|
| Hello all,
I'm new to this forum and not sure if this topic has been broached here before. I have a yard with 4 foot high cyclone metal fence in my backyard and can see and hear my neighbors all the way down the street. I'd like to plant a row of Privet or Arborvitae hedges inside the perimeter of the property line inside of my fence. I have several reasons for doing this: First and foremost I have a year old dog who likes to run outside and bark her head off. Second, I have a some trashy neighbors who smoke pot in their backyard 2 houses over and there is a lot of questionable foot traffic coming to and from their house. On the other side of me I have a neighbor who feels inclined to constantly make remarks about my yard and what I need to do on my side of the fence, and I generally live in a pretty noisy neighborhood. All in all I think it will lend a lot more privacy and security to my yard and I think it will look nice. 2 questions on the issue. 1. What is the law in regards to growing hedges along the edge of the yard? My intention is to plant them a foot in from the fence and let them grow up and out from there. Once they hit 6 or 7 feet I will keep the top that level and keep them well manicured on my side. 2. Has more to do with neighborly etiquette - should I ask my neighbors on both sides or should I forge ahead and plant them without asking since they are on my property? I believe that if I ask my nosey neighbor that he will ask me to not plant the shrubs along the side that I share with him. Since the shrubs will grow over the fence line they will create more work for him in his backyard. Am I obligated to offer to help him trim them? My only concern with that is that it begins a slippery slope where he may come knocking on my door once a week for a hedge trimming. On my other side is an elderly woman who may not be able to trim them herself so I will offer to help her if they begin to grow out of control. Any thoughts, suggestions or input on a happy compromise would be appreciated! Thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Thu, Mar 29, 12 at 12:19
| put them far enough into your own yard .. so that you can leave 2 feet at the fence .. so that you can maintain YOUR SHRUBS ... ON YOUR LOT ... and get a bark collar for your dog ... in my world.. etiquette requires that you do NOT plant things that infringe on others property ... and you are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT to not want to indenture yourself to shearing slavery ... FOREVER ... its a NO WIN situation ... might be easier to move.. but i presume that is not an option ... ken |
|
| All my shrubs (which is the whole perimeter of my back yard) are atleast 2 feet or more in from my privacy fence. I figure if my neighbors wanted shrubs they'd plant their own. I will not abuse them by forcing mine on them. 2 of them already abuse me with their nasty Silver Maples. If I wanted one of those I wouldn't have cut mine down. Mulch out the beds all way around the perimeter so you don't have to deal with weeds as they are growing to full size. I'm friendly with my neighbors but the first thing I emphasized to my new one was that nothing in my yard would cause him a problem as I'm far enough from the line, and my closest tree is appoximately 12 feet away which is a dwarf Japanese Maple and won't be a problem. I'm always surprised how many people abusively plant trees with canapies 50 feet wide and they plant the tree 10 feet from the property line. Shouldn't that other person, or future new owner be able to plant what they want, not have yours in the way? |
|
- Posted by purpleinopp 8b AL (My Page) on Thu, Mar 29, 12 at 14:52
| I agree. One shouldn't purposely plant something that will encroach on the neighboring property. And I don't understand why would you want to plant a hedge that constantly needs to be trimmed? I would choose plants that are the proper size and shape at maturity, not ones you have to wrestle with into infinity. |
|
- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Thu, Mar 29, 12 at 15:11
| and i should clarify.. about the dog collar ... i am presuming you want the plants on the fence to keep the dog away from the fence ... but if you do it spaced properly .. the dog will still get to the fence.. for years to come ... friends have the bark collar.. took the dog about a week to learn how to not bark ... and if the dog is having a bad day.. all they have to do is shake it at her.. or put it on.. but not even turn it on ... pavlov at his best ... ken |
|
| Thanks for all of your input. purpleinopp - do you have any recommendations for a shrub that will grow better than the ones I'm looking at? Budget is also a concern. |
|
- Posted by purpleinopp 8b AL (My Page) on Fri, Mar 30, 12 at 10:56
| Without knowing where you are, or the size of your yard, how much sun/shade, there's not enough info to make specific suggestions. Unless you happen to live in OH or AL, I probably wouldn't get into that since I would just be speculating. Plenty of others on here will be able to give you some good ideas from their experience in your area and climate. |
|
| It doesn't sound as though your neighbors may be active gardeners, but what is growing at the fence at their side? Will your 6 or 7' privacy hedge cast shade and change their planting conditions when mature, something else to consider if being neighborly yourself. |
|
| How about asking your nosey neighbor what flowering shrubs he could recommend? Nosey could mean lonely and he might like giving you ideas and appreciate that you respect his opinion enough to ask. Then you could incorporate those into a border bed. Rather than a privacy hedge, I would probably plant a variety of shrubs (evergreen and deciduous) to create a bed with some depth if you have room. Choose shrubs that would be pretty from both sides of the property line which also wouldn't need pruning. Not knowing where you live, I can't really tell you what would work, but here in zone 7, I have Abelia, azaleas (not the small gumpo ones), Viburnum, Euonymous manhattan (not fancy, but a pretty green with nice evergreen leaves and gets to 6-8' if you prune it-maybe higher if not), camellias, exochorda, bayberry, ninebark. I have small understory trees as well (dogwoods, crape myrtles, and serviceberry. If you don't plant everything in one line, it actually creates a very good screen in a few years and looks beautiful to boot! |
|
| I think it's the height of irresponsibility to allow one's dog to bark uncontrollably and, thus, to disturb the peace. Where's the civility in that? The neighborliness? Forget the vegetation, if I lived in your neighborhood, the annoying barking would be a bone of contention. |
|
| Two neighbors have dogs like that...so annoying! I hear the damn things barking at 10pm. I have a yellow lab who has just as loud a bark than any other dog and at the end of the day I'm the master and she speaks when asked. Once in a while a bark might slip out but she gets it back under control. Its called training and discipline. No idea why I'm rambling about dogs right now. |
|
| My back neighbors reach, even come over the fence to mess with my shrubs. Is that incivility on my part? One neighbor apparently thought the back of my planting was messy, came over and took it away - including a newly planted rare shrub which he must have pulled completely out of the ground, thinking it one of the weeds. I never found out from him exactly what he did, just drew my own conclusions from what I saw later. If you look at how so many people drive and how they position themselves and their shopping carts in stores it is not surprising that there is all these disputes over property lines and neighborhood noise etc. among homeowners. There seems to be a variety of ideas about boundaries and appropriateness. I for one don't like it when multiple posters respond to a question and only one poster is thanked for their particular answer. I don't think that's appropriate at all. |
|
- Posted by purpleinopp 8b AL (My Page) on Wed, Apr 4, 12 at 10:33
| I thought OP's last entry that started with "Thanks for all of your input." was thanking everyone. Starting a new paragraph for the rest of the entry might have been more correct, but being grammatically correct has never been a requirement on here. He/she is trying to do something to stop the barking and is asking for help with that and for planting ideas. bboy, I sympathize! The old (I think she said she was 87) lady who used to live next door would come over, inside my fence, and pull "weeds" in my yard while I was at work. I spent almost $100 the first summer on various plants and seeds and she pulled up almost everything. At least she was forthcoming about telling me "I got them weeds for ya." Gee, thanks... I'm sorry she's passed on now, but since she quit mangling the azaleas down to a few inches, they were STUNNING this year! And now I have a great dane and NOBODY comes in my yard. Maybe you need a dog! |
|
| I had a dog for over 15 years. What's too bad is that my fence isn't higher, it wouldn't be so easy to climb or reach over. But the root problem is of course the other people's lack of respect for boundaries. When I said something to Mr Come Over and Clean Up's wife (he wasn't home) - I went over to point out that a rose they were reaching over and cutting back wasn't a blackberry - as soon as he got home he ran over and rang my doorbell, as though there was a need to get me under control. The other people did more damage to my shrubs after I pointed out the metal property line marker - which indicated they were reaching up to 2 ft. onto our side - and stated my awareness of/displeasure with the unauthorized cutting. Back to the topic, the traditional quality hedges are yew, holly and box. Slow but making very dense, long-lived shreared surfaces. Never any sudden exploding out of bounds and out of shape with bursts of rapid growth. |
|
- Posted by woodswalker88 6 (My Page) on Sun, Apr 15, 12 at 8:34
| We used to live next to a Bar. The loud rock bands till 2 AM and the constant drunks partying on the bar porch & parking lot got to be a little too much. So glad we moved...whenever I stress out about my current neighbors I just recall what it used to be like & count my blessings. Just a reminder...be glad you have a nice yard, instead of living next to a nuisance! I do have a neighbor with 4 barking dogs which she yells at all the time...but again, I'm counting my blessings. That said, I am also researching the question of screening shrubs. The problem being that there is a row of trees along my property. They are beautiful, but they don't provide any privacy. (they are too far away to shade the house, too.) I'd like to plant some screening shrubs, like maybe Arborvitae, but the shade from the trees may be a problem. |
|
| May have to put the shrubs in front of the trees, if possible, instead of beneath them. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Shrubs Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.