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danzone4

Nosy Neighbor

DanZone4
9 years ago

My retired, next door neighbor seems to have taken an unhealthy interest in my outdoor activities that until now have not affected him in any way. I have caught him peeking around corners many times. He cut down a bush of his to make it easier for him to watch me and has made several comments that he could only have known if he was watching me from his partly closed shade window. Creepy.

Between my house and his, I have a pushed back detached garage and driveway. There is a 8 foot area of dirt between my driveway and his house to work with and only 4 feet of that is mine.

I have explored the idea of a fence, but the 6 foot rule falls short of blocking him out. A hedge may be my only answer.

My concerns are as follows:
1- Limited plant selections Zone 4a. (-25F)
2- Limited space to plant (4 feet)
3- Planting close to neighbors house. (6 feet from hedge)
4- High maintenance bushes.
5- Need something about 10-15 feet high.
6- Need medium to fast grower.

My neighbor already has privet bushes closer to his house than I would, if I went with them. He can't complain about that.

The down side is Privet bushes are high maintenance and have poisonous berries. Not ideal for family or pets.

Arborvitae (the shorter ones) seem to be slow growers and are not very attactive in my opinion.

I am leaning towards the Standing Ovation Serviceberry as a hedge. My issue is I am not sure if the root system would cause issues with the neighbors foundation. Yes, I know the serviceberry will loose its leaves, but I am not ouside much in the winter.

Any ideas on what I should plant?

Comments (10)

  • princesspea
    9 years ago

    That sounds very unpleasant, I wish we could choose our neighbors. don't know specific plants for you as I am in zone 9. But I do suggest reporting your question on the landscape forum here, it is very active and may offer many ideas.
    Best of luck!
    Pea

  • docmom_gw
    9 years ago

    Do you need to block the entire length between you, or just block his view through the windows? You could put a tall obelisk and grow annual vines on it, such as morning glories, hyacinth beans, clematis, etc.

    Martha

  • dedtired
    9 years ago

    Schip laurels would work well and are fairly low maintenance. I am not sure how they would do in your zone. I am 7a and some of mine got wind burn over last winter, although they recovered. Actually arborvitae can grow rather fast.

    Even the fence would help. My house is close to my neighbor's, too. I hate that situation. I planted a redbud, which is a medium size fairly fast growing tree, so I don't have to see their trash cans from my bedroom, at least when the leaves are on the tree. Probably should have gone with an evergreen.

  • beesneeds
    9 years ago

    I'm guessing that the pic is taken from your property? As in the driveway and house on the right is yours, the house on the left is his?

    I can understand the creepiness of a nosy neighbor, I've had to deal with it in the past. And sometimes there just isn't really the option to put up a huge ole privacy fence, though that would be my first thought.

    Do you really need it to be 10-15 feet tall, or just tall enough to block those windows and the height of a person standing in their yard?

    Perhaps a string of trellises that amount to a privacy fence, or a bunch of those tall skinny pine shrubs. Or maybe an espalier for fruit of some sort? Maybe raspberries since those can have tall canes. A living fence of sunflowers or bamboo might work. Or if you are into brewing, put up some hop towers.

    If you want to be an obvious "hey, don't frigging spy on me" kind of person, you could mount tall fenceposts with some sort of lovely screening or fabric mounted just to the top- not really a fence, but a privacy screen. You might want to check with the local laws about that sort of thing though.

  • DanZone4
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks for all your responces! Yes, my house is on the right and nosy's is on the left. From his window he can see into my garage and between my garage and house to watch us on our backyard deck. I have solved the backyard problem. Next summer a 6 foot fence goes up with a (hanging ) privacy screen above. All legal in my town.

    Now to solve the peeping into the garage issue. If i plant a upward spreading tree he will surely trim anything growing over the property line. What is hard to see from the picture is, his property is about two feet higher than mine. A 6 foot fence in front of his window, would do nothing. To totally block him out, I still think i need a columnar hedge. A ten foot hedge would be ideal.

    I am considering the trellis idea. It would have to be large, but not tacky looking.

    Keep your ideas coming. I will dig further into your suggestions and keep you posted.

    Thanks!

  • kitykat
    9 years ago

    It has been a while since the post, but you can put a semi-sheer curtain on your garage window. Let's in light, but not snooping eyes.


  • Patriz
    8 years ago

    I'd go for an old bathtub(s), and plant some hardy bamboo in it. Stays green all year, grows extremely fast, and can be managed in a large container. Or, maybe a planter box with a large lattice backdrop, of which you can grow some Boston ivy or Virginia Creeper on it.

  • PRO
    Cascio Associates - Site Planning - Landscape Arch
    8 years ago

    Bamboo would do it, planted in the ground along the edge of the driveway, with a 12" root barrier placed along the drive, so the bamboo remains where you want it.

    Why not invite the neighbor over for coffee once a week. He is probably lonely and bored. Find out what he is retired from, maybe you can make use of his skills and knowledge, which will give him something meaningful to do.

    Perhaps you could plant a community vegetable and herb garden between your homes, and he could do all the planting and maintenance, he won't eat much.

    Besides, don't you like to be admired by friends? Make him a friend, rather than a nosy neighbor.

    cascio.offsite@gmail.com

  • s8us89ds
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I've spent the past 6 years growing 15' trees to give my family privacy from the eyes of neighbors. The women in our house felt uncomfortable being in their bikinis in the back yard that was overlooked by a neighbor's second-story bathroom window used by a family with 3 teenage boys. That was one of the reasons we rarely used our swimming pool and eventually got rid of it.

    If the original poster is an attractive female and the neighbor is a dirty-minded, lonely, old man that doesn't know how to use the Internet to get his voyeuristic kicks...then there's a simple solution while you're waiting 6 years for those privacy trees to grow. You could always wear massive, baggy, oversized clothing, a large hat, and dark sunglasses while you garden. If there is nothing for him to see that interests him, he'll eventually stop peeping and will hopefully discover the Internet.

    You could also turn the tables and become the aggressor as some women successfully do. Peeping toms are usually the shy ones, and they can become completely crushed when confronted. The fact that he has joked about it with you perhaps reveals that he himself feels guilty about it. Recently-retired people very often struggle with mental and emotional issues.

    Even if you completely screen your property with vegetation and fences, you haven't really solved the underlying problem, at least not permanently. All he needs is a new vantage point. Or a tiny hole in the fence. Or a hidden camera. The problem is more of a human problem than a landscape design problem.