wrote in message
ups.com...
(cross-posted to alt.home.repair)

I'm hoping to get some advice on
what to do about erecting some kind of privacy screen or fence along my
back property line. I have a small lot (1/8 acre) with a 3'+ concrete
retaining wall along the back edge. My neighbors' yard behind me is
elevated about 3' from mine. Here is a link to some photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37849137@N00/

These neighbors recently removed the privacy hedge (see photos) from
along their back property line. From our backyard, we now have nothing
between us and the back of their house, the back of their (ugly)
strorage shed, and the (busy) street in front of them. The removal of
this hedge has destroyed the privacy and coziness of our outdoor space.

I had a similar issue, big creeper on neighbours side spreading in to my
back garden. I hacked in to it back to the fence line, a shit load of
pruning, and found that the old fence was a wreck. Rather than a new fence I
put up a medium term temporary option, building a basic frame and putting
weed/brush wood matting over it. I ran this along the rest of the (ugly)
fence line. I am not sure how it looks from my neighbours side but it looks
ok my side. They seem not to have done much their side but that is their
problem. I have planted some fairly quick growing shrubs in front of the
shit section of fence now and they are doing a good job of obscuring it.

One thing you may consider doing is erecting some basic trellis and growing
a creeper up it. The trellis can be higher than 6 foot and would probably
not constitute a fence if you did it right. You can train a fairly quick
growing creeper up it that require pruning twice a year to keep it neat.

rob