Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: Fast growing Tree / ? suggestions for fence...., 2 by DonnaMack

DonnaMack wrote:
Our hpuse was stared into from all four sides, and we could see out all four sides, because there was a house to the north, an alley to the east, an easement with a sidewalk to the south, and a sidewalk to the west. And people who didn't respect your privacy.

In other words, similar problem. People in the grey house to the north had tons of money but no window coverings for three years. They enjoyed staring out the windows and watching us eat in our sunroom.

Solution number one:

Crabapple, Cotinus Grace, Viburnum prunifolium. There are also viburnums to the right and a Yoshino cherry way down to the left, but they are not there for that purpose. Picture 1.

That took care of them.

Another neighbor on the west almost literally lived in his driveway and would and and stare though out kitchen windows. Miscanthus giganteous. Not only blocked his view of the windows but of most of the house. Got that big in three years (I'm growing another one now). You have to cut it in spring, but it jumps out of the ground. And it's cheap because it's a perennial. Picture 2

To the east. Ornamental grasses. There are three: Bluttenwunder, Silberfeder, strictus. There is a patio, a table seating 8, and 8 chairs behind it. There was a house behind ours and an alley where people, for whatever reason, liked to take their evening walks and stare at us. Picture 3.

To the west. This works great too. Huge rose on an arbor. Yep, an entire patio set as mentioned above is behind it. There was an easement on another side of the property with a sidewalk, and out next door neighbors on the other side would pull up all their shades and turn on their interior lights too, so you could see in. They complained that they could not see into our house. Picture 4.

Also to the west. Longer term solution of you have the patience. Lilacs. There is a deck to the left of the pic, and it covered the windows but admitted plenty of light. Picture 5

Hope this helps. It worked for us.