Both my neighbor and mine had erected a fence along our property.

They had a vinyl fence, and since code specified a fence cannot be directly
built on the property line but must be set 6" back minimum, their fence was
about 8" back. I hated the look of a vinyl fence so I built a wood fence,
also about 8" from the property line.

This leaves a sliver of space about 16" wide between our two fences.

Mysteriously things started to grow inside this sliver, shrubs, and a few
papaya trees shot up and now is about 9' tall with the trunk diameter 3" in
size. Some of the shrubs are starting to shoot up to already taller than
the 6' fence, some things are bulging against my wood fence, nothing serious
yet but if I ignore them it will be serious in a few years.

Obviously we don't have access from the side, but only from the top. The
area is about 110' long.

Is there something I can sprinkle down this space and kill off what's in
between? I cannot use RoundUp because my understanding is RoundUp you need
to spray to the root area and I only have access from the top side.

Thanks,

MC

On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:17:07 -0400, against all advice, something
compelled "MiamiCuse" , to say:

Is there something I can sprinkle down this space and kill off what's in
between?


Rock salt? I think you can get big bags of it for water
softeners pretty cheap.


--

Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will
have to ram it down their throats.
- Howard Aiken

MiamiCuse wrote:
Both my neighbor and mine had erected a fence along our property.

They had a vinyl fence, and since code specified a fence cannot be
directly built on the property line but must be set 6" back minimum,
their fence was about 8" back. I hated the look of a vinyl fence so
I built a wood fence, also about 8" from the property line.

This leaves a sliver of space about 16" wide between our two fences.


A strange use of resources. It must be a difficult neighbourhood where you
cannot negotiate a fence that you can both tolerate and share the cost.

Mysteriously things started to grow inside this sliver, shrubs, and
a few papaya trees shot up and now is about 9' tall with the trunk
diameter 3" in size. Some of the shrubs are starting to shoot up to
already taller than the 6' fence, some things are bulging against my
wood fence, nothing serious yet but if I ignore them it will be
serious in a few years.
Obviously we don't have access from the side, but only from the top. The
area is about 110' long.

What sort of wooden fence is it? Can't you take off a couple of planks to
get in or get somebody slender to climb in from the top?


Is there something I can sprinkle down this space and kill off what's
in between? I cannot use RoundUp because my understanding is RoundUp
you need to spray to the root area and I only have access from the
top side.
Thanks,

MC

Roundup (glyphosate) is absorbed by the leaves not the roots, there is no
point in spraying on the soil or the root zone. It works best when the
plants are growing strongly, ie late spring. But any new seeds that blow
into the space will grow and you will have to spray again and again. There
are chemical treatments that are supposed to inhibit seed germination but I
don't know how effective they are or how long they persist. You would also
need to keep back any nearby plants that creep on the ground or that have
running root systems.

If you want a long term solution I would weed it and then cover the
offending area with something solid and opaque to prevent seeds from
starting and discourage runners - like black plastic under crushed rock.
This may be more effort but you only have to do it once. Are there any
children available to press into working in the confined space without being
arrested for breach of child labour laws?

David

On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:17:07 -0400, "MiamiCuse"
wrote:

Both my neighbor and mine had erected a fence along our property.

They had a vinyl fence, and since code specified a fence cannot be directly
built on the property line but must be set 6" back minimum, their fence was
about 8" back. I hated the look of a vinyl fence so I built a wood fence,
also about 8" from the property line.

This leaves a sliver of space about 16" wide between our two fences.

Mysteriously things started to grow inside this sliver, shrubs, and a few
papaya trees shot up and now is about 9' tall with the trunk diameter 3" in
size. Some of the shrubs are starting to shoot up to already taller than
the 6' fence, some things are bulging against my wood fence, nothing serious
yet but if I ignore them it will be serious in a few years.

Obviously we don't have access from the side, but only from the top. The
area is about 110' long.

Is there something I can sprinkle down this space and kill off what's in
between? I cannot use RoundUp because my understanding is RoundUp you need
to spray to the root area and I only have access from the top side.

Thanks,

MC



With RoundUp all you need to do is wet all the leaves. But, in your
case I would do an initial mechanical removal. I would suggest
moving your wooden fence back enough to allow easy weeding once a
year. The space between mine and a neighbor is 4 feet and a mover
takes care of it fast and easy.

"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:17:07 -0400, "MiamiCuse"
wrote:

Both my neighbor and mine had erected a fence along our property.

They had a vinyl fence, and since code specified a fence cannot be
directly
built on the property line but must be set 6" back minimum, their fence
was
about 8" back. I hated the look of a vinyl fence so I built a wood fence,
also about 8" from the property line.

This leaves a sliver of space about 16" wide between our two fences.

Mysteriously things started to grow inside this sliver, shrubs, and a few
papaya trees shot up and now is about 9' tall with the trunk diameter 3"
in
size. Some of the shrubs are starting to shoot up to already taller than
the 6' fence, some things are bulging against my wood fence, nothing
serious
yet but if I ignore them it will be serious in a few years.

Obviously we don't have access from the side, but only from the top. The
area is about 110' long.

Is there something I can sprinkle down this space and kill off what's in
between? I cannot use RoundUp because my understanding is RoundUp you
need
to spray to the root area and I only have access from the top side.

Thanks,

MC



With RoundUp all you need to do is wet all the leaves. But, in your
case I would do an initial mechanical removal. I would suggest
moving your wooden fence back enough to allow easy weeding once a
year. The space between mine and a neighbor is 4 feet and a mover
takes care of it fast and easy.

A simpler option may be to turn part of the fence in to a gate. Cut away a
section of the existing fence and refasten as a gate. When weeding required
simply open it & walk in to the gap and weed or spray.

rob

On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:17:07 -0400, "MiamiCuse"
wrote:

Both my neighbor and mine had erected a fence along our property.

They had a vinyl fence, and since code specified a fence cannot be directly
built on the property line but must be set 6" back minimum, their fence was
about 8" back. I hated the look of a vinyl fence so I built a wood fence,
also about 8" from the property line.

This leaves a sliver of space about 16" wide between our two fences.

Mysteriously things started to grow inside this sliver, shrubs, and a few
papaya trees shot up and now is about 9' tall with the trunk diameter 3" in
size. Some of the shrubs are starting to shoot up to already taller than
the 6' fence, some things are bulging against my wood fence, nothing serious
yet but if I ignore them it will be serious in a few years.

Obviously we don't have access from the side, but only from the top. The
area is about 110' long.

Is there something I can sprinkle down this space and kill off what's in
between? I cannot use RoundUp because my understanding is RoundUp you need
to spray to the root area and I only have access from the top side.



Why pray tell did you wait for trees etc. to grow so large... you
could have lopped them off when small... I hope when you erected your
fence you placed it like 6"-8" off the ground so you could reach
under, placing stockade slats directly on the ground will also cause
them to rot.... you would have had a taller fence too.... you can
still raise the sections.

Since you're neighbors why didn't you have a discussion regarding
fencing the property line. Anyway by going first your neighbor did
you a big favor, their fence saved you from spending money erecting
your own fence, and awarded you that 6"-8" strip of land. Were it me
who didn't like the look of their fence I would have planted a
hedge... you still can... remove your spite fence (only spited
yourself) and plant something you do like looking at. Keeping that
narrow enclosed strip you created clear of weedy growth by erecting
your fence without thinking is going to present a constant problem...
remove your fence, plant a hedge, and save yourself a lot of grief.

Btw, in most municipalities when one erects a privacy fence the good
side must face the neighbor... you may want to look into that aspect.

I'm sure there is a lot more to this story, there always is when
neighbors are impelled to erect a double fence/spite fence.

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
MiamiCuse wrote:
Both my neighbor and mine had erected a fence along our property.

They had a vinyl fence, and since code specified a fence cannot be
directly built on the property line but must be set 6" back minimum,
their fence was about 8" back. I hated the look of a vinyl fence so
I built a wood fence, also about 8" from the property line.

This leaves a sliver of space about 16" wide between our two fences.


A strange use of resources. It must be a difficult neighbourhood where
you cannot negotiate a fence that you can both tolerate and share the
cost.

No not at all, it's simply not done here typically. The vinyl fence was
already in place when I moved in and I wanted something more natural, and I
installed over 300 linear feet of fence bordering three neighbors, this part
is the only part that overlaps.

This is precisely why the county require fence to be placed at least 6" back
from the property line, so that there is no dispute as to whose fence it is.
There have been too many dispute when two property owner shared the cost to
build a fence and then one property is sold and the new owner inherit may
not have the same idea as the old owner and whatever "negotiated" come into
question. So, doesn't matter who paid for what and what was negotiated, all
fences must be set back from the property line, if you pay for part of a
fence that is inside someone's property line, then it's that person's fence.
He/she may paint, remove, do whatever to it.

In my case, the owner was out of town a person I never met, she rented the
property to someone and the property went into foreclosure, sat abandoned
for over 1 year, it was difficult to find the right person to talk to, and I
doubt they would want to remove 100' of vinyl fence in perfectly good
condition where every 4' there is a concrete post sat 18" deep into the
ground.


Mysteriously things started to grow inside this sliver, shrubs, and
a few papaya trees shot up and now is about 9' tall with the trunk
diameter 3" in size. Some of the shrubs are starting to shoot up to
already taller than the 6' fence, some things are bulging against my
wood fence, nothing serious yet but if I ignore them it will be
serious in a few years.
Obviously we don't have access from the side, but only from the top. The
area is about 110' long.


It is very densely grown I doubt anyone would fit in that space and have
room to move, or manuveur.

What sort of wooden fence is it? Can't you take off a couple of planks to
get in or get somebody slender to climb in from the top?


Yes I can, but then only 2 or three feet the stuff is getting so thick I
would have to remove all 100' of it to access all of it. The property was
abandoned when it went into foreclosure and I saw plants shooting up from
their side, I thought it was from their property until I looked closer the
other day, it wasn't from their property it was stuff grown inside this
sliver.

I guess I was always under the assumption that the space between the two
fences would have so little light nothing would grown, was I wrong!


Is there something I can sprinkle down this space and kill off what's
in between? I cannot use RoundUp because my understanding is RoundUp
you need to spray to the root area and I only have access from the
top side.
Thanks,

MC

Roundup (glyphosate) is absorbed by the leaves not the roots, there is no
point in spraying on the soil or the root zone. It works best when the
plants are growing strongly, ie late spring. But any new seeds that blow
into the space will grow and you will have to spray again and again.
There are chemical treatments that are supposed to inhibit seed
germination but I don't know how effective they are or how long they
persist. You would also need to keep back any nearby plants that creep on
the ground or that have running root systems.

If you want a long term solution I would weed it and then cover the
offending area with something solid and opaque to prevent seeds from
starting and discourage runners - like black plastic under crushed rock.
This may be more effort but you only have to do it once. Are there any
children available to press into working in the confined space without
being arrested for breach of child labour laws?

David

"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:17:07 -0400, "MiamiCuse"
wrote:

Both my neighbor and mine had erected a fence along our property.

They had a vinyl fence, and since code specified a fence cannot be
directly
built on the property line but must be set 6" back minimum, their fence
was
about 8" back. I hated the look of a vinyl fence so I built a wood fence,
also about 8" from the property line.

This leaves a sliver of space about 16" wide between our two fences.

Mysteriously things started to grow inside this sliver, shrubs, and a few
papaya trees shot up and now is about 9' tall with the trunk diameter 3"
in
size. Some of the shrubs are starting to shoot up to already taller than
the 6' fence, some things are bulging against my wood fence, nothing
serious
yet but if I ignore them it will be serious in a few years.

Obviously we don't have access from the side, but only from the top. The
area is about 110' long.

Is there something I can sprinkle down this space and kill off what's in
between? I cannot use RoundUp because my understanding is RoundUp you
need
to spray to the root area and I only have access from the top side.

Thanks,

MC



With RoundUp all you need to do is wet all the leaves. But, in your
case I would do an initial mechanical removal. I would suggest
moving your wooden fence back enough to allow easy weeding once a
year. The space between mine and a neighbor is 4 feet and a mover
takes care of it fast and easy.

It is too late now at this point the fence was built with PT 4x4 set into
concrete post 18" below grade spaced every 4' apart, that would mean
relocating 26 posts it would be less expensive to demolish and build new
there is no way to just "move" it.

"brooklyn1" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:17:07 -0400, "MiamiCuse"
wrote:

Both my neighbor and mine had erected a fence along our property.

They had a vinyl fence, and since code specified a fence cannot be
directly
built on the property line but must be set 6" back minimum, their fence
was
about 8" back. I hated the look of a vinyl fence so I built a wood fence,
also about 8" from the property line.

This leaves a sliver of space about 16" wide between our two fences.

Mysteriously things started to grow inside this sliver, shrubs, and a few
papaya trees shot up and now is about 9' tall with the trunk diameter 3"
in
size. Some of the shrubs are starting to shoot up to already taller than
the 6' fence, some things are bulging against my wood fence, nothing
serious
yet but if I ignore them it will be serious in a few years.

Obviously we don't have access from the side, but only from the top. The
area is about 110' long.

Is there something I can sprinkle down this space and kill off what's in
between? I cannot use RoundUp because my understanding is RoundUp you
need
to spray to the root area and I only have access from the top side.



Why pray tell did you wait for trees etc. to grow so large... you
could have lopped them off when small... I hope when you erected your
fence you placed it like 6"-8" off the ground so you could reach
under, placing stockade slats directly on the ground will also cause
them to rot.... you would have had a taller fence too.... you can
still raise the sections.

I couldn't see them when they were small. They shot up between the two
fences. The neighbor house went into foreclosure so it was bank owned and
sat vacant for a year, I saw some plants grew tall "over the other side" but
thought it was in their yard. Then a few days ago I tried to trim some of
them the grew over us and realized they shot up between the two fences.

No I did not do them 6-8" off the ground the planks were almost at the
ground in some cases touching the ground. I did not want them off the
ground and they may rot faster but I am willing to replace the planks sooner
in exchange for a fence that blocks out from below with stray dogs, possums,
raccoons etc...



Since you're neighbors why didn't you have a discussion regarding
fencing the property line. Anyway by going first your neighbor did
you a big favor, their fence saved you from spending money erecting
your own fence, and awarded you that 6"-8" strip of land. Were it me
who didn't like the look of their fence I would have planted a
hedge... you still can... remove your spite fence (only spited
yourself) and plant something you do like looking at. Keeping that
narrow enclosed strip you created clear of weedy growth by erecting
your fence without thinking is going to present a constant problem...
remove your fence, plant a hedge, and save yourself a lot of grief.

That's the thing, I don't like a hedge. I wanted something along three
sides that have a consistent look. One side would not receive enough
sunlight for anything to grow, I didn't want a separate solution for each
side. I have had a hedge in another property and I hated it. For a large
property with multiple acres I would do a hedge and let it grown, for a
smaller property where the space is constrained one has to constantly trim
it, and I hated the look of hedges that have been trimmed to some ugly
rectangular or rounded artificial shapes.


Btw, in most municipalities when one erects a privacy fence the good
side must face the neighbor... you may want to look into that aspect.


That is true in some, in ours it does not matter, you can have "good side
out" or "good side in".

I'm sure there is a lot more to this story, there always is when
neighbors are impelled to erect a double fence/spite fence.


Not really, it is fairly typical here, where properties change hands quite
often.

"MiamiCuse" wrote:
"Phisherman" wrote:

I would suggest
moving your wooden fence back enough to allow easy weeding once a
year. The space between mine and a neighbor is 4 feet and a mover
takes care of it fast and easy.

It is too late now at this point the fence was built with PT 4x4 set into
concrete post 18" below grade spaced every 4' apart, that would mean
relocating 26 posts it would be less expensive to demolish and build new
there is no way to just "move" it.


Didn't make sense to set wooden posts in concrete, a lot of extra
labor for nothing and the concrete will help hold moisture in the wood
causing the wood to rot prematurely, and then it's a big job to dig up
the concrete to replace posts, probably need to abandon the concrete
and add a new post along side, and install a sister post... concrete
is used with metal (galvanized pipe) posts to add stability, but 4X4s
have enough area to be stable on their own.

I would raise each fence section (not a huge job) enough so that you
can reach in to weed at the bottom, high enough to reach in with a
string trimmer.... if you live in a high wind area the opening at the
bottom of stockade fencing will allow some of the wind force to pass
underneath, possibly saving your fence. Once a year you can treat the
area liberally with rock salt in an effort to inhibit plant growth...
but still many weeds will survive the salt, especially those that
normally grow near the seashore.

"MiamiCuse" wrote:
"brooklyn1" wrote:

I hope when you erected your
fence you placed it like 6"-8" off the ground so you could reach
under, placing stockade slats directly on the ground will also cause
them to rot.... you would have had a taller fence too.... you can
still raise the sections.

No I did not do them 6-8" off the ground the planks were almost at the
ground in some cases touching the ground. I did not want them off the
ground and they may rot faster but I am willing to replace the planks sooner
in exchange for a fence that blocks out from below with stray dogs, possums,
raccoons etc...


Possums and racoons can easily climb any fence, may as well try to
fence out squirrels... dogs want in they will quickly dig under and
larger dogs will dig and chew through wooden slats within a few
minutes... for dogs one really needs chainlink or some kind of iron
picket fence such as used around graveyards. And still dogs will dig
under chainlink and iron fencing... to keep dogs from digging one
really needs to place the fence upon a paved area or do the typical
concrete block wall thingie one usually constructs in southern climes
where the ground doesn't heave from freezing weather.

From your first post it was evident that your concern was to block the
view of your neighbor's ugly fence, but now with your subsequent posts
you're tossing in all sorts of other conditions. I think for you the
only solution is to move onto large acreage with a forest buffer... I
gather from your descriptions you are on a relatively small surburban
lot, perhaps 1/4 acre... it's not possible to find any real privacy on
so small a lot where neighbors can hear each other's toilets flush. I
lived in a similar situation, I learned to tolerate my neighbor's
eyesores and peering eyes and I planted shrubery as needed... you will
never be able to hem yourself into so small a lot where you will have
privacy in all areas, the best you can do is to create a small
secluded island for yourself such as a well planted patio. Privacy
fencing your entire perimeter is an exercise in futility... and often
it's better to be able to see across property lines... if you put up
too nice a fence next thing you know your neighbors will remove and/or
not maintain theirs, and then they will attach stuff to your fence
and/or decorate your fence with what you may think is graffiti. And
soon as they learn what bothers you those are exactly the actions they
will perform, like making loud noise, cooking stinky foods, and even
tossing their discards over. And same as you moved there neighbors
move away and new neighbors move in, and they may redecorate their
property in ways that interfere with your goals. By fencing yourself
into a stockade you are telegraphing your disdain towards neighbors.
Good fences make good neighbors, but only if they're good [neighborly]
fences.

MiamiCuse wrote:
"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
MiamiCuse wrote:
Both my neighbor and mine had erected a fence along our property.

They had a vinyl fence, and since code specified a fence cannot be
directly built on the property line but must be set 6" back minimum,
their fence was about 8" back. I hated the look of a vinyl fence so
I built a wood fence, also about 8" from the property line.

This leaves a sliver of space about 16" wide between our two fences.


A strange use of resources. It must be a difficult neighbourhood
where you cannot negotiate a fence that you can both tolerate and
share the cost.

No not at all, it's simply not done here typically.

It costs twice as much but to you it's normal. To me it's strange.

The vinyl fence
was already in place when I moved in and I wanted something more
natural, and I installed over 300 linear feet of fence bordering
three neighbors, this part is the only part that overlaps.

This is precisely why the county require fence to be placed at least
6" back from the property line, so that there is no dispute as to
whose fence it is. There have been too many dispute when two property
owner shared the cost to build a fence and then one property is sold
and the new owner inherit may not have the same idea as the old owner
and whatever "negotiated" come into question.

How sad. Is the law not helpful? In these parts you cannot force a
neighbour to rebuild a fence just because you don't like it. Typically the
remedy is to maintain good relationships so that you both get something
acceptable or to grow a hedge in front and ignore it. Once the fence is
built everybody is stuck with it until it needs to be rebuilt or unless both
sides agree to rebuilding.

Is there much litigation over fencing? Is this the reason for this
situation where you are?


So, doesn't matter who
paid for what and what was negotiated, all fences must be set back
from the property line, if you pay for part of a fence that is inside
someone's property line, then it's that person's fence. He/she may
paint, remove, do whatever to it.
In my case, the owner was out of town a person I never met, she
rented the property to someone and the property went into
foreclosure, sat abandoned for over 1 year, it was difficult to find
the right person to talk to, and I doubt they would want to remove
100' of vinyl fence in perfectly good condition where every 4' there
is a concrete post sat 18" deep into the ground.


A difficult situation.


Mysteriously things started to grow inside this sliver, shrubs, and
a few papaya trees shot up and now is about 9' tall with the trunk
diameter 3" in size. Some of the shrubs are starting to shoot up to
already taller than the 6' fence, some things are bulging against my
wood fence, nothing serious yet but if I ignore them it will be
serious in a few years.
Obviously we don't have access from the side, but only from the
top. The area is about 110' long.


It is very densely grown I doubt anyone would fit in that space and
have room to move, or manuveur.


Perhaps action a little sooner would have made the problem more tractable
:-)


What sort of wooden fence is it? Can't you take off a couple of
planks to get in or get somebody slender to climb in from the top?


Yes I can, but then only 2 or three feet the stuff is getting so
thick I would have to remove all 100' of it to access all of it. The
property was abandoned when it went into foreclosure and I saw plants
shooting up from their side, I thought it was from their property
until I looked closer the other day, it wasn't from their property it
was stuff grown inside this sliver.

I guess I was always under the assumption that the space between the
two fences would have so little light nothing would grown, was I
wrong!

Sod's law applies. Anything you want to grow will need the conditions to be
just right and anything you don't want will flourish in appalling
conditions.

David

"brooklyn1" wrote in message
...
"MiamiCuse" wrote:
"Phisherman" wrote:

I would suggest
moving your wooden fence back enough to allow easy weeding once a
year. The space between mine and a neighbor is 4 feet and a mover
takes care of it fast and easy.

It is too late now at this point the fence was built with PT 4x4 set into
concrete post 18" below grade spaced every 4' apart, that would mean
relocating 26 posts it would be less expensive to demolish and build new
there is no way to just "move" it.


Didn't make sense to set wooden posts in concrete, a lot of extra
labor for nothing and the concrete will help hold moisture in the wood
causing the wood to rot prematurely, and then it's a big job to dig up
the concrete to replace posts, probably need to abandon the concrete
and add a new post along side, and install a sister post... concrete
is used with metal (galvanized pipe) posts to add stability, but 4X4s
have enough area to be stable on their own.


I am in Miami so building code calls for concrete post set every 4' dug 18"
below. I don't really have much option on how I can build it. Spacing,
dimensions, how many nails or screws as well as length and angle of screws
are all specified in the code and not much I can do to deviate from them.

I would raise each fence section (not a huge job) enough so that you
can reach in to weed at the bottom, high enough to reach in with a
string trimmer.... if you live in a high wind area the opening at the
bottom of stockade fencing will allow some of the wind force to pass
underneath, possibly saving your fence. Once a year you can treat the
area liberally with rock salt in an effort to inhibit plant growth...
but still many weeds will survive the salt, especially those that
normally grow near the seashore.

That may be a possibility. Only I did not use premade sections, I made it
with individual planks but it's still doable. Thanks,

"brooklyn1" wrote in message
...
"MiamiCuse" wrote:
"brooklyn1" wrote:

I hope when you erected your
fence you placed it like 6"-8" off the ground so you could reach
under, placing stockade slats directly on the ground will also cause
them to rot.... you would have had a taller fence too.... you can
still raise the sections.

No I did not do them 6-8" off the ground the planks were almost at the
ground in some cases touching the ground. I did not want them off the
ground and they may rot faster but I am willing to replace the planks
sooner
in exchange for a fence that blocks out from below with stray dogs,
possums,
raccoons etc...


Possums and racoons can easily climb any fence, may as well try to
fence out squirrels... dogs want in they will quickly dig under and
larger dogs will dig and chew through wooden slats within a few
minutes... for dogs one really needs chainlink or some kind of iron
picket fence such as used around graveyards. And still dogs will dig
under chainlink and iron fencing... to keep dogs from digging one
really needs to place the fence upon a paved area or do the typical
concrete block wall thingie one usually constructs in southern climes
where the ground doesn't heave from freezing weather.

Yes they will, if there is a reason to. Most dogs and cats just use the
path of least resistance. So far what I put up it has been working nicely,
except for the unexpected growth in the sliver area between the fences.


From your first post it was evident that your concern was to block the
view of your neighbor's ugly fence, but now with your subsequent posts
you're tossing in all sorts of other conditions. I think for you the
only solution is to move onto large acreage with a forest buffer... I
gather from your descriptions you are on a relatively small surburban
lot, perhaps 1/4 acre... it's not possible to find any real privacy on
so small a lot where neighbors can hear each other's toilets flush. I
lived in a similar situation, I learned to tolerate my neighbor's
eyesores and peering eyes and I planted shrubery as needed... you will
never be able to hem yourself into so small a lot where you will have
privacy in all areas, the best you can do is to create a small
secluded island for yourself such as a well planted patio. Privacy
fencing your entire perimeter is an exercise in futility...

It is not 100% possible to block everything off yes, but it has worked for
our intended purposes.

it's better to be able to see across property lines... if you put up
too nice a fence next thing you know your neighbors will remove and/or
not maintain theirs, and then they will attach stuff to your fence
and/or decorate your fence with what you may think is graffiti. And
soon as they learn what bothers you those are exactly the actions they
will perform, like making loud noise, cooking stinky foods, and even
tossing their discards over. And same as you moved there neighbors
move away and new neighbors move in, and they may redecorate their
property in ways that interfere with your goals. By fencing yourself
into a stockade you are telegraphing your disdain towards neighbors.
Good fences make good neighbors, but only if they're good [neighborly]
fences.

Again I don't understand the logic of assuming my neighbors would cook
stinky food or paint graffiti on my fence simply to annoy me. Each
neighborhood is different, in ours it's unusual to not have fence, and
double fence is quite the norm.

MiamiCuse wrote:


"brooklyn1" wrote in message
...

And soon as they learn what bothers you those are
exactly the actions they will perform, like making loud noise,
cooking stinky foods, and even tossing their discards over.

Again I don't understand the logic of assuming my neighbors would
cook stinky food or paint graffiti on my fence simply to annoy me.

If you had Sheldon as a neighbor, you would too!




Brian

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Day 224 of the "no grouchy usenet posts" project