and the rest only 30ft wide we've packed a lot in over the years.
I've avoided straight lines so the short length isn't so noticable.
It might be different for those with a long garden, but from the French windows in the lounge we can see right to the back fence. The bamboo along it is an important feature as I wouldn't like to see fence panels at the end of the garden they'd tend to foreshorten it.
We have a central feature, but use it for either a sambucus or a mimosa in big tubs so they don't block off the view to the back of the garden.
It's also an idea in such gardens to create features, that attract your attention as you walk down the garden. We have the fountain.
Two lanterns
and the pagoda.
Thirty-odd years ago I decided I wanted a summerhouse with a veranda where we could sit in the shade. Those available in my price range looked like glorified sheds and wouldn't look attractive from the house.
So I built my own for half the price.
It's a nice place to relax with a beer when I take a break from gardening, indulging myself in one of my other hobbies. It's pure nostalgia, in a pleasant setting.
This is what I would do, and I think it is pretty much what you described up thread.
1. Remove the lawn to make a smoother shape.
2. Plant some bushy, tall shrubs such as an evergreen verbascum, holly etc. Or, will you be much out in the garden from November to May? Will your neighbours? Deciduous shrubs like amelanchier and philadelphus would do just as well.
3. I see you have already planted a screening shelter here but you have to be realistic and accept it could be 5 - 10 years before it is fully effective. And the same goes for the shrubs in point 2. So …
4. Put up an L shaped arbour directly onto the decking. One with a solid back will stop the over the fence peering. This, for example, and at that price you could have two!
Take a look at the Screwfix site for arbours where there are three or four L shaped options. I would then move the bird feeders much closer to the arbour, the birds benefiting from the protection of the shrubs planted alongside.
5. Have a cluster of pots to be viewed from the arbour and also from the sitting room. My preference is always pots of the same colour and style - I choose terracotta - for visual cohesion. My focus would be spring bulbs in March and April and, from June to October, massed bedding in a restricted range of colours. Here are some grouped calibrachoas from the summer before last.
I feel there really is little you can do about your obnoxious neighbours. The planting is a partial solution for the long term. In the more immediate future I would concentrate on the privacy of the arbour, noise cancelling headphones and enjoying your garden when the ne’er do wells are at work, at school or asleep.
It's amazing how quickly other people's families grow up ... when we moved here the folk behind had a toddler and a baby ... since then we've been through an irritating summer of football and another of trampoline, both testing their parents' patience, and there was a time when I stopped popping the footballs back over the fence but insisted that they come to our front door to apologise and ask politely for their ball. But now now they're an adolescent and a teenager and spend their time in their bedrooms on their iPads or whatever ... in the summer when their windows are open we occasionally hear them being summoned at mealtimes ... there may be a year or two of family bbqs when they bring girlfriends to meet the parents or whatever, but soon they'll be off to uni ....... time is passing quickly and nothing is for ever.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Ben thank you so much!! I had always planned to remove the lawn in area 1 but just only got so far in my first summer. However I think now I am going to use that area as my greenhouse plot (and will sort the existing flower bed out so the shape is better). The only thing I'm not sure about is the arbour in that corner. My Creepy's kitchen door leads out from that side of the house and they usually leave it open in the summer which means you hear all their noise, and they're frequently coming in and out to the shed where they keep their freezer (you can tell how loud they are that I know all of this, having never actually been into their house ). I don't think I'd make any use of sitting in that corner for that reason.
On another note, a quick Google is telling me that trellis is treated exactly the same as a fence, even when not attached to their fence. The total height of their fence plus gravel boards is 180cm off the ground at the part near the house, so I would only be getting 20cm max of extra height from the trellis which is a bit of a bummer. What makes it difficult is that My Creepy has a raised patio on his side nearest the house, which is how he's at shoulder height when standing next to it and peering into my house
Songbird, a water feature is definitely on the list - I'm actually considering getting two! I know someone mentioned they can sound artificial but I love them. And 100% on the wind chimes, great idea! I wanted some before but thought I better not in case of noise to the neighbours.... now that level of consideration has right out of the window!!
Posts
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Take a couple of photos - from an upstairs window to get it more like a proper plan would be done, print them out if you can, and have a scribble. That's often a good way of doing it.
I slightly missed your bit about Mr Creepy. Very unpleasant.
I'd be very careful about adding trellis to a 6 foot fence. That can cause all sorts of problems.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
2. Plant some bushy, tall shrubs such as an evergreen verbascum, holly etc. Or, will you be much out in the garden from November to May? Will your neighbours? Deciduous shrubs like amelanchier and philadelphus would do just as well.
3. I see you have already planted a screening shelter here but you have to be realistic and accept it could be 5 - 10 years before it is fully effective. And the same goes for the shrubs in point 2. So …
4. Put up an L shaped arbour directly onto the decking. One with a solid back will stop the over the fence peering. This, for example, and at that price you could have two!
https://avk-gardenbuildings.co.uk/products/wooden-corner-arbour-6x6?variant=40184993284273
Take a look at the Screwfix site for arbours where there are three or four L shaped options. I would then move the bird feeders much closer to the arbour, the birds benefiting from the protection of the shrubs planted alongside.
5. Have a cluster of pots to be viewed from the arbour and also from the sitting room. My preference is always pots of the same colour and style - I choose terracotta - for visual cohesion. My focus would be spring bulbs in March and April and, from June to October, massed bedding in a restricted range of colours. Here are some grouped calibrachoas from the summer before last.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
On another note, a quick Google is telling me that trellis is treated exactly the same as a fence, even when not attached to their fence. The total height of their fence plus gravel boards is 180cm off the ground at the part near the house, so I would only be getting 20cm max of extra height from the trellis which is a bit of a bummer. What makes it difficult is that My Creepy has a raised patio on his side nearest the house, which is how he's at shoulder height when standing next to it and peering into my house
Songbird, a water feature is definitely on the list - I'm actually considering getting two! I know someone mentioned they can sound artificial but I love them. And 100% on the wind chimes, great idea! I wanted some before but thought I better not in case of noise to the neighbours.... now that level of consideration has right out of the window!!