Hi Kc. This is going from bad to worse, I had no idea the extent to which he is bothering you and the children. I agree that keeping a log of things that he does would be a good idea. It's always difficult to remember specifics when you finally complain to any authority about anything so do try to write things down.
Walking around looking at other people's gardens is a brilliant idea. I went for a walk yesterday and was doing the same thing with you in mind. Saw some escallonia but I don't think you'll get the height you need and it has a wide habit so will take up space. Lonicera can be quite scruffy looking and, judging by your choice of fence on the left, you don't come across as scruffy at all. I wouldn't go near leylandii as it'll quickly get too big and overbearing unless you keep it trimmed. If you see anything on your walks take a photo and post it here and someone will identify it for you and give you so much help about suitability. Why don't you look online at hedge suppliers or pop to your garden centre too and see the cost of various things, you might be surprised and find something that is a bit more affordable because it's a bit more common or easier for them to grow and you might find something that you like that you hadn't thought of. Remember it can be quite plain if it's just to initially hide the fence. You can pretty up infront of it later with lots of things that you can grow cheaply yourself from seed. The screen is the investment bit. Good luck
A line of nice jaggy Pyracantha along that tatty fence would be my choice.
You can plant loads of nice things in front of it and just let it grow....let him try tackling that
Seriously - I know how you feel, but he can make your life a real misery if you make him your enemy. It's not worth the grief - especially if you have children. Make a good sturdy barrier - then make your garden a nice place to be for your family
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Hey KC, I think that since your garden is such an 'awkward' shape it might be a idea to create the illusion of a bigger garden or to blur the boundaries so that you don't know where the garden ends. To do this you could plant taller shrubs and small trees (mock orange, hawthorn, cherry, ornamental crab apple, lilac etc?) to the back in that pointed triangle and then have borders surrounding a central seating area in the middle of the plot; I'm not sure what sort of plants you like or what type of garden you want but having lush green foliage and some fragrant flowers could distract from your nuisance neighbors! and it would be nice to sit amoungst the plants in summer you could even mix in some perennial veg and soft fruit bushes (raspberry, blackcurrant etc) in with the flowers to make it productive swell. Personally trying to plant a conventional garden with flower border to one side of the plot and a lawn in the middle would be unoriginal and trying to mow the lawn could be problematic given the shape
So thank you for all your comments. And help. I think I have decided on which hedge to go for ...... hornbeam im hoping to make it quite thick. So now onto the planning on buying I was looking at bareroot 120-150 cm. The width of the space is 12 Meters so was thinking 50 plants. Can anyone advise if I am correct in what I'm thinking or suggest something I may not be looking at. Was looking at best4hedging.co.uk. obviously I know the taller I can afford the better. Should I plant them in with anything specific or just put them straight in the ground. When is best to plant these now or should I wait until the spring.
You're better with slightly smaller specimens. They'll establish more quickly than bigger ones - 3 feet (90/100 cm) is ideal. Prepare the ground well - remove all weeds and add compost and well rotted manure to the area, with a sprinkling of bone meal. Plant firmly and water in well. Mulch with more compost or bark. Don't let them get dried out - water if there are long dry spells or cold drying winds.
The bare root season finishes in March so if you get them now you can heel them in to some spare ground until you have the area ready. I planted my Hornbeam at about 12 - 15 inch intervals. Keep it about a foot or 18 inches away from your fence to allow it to grow out as well as up.
I've used Hopes Grove nursery (online) several times and always found them good.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Ok so I decided what I wanted got all excited, did some more research realised it was not evergreen. Dam it. So back.to square one. Seen this whist walking my daughter to nursery today can anyone tell me what it is.
Hornbeam retains its foliage through the winter Kc so you still have the framework there. If you plant some large evergreen shrubs in front of it, you'll get the privacy you need. Alternatively - just plant the shrubs! It might be better than trying to maintain a hedge too - under the circumstances
Cotoneaster could be useful though..it'll grow against the fence and it's quite 'rough' without being thorny. Needs very little attention and would be a good backdrop to other things.
Did you forget the pic?
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
Hi Kc. This is going from bad to worse, I had no idea the extent to which he is bothering you and the children. I agree that keeping a log of things that he does would be a good idea. It's always difficult to remember specifics when you finally complain to any authority about anything so do try to write things down.
Walking around looking at other people's gardens is a brilliant idea. I went for a walk yesterday and was doing the same thing with you in mind. Saw some escallonia but I don't think you'll get the height you need and it has a wide habit so will take up space. Lonicera can be quite scruffy looking and, judging by your choice of fence on the left, you don't come across as scruffy at all. I wouldn't go near leylandii as it'll quickly get too big and overbearing unless you keep it trimmed. If you see anything on your walks take a photo and post it here and someone will identify it for you and give you so much help about suitability. Why don't you look online at hedge suppliers or pop to your garden centre too and see the cost of various things, you might be surprised and find something that is a bit more affordable because it's a bit more common or easier for them to grow and you might find something that you like that you hadn't thought of. Remember it can be quite plain if it's just to initially hide the fence. You can pretty up infront of it later with lots of things that you can grow cheaply yourself from seed. The screen is the investment bit. Good luck
A line of nice jaggy Pyracantha along that tatty fence would be my choice.
You can plant loads of nice things in front of it and just let it grow....let him try tackling that
Seriously - I know how you feel, but he can make your life a real misery if you make him your enemy. It's not worth the grief - especially if you have children. Make a good sturdy barrier - then make your garden a nice place to be for your family
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Hey KC, I think that since your garden is such an 'awkward' shape it might be a idea to create the illusion of a bigger garden or to blur the boundaries so that you don't know where the garden ends. To do this you could plant taller shrubs and small trees (mock orange, hawthorn, cherry, ornamental crab apple, lilac etc?) to the back in that pointed triangle and then have borders surrounding a central seating area in the middle of the plot; I'm not sure what sort of plants you like or what type of garden you want but having lush green foliage and some fragrant flowers could distract from your nuisance neighbors! and it would be nice to sit amoungst the plants in summer
you could even mix in some perennial veg and soft fruit bushes (raspberry, blackcurrant etc) in with the flowers to make it productive swell. Personally trying to plant a conventional garden with flower border to one side of the plot and a lawn in the middle would be unoriginal and trying to mow the lawn could be problematic given the shape
like this picture; with the seating area surrounded by the plants
You're better with slightly smaller specimens. They'll establish more quickly than bigger ones - 3 feet (90/100 cm) is ideal. Prepare the ground well - remove all weeds and add compost and well rotted manure to the area, with a sprinkling of bone meal. Plant firmly and water in well. Mulch with more compost or bark. Don't let them get dried out - water if there are long dry spells or cold drying winds.
The bare root season finishes in March so if you get them now you can heel them in to some spare ground until you have the area ready. I planted my Hornbeam at about 12 - 15 inch intervals. Keep it about a foot or 18 inches away from your fence to allow it to grow out as well as up.
I've used Hopes Grove nursery (online) several times and always found them good.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Hornbeam retains its foliage through the winter Kc so you still have the framework there. If you plant some large evergreen shrubs in front of it, you'll get the privacy you need. Alternatively - just plant the shrubs! It might be better than trying to maintain a hedge too - under the circumstances
Cotoneaster could be useful though..it'll grow against the fence and it's quite 'rough' without being thorny. Needs very little attention and would be a good backdrop to other things.
Did you forget the pic?
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thank you fairygirl. I will look into cotoneaster, I haven't got very green fingers so struggling with this.
i did post it twice but will try again.