Height of Garden Fence

[Simon]

Hi all, Bit of advice please!

My neighbours garden runs along the rear of mine, and when they are out there they can look stright into our house.

This rear fence is approx 5 ft high - part of their garden is about a foot higher than mine, so effectivly at that part of the garden, the fence is only worth four foot!

I was thinking of purchasing some of the brushwood screening 2 metres high and attaching this to the existing fence - thus increasing the barries between us.

Do I need to get their consent before doing this work? Does anyone know of a cheaper method of increasing the privacy (short of not going out into the garden :-))

Thanks!

[John Anderton]

It depends who owns the fence. If it's theirs then yes, if it's yours then no (although a friendly chat to let them know what you're going to do may still be a good idea :-) ).

However another point is that planning permission is required for any fence or "means of enclosure" higher than two metres so if you attach the brushwood so that the bottom is off the ground the planning department of your local council may need to give permission as well. (I assume that this is what you were planning ? Or are you neighbours under 5' tall ?)

Depends how expensive the brushwood screening is (I've no idea). There are all sorts of hedging plants you could use (blackthorn is fairly cheap) which, in time, would form a nice screen (although if you use leylandii, for goodness sake keep it well trimmed)

One, more expensive but sneaky, solution is to build a long narrow shed just inside the boundary. This can be up to 4 metres high (with a pitched roof) without needing planning permission (although there are other restrictions on size, proportion of garden taken up, proximity to the house etc.)

Cheers,

John

[Rick]

Llandi ? I think there is now some law about these, it may be part of the ASBO stuff.

Rick

[Jeff]

try here

Jeff

[andrewpreece]

If there is a problem with the screening grow something evergreen against the fence that'll get to the required height in a reasonable time. What you actually might grow depends on climate/soil/aspect etc, but as a for instance I have grown a wall-trained evergreen Ceanothus to 7 feet high in two years from a nursery plant, to give me extra screening along a 4-5 foot high wall. Other options are plentiful, though I wouldn't bother with Leylandii: they look OK I suppose, but need trimming twice a year, topping once a year (ish) and worst of all, if you trim them too closely they go brown at that point and you can never get that bit to grow back.

Andy.

[Rob Morley]

Whose fence is it? If it's his you'll need permission to attach anything to it.

Depending on the style of fence it might look okay with trellis and some creepers on it.

Check there isn't a restrictive covenant on your property (and anyone who can be bothered to do anything about it) - I'm supposedly not allowed fences or hedges over 5ft high. I suppose you could contruct a terrace at the bottom of the garden which would become the new ground level ...

[Ian White]

... or if you let them grow too far, and then have to cut them back too hard...

The top of a Leylandii hedge eventually will fill in, but only after 3-4 years of bonsai training and "combing-over".

Ours was here when we came, and overall I suppose it's been better than not having it - but if starting again, I'd *never* plant Leylandii.

[Cicero]

=================== You could add a small trellis to the top of the existing fence and then plant a few quick-growing climbers. I made strong trellis from roofing battens (19mm x 32mm) and planted Honeysuckle and Russian vine at intervals. The trellis will soon be covered by the climbers without being too over-powering for you or your neighbours. Be careful with the Russian vine - its common name is 'mile-a-minute' and it can grow very quickly!

Cic.

[OldBill]

First of all you don't say if its their fence or yours. You can attach what you like to your fence. AFAIK if you want to make it more than 2m there could be a problem. Also I've seen a couple of case where that brushwood stuff has been used to try to extend a fence height by a couple of foot. It looked messy because unless its supported by a frame it droops. Bamboo is better. Maybe a case for the dreaded confier hedge?

[PeteZahut]

When the neighbours are in bed tonight, go and superglue their locks so they cant get out. Problem solved :p

[Simon]

Thanks for the advice... apparently all boundaries are shared.... what impact does that have on what I'm planning?