We started talking about this I think on the 'deer' thread. I have to tell you all about my nightmare neighbors.One of the reasons we had to move out of my childhood house( it was in the family for 35 years and on a lake!!!). I knew I was going to have trouble when they moved in and not too long after ripped out EVERY tree, shrub and flower in their WHOLE yard. The only thing I think they left were the weeds in the lawn. Along the property line (unfortunately on their side) they had some kind of decid. shrub that grew at least 10' tall, that was the first thing to go, totally ruined my lawn, used to be in nice shade all summer. After awhile we put up a 6' stockade fence just on their side. I was hoping we could put up an 8' one but zoning laws didn't allow it. If there's any interest I have plenty more stories.
landscaping to block out neighbors
Anyone else have to landscape or hardscape to block out their neighbors????
We're debating what to do now. We have to block off at least 90 of 135 feet. Not much sun back there because of the two maples (see photo below--the trunks have grown a foot or two over the property line) A fence we don't like is over three grand. A fence we do like is...well, not doable right now. To add to the problem, we can't wait years, something has to be done ASAP.
Any suggestions ?
how about forsythia... i know it's full sun normally but in my neck of the woods it's mostly shade and they still thrive.. where they hit the ground they root... spread easy... we hard prune our neighbors that are on the end of our driveway... when it gets out of control... and it just comes back fuller
http://landscaping.about.com/cs/shrubsbushes/p/forsythia.htm
the best picture i can find is this one... if you want i can go out tomorrow and take one for you.... but there is an evergreen shrub at the curb... and the forsythia is the rest of the 12' high screen behind the cars
I have Thuja Green Giant and I'm not thrilled with it. I have been planting to screen neighbors for some time now. Shade presents a big problem. Shrubs and trees don't grow very fast in shade. Viburnum dentatum grow fairly quickly and can take some shade. They are deciduous though. Jen, if your area is fairly sunny, you should look into them if you don't require evergreen.
nm
This message was edited Aug 13, 2007 10:14 PM
What's 'nm' mean David?
Ah, there's always bamboo. Some of it is clump and not invasive. Also for a summer screen tall plants such as foxgloves, hollyhocks, tall verbascum, sunflowers, etc. would make a delightful floral wall.
I do like those conifers that Parks is advertizing too.
I had planned the wall of flowers for next year, but I will be moved to a place where that won't be necessary.
Victor: "nm " = "never mind"
gloriag....bamboo is good. Takes a while. A bamboo screen my dad planted a while back:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=3729417
Note how the stone wall contained it.
But not quite.....shoots do pop up in the oddest places.
I totally hear all of ya.. We just moved into a new construction and the crap already started. We've got some jealous neighbors cuz they bought a tiny low income home next to us. I found out they were spreading rumors about us then they had the audacity to act like we did something wrong when I called them out. And to boot the mom's on one side and the daughter is on the other side. Needless to say, we're looking to get some privacy to block them out.. Found these.. Thuja Degroot's Spire at Wayside Garden. 30ft should block them out..
http://www.waysidegardens.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10151&langId=-1&mainPage=LGprodview&ItemId=47590&PrevMainPage=advsearchresults&scChannel=Home%20Page&SearchText=p13.Thuja&OfferCode=TH3
Wow, Icosden you're surrounded!!
How about arborvitae??
Thank God, I don't have a problem now those were my old neighbors. We moved 3 yrs ago to get away from them. I knew we had to leave when vice started watching the house because the daughter's boyfriend was selling drugs.
We had a very narrow lot but now we're on almost an acre and the neighbors have about the same size so we can't even hear them. Love it, and of course they are great people anyway so we don't have any problems. They are both veggie growers so they bring us their extras.
Flowerjen, don't I know.. We are definitely surrounded.. They neighbors are the petty jealous type. Fortunately the neighbors across the street are nice though.. I'm still working on my DH to move since his office is actually in NJ.. He's just a diehard NYer. In the meantime, I'm planting to landscape to block them out since fencing here are out of the question due to some zoning issues.. (sublotted development with larges property sizes being 1/4 acre) So, I don't have much choice here.. But like I said, I want to move.. I want to be in zone 6-7 with an acre of land.. Just need to get DH on board with my plan..
Skip Laurels make a great privacy planting. They're very tolerant of differing light conditions up to full shade, deer resistant, evergreen, have blooms in May with a nice fragrance, nice shiny leaves and get a dense 8-10 feet tall in a pretty short time. I like their natural habit and just clip once in a while for shape, but I've seen them pruned into a formal hedge and they look great that way too.
Prunus laurocerasus 'Schipkaensis
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/127258/'
sorry I neglected that on the first post
Jen, how tall do you want your screen? How much sun?
I am copying this from another post I made tonight. We are moving to SW VA in the mountains. There are neighbors on both sides but the areas which need to be screened are not that large.
After David made a fuss about seeing the neighbors through a fringe of small trees, he has decided that he can live with it. However, I have decided to deal with it before Wavy Davy changes his mind again. I will get quite a few of those large panels of trellis work, hire someone to sink treated posts in the soil, and put three on each side, each one slightly overlapping the other and a little more forward from the last.
I will do that also some place else on the property so that it looks like a landscaping design rather than a hostile reaction against neighbors. The trellis panels will suffice as a screen. On them I will grow Japanese and regular morning glories, clematis, and perhaps climbing nasturtiums or hydrangeas. It will look so stunning and almost always be in bloom, no one will ever think it is contrived to block them out. Oh yes, I might add climbing roses too. I won't use all of them at one time or in the same place (maybe;) what do you think?
gloriag...elegant solution on several levels! Like to see some photos when you are done.
Gloriag-yes definitely post pics when finished
What an interesting thread. I have been looking for a screening solution as well. The houses on my road were all beautifully spaced until last year. The son of my neighbor on one side took a very narrow lot he inherited from his grandmother, which is between my house and his parents, and built a gigantic house sideways on it. It shouldn't have even been allowed, as there was not enough road frontage for a driveway as per the zoning laws. They applied for a variance and it was granted (nice to know people isn't it). Now I have this hulking home looming over me. I haven't felt at peace since they moved in. You can hear every word next door, and I live on five acres! There is virtually no buffer between his back yard a.k.a. drive way and my side yard. To make matters worse, my "new" neighbor was a childhood friend. Our families are not close any longer, but there are no hostilities -- just grew apart. Would it be rude to build a fence?
I'm like kinda in the same boat. The side neighbors are close to there's like reason for the barrier but the back, I want a barrier to cuz we're like on a hill and the entire development can see us. It's like we're on display 24/7. So I want to get a hall hedge to surround our property.. We'd be the first to put up trees in the developments.. I'm worried that people might take offense to me wanting some privacy..
irishbelle - would you consider approaching the neighbor with an ad showing different fencing possibilities to ask if they like the one you already selected to see how they feel?
Icosden - I'd never worry about planting trees. Most people like them but don't make it a priority to plant them. You may start something a trend in the area.
Thanks for the encouragement pirl.. I really need it too.. I'm like worried that the rest of the neighborhood's gonna get upset with me.. **sigh** Hopefully you're right and people won't mind.. Hopefully they plant some trees of their own too..
They probably won't even notice. New trees may look big at the nursery but once there at home and planted they can be 12' tall and still look like nothing for 5 years.
Can't imagine anyone being offended by trees. I'm sure others would follow your lead.
That's right, victor! To me a housing subdivision with no trees is graceless and raw looking. I think I would buy an old farmstead just for the huge oaks which shelter the house. My dogwood, planted many years ago, is the most graceful thing I have ever seen.
When we went house hunting, I specified to the Realtor that I wanted trees - no new developments for me. They look so sterile and cookie-cutter. What's so silly is that they clear all the mature trees to build the development (when they can easily work around some). Then the new people plant twigs that will take 15 - 20 years to look real good!! Does that make any sense?
That's exactly what they did in our development.. We saw the area before construction and it was just woods.. All trees. Now, nada.. Nothing.. There's like one house at the enterance to the neighborhood that planted 3 blue spruces and there another 3-4 japanese maples scattered around.. Not sure how they're going to react to me putting in so many trees..
How many are you considering? Do you have any photos you can post?
Maybe your neighbors saw the woods, too, and maybe they miss the trees. Why not ask if you're that concerned about it?
No pics yet.. But I can just imagine asking their opinion on the trees. Next they will want to tell me where and what to put in..
For pete sakes, they tried to tell us what color our house should be so it wouldn't clash with their house color (and we bought our house first too).. Don't think they'd stop at just if they like the idea or not.. LOL.. I like live in a neighborhood of micromanaging ninnies.. They have nothing better do to than to nose into everyone's business. That's part of the reason why I'm trying to get some privacy.. LOL.. All the females even refer to themselves as the Desparate Housewifes.. LOL..
Are you looking for evergreen screening? If so, that takes longer in general.
I want like a mixture of evergreens and deciduous trees. I actually want to see if I can make it more natural looking without putting a straight row of trees. Think that's a less objectionable way to do it.. I put up fencing to go with it but we have construction ordinances that prevents us from doing fences and stuff.. Something about set backs..
Straight lines are not a good idea anyway. They don't look nice and if, after 5 or more years, one dies, you're stuck. Norway Spruce grow very fast - mine put on at least two feet per year. For deciduous large shrubs, check out all the Viburnum possibilities. There are too many reasons to list to give Viburnum a try. They can grow as high as 20'.
Icosden on your property unless there are covenants for the development I don't see why you can't plant what ever you like! I would make sure you know where your property boundary line is and make sure that the trees you plant are well inside the property line so that the mature sized tree branches don't hang too much into the neighboring properties. By doing this, you will avoid any problems with the neighbors having branches hanging in their yard that drop flowers or leaves that may annoy them, etc...
Oh.. I already got the surveyer out to mark the boundries.. I'm already gathering info on the mature sizes too. Cuz I want some fruit trees too.. Certainly don't want my fruit trees hanging over.. Either they'd feel free to help themselves then or they'd be upset about the fruit tree making a mess of their yard.. So, I'm like preparing for that already..
Victor, what variety of Norway Spruce do you have? Do you have a picture of it?
Not sure on variety. May have the straight species. I'll look for a current photo. They're past my second floor window now.
Ooooo, goodie.