Ugly fences make bad neighbors

[Pondracer]

Here's a shot of my fence and where we were at on 4/5. Since then I've planted a 8' Japanese Tree Lilac in the large planter. The planter was built to get me a jump on height, plus this is the north side of that fence. The spruces are a dwarf variety, max height of 13 - 15'. I didn't want to shade my garden too much, plus I wanted them close to the fence.

On either side of the lilac I am planting fargesia bamboo. Slow grower, but evergreen. I'm in zone 5a so in theory I can get away with it, we'll just have to see. I like holly too, but they are slow to grow as well.

Further down the fence row I am building an ipe trellis, probably in mid-May for a climbing rose. The trellis will be massive, 3' taller than the fence and 6' wide. Farther down are Canadian cherry (shuberts?) shrubs that can hit 20' in height, and theres more bamboo in the last planter on the end.

All to block my neighbor and the busy road on the other side of him. Little story for you.... the previous owners (my house) put up a fence because they had a pool. They put that fence inside their property line 13' and planted trees up against it. Made it look nice for their neighbor. In the early 70's.

So said neighbor sells, and the property changes hands several times. Last guy to buy takes posession in May 2003. Then I buy this home and take possession in October 2003. The day before I move in, after the survey and everything is marked of course.... and the walk through of the property etc, said neighbor takes it upon himself to remove my trees. Over 20 large plants, other plants etc. 6 trees were 30+ years old.

Eventually we sued him and won, but I've still had to deal with restoring this area and trying to get it to look right. The retaining block planters are a bit cheesy, but once this area is filled in I think it will come out ok. It took a LOT of dirt, but I had to cover that whole back strip. It was filled with rocks, chips, roots and everything else.

 

[Molecule]

Your neighbors have erected their fence ... backwards. Normally, one builds a fence with the posts on the inside, where the more important structural frame is fully protected and accessable, so it can be controlled and maintained, etc. Then, the actual "fence" e.g. the less durable and less consequential barrier material, such as wire fabric, stockade, four-rail, etc., is mounted outside the posts, to protect the posts, and the property.

Something there is ... about a stockade fence ... let alone a stockade fence built backwards ...

 

[treeseer]

If the purpose is to keep out marauding invaders, the fence is backwards.

But since the purpose of the fence is aesthetic, then they have faced the less pretty side toward the neighbor. This is commonly donre in my area.

Oh, and nice landscaping. I don't think the blocks lood cheesy, and as long as you irrigate during drought, it should be ok.

 

[treeman45246]

You might as well check local ordinance on the direction that fence faces. In many towns ordinance requires that fences be erected "pretty" side out.

 

[Pondracer]

Thats correct, its my fence. Posts and rails to the inside. It is part of the local ordinance. Personally I like it, but I want a totally private yard. The Italian guy two lots down and his neighbor are friends who let there yards run together, under a grove of fruit trees. It looks good also.

The trick is to break up that fence line so it doesn't stand out. My wife wanted a row of arborvitae but I wiggled out of that. I wanted some variety as well as height.

I'll also have some cattails back in there where it stays wet, so quite a bit of vertical cover.

The bummer is that I didn't spend the money (or the time) to run my irrigation and lighting. I hate to get caught in a situation where I have to manually water this stuff year after year. Once this year passes I may move irrigation in, or we may move out

This next picture is of my neighbor (to the west) and his fence. We went together and got a good price from the contractor. He wanted 5' and arched tops. Since its his fence, my side is now the "decorative" side. Yep, there's two types of fences in my backyard... make that 3. The neighbor to the east has chain link.

Best part about the guy with the arched fence is that the previous fence was 5' inside his property line. Yes - I had an extra 5' of yard. And there were mulberrys there. So naturally we had to talk about what was going to happen with the new fence and we ended up tearing out those mulberrys and putting the fence right on the line. Now my trees hang over his property significantly, but luckily we get along great with them and I just maintain those trees when they need it.

Anyway, I wanted to break up that fence and get some additional privacy from their deck and pool area. I didn't want all one kind of shrub, so I planted a combination of canadian cherry, staghorn sumac and vibernums. These were planted last November. It was cold and late, but I wanted them in the ground to root until spring. Should be some really nice fall color. There's still work to be done in this area with grass, summer mulch etc.

 

[Pondracer]

Japanese Tree Lilac

Here is the tree lilac in the planter. Still a yard shy on black dirt.