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16-02-2003, 12:01 AM

In article ,
says...
"sacha" wrote in message
. uk...
in article , Martin Sykes at
wrote on 11/2/03 3:01 pm:

It will almost certainly damage the fence eventually and it will be
difficult for you to get to the back of the shrubs to trim them. How
about
putting wires on the fence and training climbers up them? Several are
evergreen and with judicious planting, you could have colour and scent all
year round.

Will the same happen if I plant a hedge of native species in front of the
fence? If not, what's the difference and if so, what can I do as my hedge is
intended to grow and replace the fence eventually.

A plant will grow. A big plant wil grow big. Don't try this at home, but
plant an acorn 3" away from your foundation wall and see what the
insurance company think.

Thought and planning need to go into anything you do. The boundary fence
may be yours to replace and you may be trying to do the best thing to
replace it and make an environment for the betterment of native
wildlife.

Have you spoken to the neighbour on the other side of the fence?

Before we moved into our current place, a varied mix of hedges marged
the boundaries and as we rented (for those 6 months) and neither
neighbour owned a dog (eg) it wasn't a problem and encouraged flocks of
birds into both gardens where they were being fed while allowing enough
holes in the hedge for us to notice that their parties were much more
'swinging' than ours, and for us to be invited to join in (and politely
decline).

All the way up the right hand side of my garden is a clapped out and
broken slat panel fence. It is mine and my boundary according to the
records. I've not replaced it yet since moving house since there were
too many more urgent jobs like getting rid of the 60' leylandii that
gained me grace time in the eyes of those whose gardens back on to that
fence. I'll be replacing it when the weather improves.

I'm not going to do it without inviting everyone who has a garden
directly attached to that fence around to decide what we replace it
with.

I'll happily replace those 6' panels with the same cheap stuff and will
even ensure that everyone has access to the panels to
paint/stain/preserve them on their side to the colour they want and I'll
let the argument go to which side gets the side with the downslope. I'm
not sure whether #28 and #34 want to have their pointer and yorky to
have access to each other on a daily basis. I'm sure that #26-34 don't
want my OES using their lawns. I'm not sure of the reaction of #26 when
I point out that when I pull down the rotten fence his gazebo will fall
over and that maybe he should have used his own supports when he built
it.

Replacing a fence isn't a simple thing. Replacing it with a growing
version is less simple. I would love to untertake such a task, but in my
suburban environment it isn't going to happen. If you *really* want to
do this and only care about your own privacy then I've a 10 year plan.

Year 1: introduce a leylandii hedge 5' inside your boundary it'll be at
6' fence height in 3-4 years.

Year 2: trim the leylandii

Year 3: trim thos leylandii twice

Year 4: Remove the fence and plant beech and hawthorn. (check that they
are getting enough light) trim the leyandii three times to get them tidy
looking and allow the regular stuff to grow.

Year 6-10: remove the leylandii since they're sucking up the nutrients
and growing as fast as you can keep them tidy.

Year 7-11: watch the native hedge fill out and give it a brief trim.
Find that the lawn doesn't look so good since next-door's bitch now pees
on yours too.

Year 9 start putting in small wire hoops to stop dogs wandering in
through the lovely hedge.

Year 10: damned Australian Akubra got through the hedge and dried out
the freesias, "where do I buy fencing panels?"

Warwick