Have someone paint a trompe e'oliel which is spelled wrong but you know what I mean. You could paint what you use to see, the garden of your dreams, a fantasy view of mountains or oceans or what ever, I suppose your neighbors wouldn't care what you painted on your side, but check with them. Ivy would not take five years to cover it. Honeysuckle would cover it quickly and p.o. your neighbors at the same time as it galloped over their yard.

i like the honeysuckle idea, but i'm fighting the stuff on my side of the fence also. i've pondered the 'trompe' idea, i'll have to get out my old drafting books and brush up on my 2 point prospectives. a few years ago, i did some stenciled ivy on the front of my garage and then detailed it out. maybe that would sooth my eye until the real ivy took over.
another problem is that people don't want to share fences. such as building the back of your privacy fence 2 foot away from you neighbors so there is a 2 foot gap between fences where scrub, weeds and debris can accumulate. yikes!

i 'built' the garden about 13 years ago. i was going for a japanese infuence, natural, winter interest, 1920's look. since the fence went up, nothing near it seems to be very healthy anymore. i don't know if it developed an micro environment or what. it has weathered to a silver gray, more rustic than i care for near my outdoor pergola sitting room. i had thought about hanging some sort of 'collection' on the fence such as mirrors or iron work, but i'm not into 'whimsey or cute'

This is trite and overdone, but successful and beautiful. Yesterday I saw an outstanding "fenceful" (is that a word?) of variegated creeping euonymous covering a fence surrounding a hotel in town. Probably about 12' high.

This euonymous keeps its leaves year-round, is graceful, grows pretty quickly, the variegation gives it a light, airy, interesting look. There are many cultivars; some grow more quickly than others. Considered invasive in some states.

Here is a link that might be useful: Euonymous varieties link

thanks ginger, i have one growing up the side of my house, i never knew they did that. i would look nice on that fence....mom

Hey Mom, if you're looking for a quick climbing vine, you could give sweet autumn clematis or orange trumpet vine a try. Both need a little something to grab on to for their tendrils but do grow really fast and flower nicely. The trumpet vine attracts hummingbirds too. We have both of these along our fence line and they've grown up over the fence and into the trees along the fence too. Good luck!!

English ivy will damage the fence in time, which your neighbors may not appreciate. Mount simple homemade wood trellis sections and plant vines and/or roses. If your neighbors don't want them fastened to the fence, they can be freestanding.

Or you can plant a shrub border or hedge in front of it if space allows.

Not knowing how these fences are situated around your yard and what else you already have growing there, I had a few ideas.
-Use freestanding trellis for growing vines or whatever, the plant stays on your side and the fence will last longer too.
-Instead of trellis's all along the fence, use screens made of old doors, lattice work, etc. You mentioned a "Japanese" influence, perhaps a faux "shoji",? "shobi"?, I can't remember the word, screen. One of those oriental ones made of paper and framework-that type of look.
-Plant some tall, vertical growing plants to break up the horizontal fence line.
-Think of the fence as a background for your garden artistry.
-Fences will definitely create microclimates, you may need to evaluate some of your plantings. Use any microclimates to your benefit.
Embrace the fenceness, feel it, use it, make your neighbor's jealous that they can no longer see your lovely yard.

say and nmgirl, thanks for the advice. it's the time of year where i better start pondering what i'm going to do. i have tiger lillies, surprise lillies and hosta along the fence already but they started to look scraggly after the fence was installed. i've got to find something that's going to 'take back' that 2 foot strip, tall shade plants, vines or ?. nmgirl, your ideas are great, i might commit myself in the screen/trellis direction too

What about bamboo? It will go with your Japanese theme. And there are several quicker growing varieties.

Ivies are nice, and so are boganvillas but rats and mice are pretty fond of them too. Just a thought.

talk to the neighbor first. If they paid for it, it belongs totally to them--no painting, no hanging baskets on it, no mulching 5" up the fence so the bottom rots. My neighbors were nasty and threw their junk (logs, rocks, trash, dog poo)over their cyclone fence onto my property. So after we threw it all back over, we built a 6ft wooden fence 2" fron the property line,then they removed their cyclone fence and was surprised when I told them not to interefer with MY fence when I was putting sealer on the top edge. They didn't like it that I was on a ladder in my yard, maintaining MY fence. So don't plant vines on it. It you don't want to see it, put up your own trellis for your plants. Or maybe your neighbor will agree to your plans.

I agree w/ Cheryl, sometimes your fences/neighbors can't be separated. When we moved in, 2 years ago, we had a 6' stockade fence on the S/W border (our neighbors have a pool), a 5' rail fence on the N/W, backing to a county park, & a 4.5' split rail fence on the N/E side (our neighbors on that side have lived here 20 yrs. & have a beautiful yard.)
We have a dog & children, so we put up fencing on the 10-20' between the house & the front yard. Our next door neighbor asked if we would like to run wire along their split rail fence, to keep the dog in, so we did this & also put wire against the fence that backs to the park. I'm very careful about what I plant near their fence, they have said they're happy we're here & that we take such an interest in planting in our yard. I've tried to leave a space near the fence, because my aging Golden Retriever runs along the fence line, but I have put in some plants. Right now, I think we have a great yard, despite the different fencing types-I am lucky that all my neighbors, including across the street, are really nice! I think we are very fortunate to be living here...Thistle

I have a thought for you. Your neighbor's privacy fence can be looked at as an eyesore...but also has the option of being an opportunity to highlight beauty. I can't pretend to understand your circumstance or lay of your yard, etc. but if possible what I would do is build simple wooden trellises and spot them a couple feet out from their privacy fence. I wouldn't have the trellises one next to the other but an appropriate spacing with thoughtout gaps in a line along the privacy fence...to build interest. Here in central Illinois I'd plant clematis of various types as well as climbing roses...nothing so big that it overwhelms the trellises. I might leave some trellises open for sweet peas or interesting cup and saucer flowering or passionflower vines. I'd have one plant or color for each trellis and I'd keep the growth contained and slightly subdued. You could also espalier apples, crabapples or pears if you're willing to do more work. Actually there are limitless options available to you and you'd find the flat, solid privacy fence would showcase your plants. You'd still have access behind your trellises and there'd be no difficulty with the neighbor.

I've done this and it's one of the most commented on aspects of my gardens.

This is a great subject to bring up again, In NH you have to be 12-18 inches off the property line so you can maintain the other side of the fence, my husband and I did this with a wire(sorta chicken) on the backside of our garden to let peas and clemitis grow , we mulched the 18 inches between the lines and put in pavers, well we came home one day and mulcha dn pavers were gone and w wood stockade fence was going up right along our fence, we told the fence guys to stop and had to eventually call police to stop them, neighbors said they owned to our fence, we ran the line from the pins and actually we owned 22 inches on the other side, had them put our pavers back, mulch was gone
What we did was dug a trench about 12 inches deep 6 inches wide put in cement the length of our property and then mulched and paver between the fence and cement line. They were not happy but we needed something permanent
now we live on a street noone has fences and if someone is mowing and mows over the line who cares, you just do it for them the next time

One of the fastest growing and most attractive vines for our area is akebia (Akebia quinata). It is almost evergreen but not quite. It's delicate looking and easy to grow--no pests or diseases. And does it move. It vines by twining, not clinging, so you'd have to tack chicken wire or even plastic twine to the fence. But I can promise that in a year or two, you'll have a solid green fence.

I have a question for someone. My neighbors just built a new garage just beyond my provacy fence. Well, my privacy fence is no longer a privacy fence. They placed their window just above my fence and I feel now I am being watched. Can someone please give me a suggestion on how to block their view without being too obvious>
Thank you
Benny B

Thank You lilies4me, gardener64 and ginny12 for your suggestions. I think I will go with some type of flowery vine. I've got to get my books out to see what would have "Japenese, 1920's, shade" qualities.
Benny - I planted a Pussy willow bush at my neighbors garage window, not for privacy, but to keep the basketballs, baseballs, scoccer balls, golf balls, whathave you, from breaking the window. It has worked out great.

benny did they care if they were obvious when they built the garage on the property line? So why are you concerned about not being obvious? Why would they put a window there? That's plain weird. Maybe he's a pervert or a peeping tom.
Personally I would plant something denser than a willow brush to block his view entirely.

Hi Momcat -
Have you thought about trying hydrangeas? They might do really well since they would be sheltered by the fence, and they grow pretty large in a fairly short amount of time. The vine idea will look great for sure, but I like hydrangeas or other flowering shrubs (lilac, rose of sharon, whatever) too because they fill in a big space. Good luck!
Tara

LOL WOW I JUST PLANTED 6 WICHITA BLUE JUNIPERS BEHIND 2 LARGE YEWS AT FRONT CORNER UP TO MY PINE TREE - TO MY NEIGHBORS FENCE HE JUST PUT UP LAST FALL - IT'S 7:30 AM AND HE JUST GETS HOME AND COMES OVER AND WAKES ME UP KNOCKING ON MY DOOR - BUSTS MY CHOPS SAYING THAT I AM BUSTING HIS AND NOW HE WANTS MY ROSE TRELLIS UNDONE OFF OF HIS FENCE! CAN HE MAKE ME PUT UP SEPERATE SUPPORTS IF IT'S ON THE PROPERTY LINE AND LAST FALL I TOLD HIM I WAS GOING TO DO THIS? SAID IT WAS OK - HE'S UP AT 7:30 AM MOWING WAKING PEOPLE UP AND SAID HE LIKES TO MOW THERE - IE OVER MY LINE - NOW YOU DON'T HUH - LIKE THE OTHER NEIGHBOR WHO DIDNT GET THE HINT EITHER ABOUT MOWING OVER THE LINE WHEN TOLD NOT TOO. MY FATHER BEFORE HE PASSED AWAY HAD TOLD THE LADY MOWING TO TELL THE LADY'S BOYFRIEND TO MOW UP TO THE LINE HE KEPT GOING OVER IT - NOW THE NEW NEIGHBOR THAT BUYS MY GRAMMA'S IS DOING IT - YOU GET THE MESSAGE NOW!