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Should I let it go or say something?

MeomyeMeomye Posts: 949
in Problem solving
At the lower end of my garden, on the right hand side, I have just noticed my neighbour has put a 5ft high bamboo screen up against my 3ft chain link fence. It is about 10ft wide. My issue is that he has attached it to my fence with various pieces of metal wire. I do not often see them in the garden and do not want to fall out with them but I do feel it would have been polite to ask if I minded them doing so. I feel that I want to say something, just that a heads up would have been nice but I don't know if I am over reacting?  :/
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  • Dave HumbyDave Humby Posts: 1,145
    It's a judgement call as to whether it really is an issue (in practical rather than emotional terms) and how your relationship is with your neighbours and what their reaction might be. If it was a wooden fence (your fence) you probably wouldn't know they've done it and it's fairly common practice, albeit not 'right' to do such a thing. A heads-up or request would have been the nice way forwards as you say.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    I don't think you are overreacting. If the chain fence is yours then legally he can't attach anything to it without asking you. If he had put in his own supports then he can put in a fence up to 6ft but it would still have been polite to talk to you first.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Yes it would’ve ‘been nice’ if they’d checked with you first … but if it’s not doing damage telling someone off for a lack of good manners is not going to win any prizes in the good neighbour stakes. 

    I was always taught that it is ill-mannered to remark upon a lack of manners in others… and it’s bound to cause bad feeling. 

    I would just smile and say nothing.  You’ll  be retaining the moral high ground. 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Let it go. 
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Is it causing damage to your fence, or looking unsightly from your side (eg that nasty lurid green garden wire)? If it is, perhaps you could suggest to your neighbour that the two of you could replace the wire ties with something less damaging/ugly. If not, I would let it go.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • UffUff Posts: 3,199
    edited July 2022
    I agree with Dove and B3. If it isn't doing any damage just let it go. Looking at it another way, some people don't know who the fence belongs to and just think of it as theirs. 
    SW SCOTLAND but born in Derbyshire
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    what Uff said
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    They could have planted something awful like a jasminum beesianum  which would have wound all over your fence and then started on your plants.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Having had years of trouble with my previous neighbours, I would let it go. Feuds can start over the smallest of issues and if you can avoid them starting, so much the better.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • Jenny_AsterJenny_Aster Posts: 945
    Think I'd welcome it for increasing my privacy. If I saw them in the garden I might thank them, while also reminding them of the fact that it's your fence and that in future you retain the right to change the set up.
    Trying to be the person my dog thinks I am! 

    Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border.
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