I want to hide the neighbours house

JuzaMum

Hi all
I got good advice on planting on here a while back and am wanting more!
I have a small garden 25' deep and 35' wide. At the end of my garden there is the side of my neighbours house. Ideally I would like to knock it down and extend my garden but I feel the owner and tenants might get the hump so I think planting something to soften the view would be best.
Any suggestions please on what I could plant at the end of the garden to hide a north facing wall please? Obviously I don't really wish to damage their property so avoiding things that will grow into their mortar and brickwork.
Thanks

Davesnave

If the neighbour has a 'house,' it will be a minimum of 23' high on even ground, so hiding an entire gable end would require a tree, which would then impact on your garden more than you might like.


That leaves softening the view with something more manageable, like a single row of heavy trellis panels supported by 90mm posts up which you could grow a variety of climbers. You'd need to set it into your garden a little to be able to prune both sides.


Or, easier, simply a row of taller-growing shrubs, again with room behind to prune.


Cheapest of all, bare root beech or hornbeam, which will make 8' + in a few years. These two hold their dead leaves through winter. Room to prune behind would also be good, but you could use the 'lost' space behind for compost bins etc.

WeAreGhosts

How about bamboo? The clumping kind, not the runners. Any of the Fargesias are clumpers, I think, but do double check!

https://www.scottishbamboo.com/Fargesia+Bamboo+Plants/0_CAAA004_CAAA012.htm

JuzaMum

Thanks Davesnave and Weareghosts for taking the time to respond. I don't want to lose any space. What happens if I don't prune the neighbours side of whatever I plant? Will it cause damage? I am a little wary of bamboo. At least two houses nearby have it and it is growing through the pavement outside their gardens. I shall do some research on the variety mentioned.

Davesnave

JuzaMum wrote: »

Thanks Davesnave and Weareghosts for taking the time to respond. I don't want to lose any space. What happens if I don't prune the neighbours side of whatever I plant? Will it cause damage? I am a little wary of bamboo. At least two houses nearby have it and it is growing through the pavement outside their gardens. I shall do some research on the variety mentioned.

It's not totally clear whether the neighbouring house is tight against the boundary or if they have a strip of land there, but it sounds as if their wall abuts your garden directly.

In that case you should beware of having dense foliage hard against their brickwork in case it creates dampness. It will certainly harbour insects, and whether it's actually harmful or not, the owner might take exception to it. If they did, they could use their rights under the Access to Neighbouring Property Act to enter your garden and 'maintain' their wall..... You can see were that could lead, as your hedge or whatever would be in the way.

There isn't one plant called bamboo; there are many species. The clumpers are generally fine, but anyone planting bamboo should use a root barrier if they want to be totally sure it won't spread more than required.

JuzaMum

Their house is the boundary. There is no gap or fence. I would be very shocked if they did any maintenance. It is an HMO with a disinterested landlord so I am not sure they would even notice what I was growing. I try to keep their air bricks clear and don't prop stuff against the wall as I think that is reasonable behaviour.
I like the idea of a trellis but wouldn't want to leave a lot of space behind it.

Davesnave

If the house is the boundary and no one's too bothered, then your trellis probably wouldn't need to stay below the usual maximum boundary fence height of 2m (6' 6") However, the longest standard 90mm square fence post to support a trellis is 3m, and you'd need at least 0.5 m in the ground, so your maximum height is around 2.5m



That's plenty tall enough though. I've just built a garden arch for the tall members of the extended family to pass under easily and I only used 2.7m posts.