Since I have two neighbors who believe in living life at full
volume on their back decks, I really can sympathize . . . we've
got birches, willows, poplars, red twig dogwood, olive, grape
vines, and burning bush all planted to help with the view . . .
wish we could do something about the noise -- why on EARTH would
someone want to discuss the intimate details of their finances /
sex lives where the whole neighborhood can hear?

Well some people don't think anyone else is listening - you might try
commenting on what they are saying sometime, to someone on your side of the
hedge. "Oh man - did you hear that? Someone actually invested in X??"

As for the music, I have people on one side that have kids who have outdoor
speakers. They also listen to (c)rap music. I have found that by pulling my own
speakers out and listening to something like Wagner at full attack volume, they
get the message pretty quick and turn the volume down. For the ones that have
all night parties and go to bed at 9 AM, I find a 9:15 start time works well.

I haven't had to resort to full volume Art Zoyd yet (I think it might kill the
hedge), but am prepared for the worst!

I wouldn't plant a line of just one tree or shrub. A blend of things will
look better and be more resistant to devastation by insects or varying
conditions.

--
-- pelirojaroja

Please ignore anti-spam address. Email pelirojaroja @ yahoo-dot-com
-----------------------------------------------

"Starlord" wrote in message
...
While I hate this idea because I'm an Astronomer, I'd put up some 1,000
watt
floodlamps aimed right at them and put a elec.eye on them so that was the
sun
went down, the lights would come up, thus the full glare of light would be
blinding to them.


--
"In this universe the night was falling,the shadows were lengthening
towards an east that would not know another dawn.
But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning
lingered: and along the path he once had followed, man would one day go
again."

Arthur C. Clarke, The City & The Stars

SIAR
www.starlords.org
Freelance Writers Shop
http://www.freelancewrittersshop.netfirms.com
Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord

"walms" wrote in message
...
Hi folks,

I'm in a suburb in southern Ontario. We decided to buy a house that
backs
onto conservation to get a little more privacy than the standard lot
would
offer. Everything was great until our next door neigbour decides to
install
a patio door and 2nd floor deck off the back of their house with a full
view
of our back yard!!! (which wouldn't be so bad if they had a better past
time
than watching us swim).
As the old saying goes, tall fences make for good neighbours... I'm
looking
for a 15' fence! unfortunately the local bylaw will only allow for 6'.

Any good suggestions? It seems to be popular to go white cedar, but I'm
not
totally impressed with the look. I have to cover about a 30' length.

I've done a couple of searches and came up with a few names:

Hungarian lilac
Spartan juniper
English laurel
Red elder
Siberian pea shrub
tall hedge buckthorn
Russian olive

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance




---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.515 / Virus Database: 313 - Release Date: 9/1/03

In our case we have a neighbor who's son had a band and liked to practice
all day and nearly all night. The band liked to play the anti-police rap
trash. Till the police showed up. The police had to pull their car up to
and touching the garage door and blast their siren to be heard. Since then,
no problem And I'm not saying who called the police We have another
neighbor who put their security light so that it comes on every time a car
drives by and shines into my parents bedroom window. My dad went over and
moved it a tiny bit. No one said anything and everything is fine

Shell


"Bill Spohn" wrote in message
...
Since I have two neighbors who believe in living life at full
volume on their back decks, I really can sympathize . . . we've
got birches, willows, poplars, red twig dogwood, olive, grape
vines, and burning bush all planted to help with the view . . .
wish we could do something about the noise -- why on EARTH would
someone want to discuss the intimate details of their finances /
sex lives where the whole neighborhood can hear?

Well some people don't think anyone else is listening - you might try
commenting on what they are saying sometime, to someone on your side of
the
hedge. "Oh man - did you hear that? Someone actually invested in X??"

As for the music, I have people on one side that have kids who have
outdoor
speakers. They also listen to (c)rap music. I have found that by pulling
my own
speakers out and listening to something like Wagner at full attack volume,
they
get the message pretty quick and turn the volume down. For the ones that
have
all night parties and go to bed at 9 AM, I find a 9:15 start time works
well.

I haven't had to resort to full volume Art Zoyd yet (I think it might kill
the
hedge), but am prepared for the worst!

Shell91 wrote:
As for the music, I have people on one side that have kids who have
outdoor speakers. They also listen to (c)rap music. I have found
that by pulling my own speakers out and listening to something like
Wagner at full attack volume, they get the message pretty quick and
turn the volume down. For the ones that have all night parties and
go to bed at 9 AM, I find a 9:15 start time works well. I haven't
had to resort to full volume Art Zoyd yet (I think it might kill
the hedge), but am prepared for the worst!



Avant Garde music, like George Crumb, "Music for Amplified Piano" or
somesuch. I have some old LP's of his that are wonderfully awful. :-)

Best regards,
Bob

--
"Stealing a Rhinoceros should not be attempted lightly" --Kehlog Albran

Frogleg wrote:
Any good suggestions?

Keep y'r swimsuits on.

I was thinking along the lines of going on vacation, and hiring some
people with, how shall I say this, aesthetically unpleasing bodies do
some nude house & pool sitting.

But all these retaliatory things aren't going to do a lot of good unless
you get your jollies by being at war with the neighbors. Just as you
want to use your pool, they probably want to use their deck. Next year
they might be posting here asking for advice on what to do about the
screening you put up.

Did they build it only to look in your yard? Is there any other reason
they might have built it? Is the view beyond your yard beautiful? Or are
they just voyeurs? Have you talked to them about why they built the
deck, and how it makes you so uncomfortable?

Ultimately you may find that you need to either alter the way you use
your backyard, alter your attitude about being watched by these people
in your backyard, or move.


--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Blatant Plug:
Support me at: http://www.holzemville.com/mall/

On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 17:03:32 GMT, "Warren"
wrote:

But all these retaliatory things aren't going to do a lot of good unless
you get your jollies by being at war with the neighbors. Just as you
want to use your pool, they probably want to use their deck. Next year
they might be posting here asking for advice on what to do about the
screening you put up.

Did they build it only to look in your yard? Is there any other reason
they might have built it? Is the view beyond your yard beautiful? Or are
they just voyeurs? Have you talked to them about why they built the
deck, and how it makes you so uncomfortable?

Ultimately you may find that you need to either alter the way you use
your backyard, alter your attitude about being watched by these people
in your backyard, or move.

Way too reasonable, Warren. :-) I agree completely. I can't imagine
building a deck strictly to view one neighbor's pool, but who knows?
There are plenty of movies about feuding neighbors involved in
sucessively more silly (and expensive) counter-measures for
often-forgotten original causes. Living with neighbors includes, well,
living with neighbors. They object to your landscape/practices; you
object to theirs. It's the price we pay for not being solitary
animals. My neighbor on the left is very messy, but doesn't object if
I clean up spill-overs. My neighbor on the right is awfully tidy, but
doesn't try to tidy me up. Much. I'd rather have friendly relations
with both than my lawsuit-insured vision of perfection within my
property lines.

On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 10:49:54 -0500, zxcvbob
wrote:

Shell91 wrote:
As for the music, I have people on one side that have kids who have
outdoor speakers. They also listen to (c)rap music. I have found
that by pulling my own speakers out and listening to something like
Wagner at full attack volume, they get the message pretty quick and
turn the volume down. For the ones that have all night parties and
go to bed at 9 AM, I find a 9:15 start time works well. I haven't
had to resort to full volume Art Zoyd yet (I think it might kill
the hedge), but am prepared for the worst!

Avant Garde music, like George Crumb, "Music for Amplified Piano" or
somesuch. I have some old LP's of his that are wonderfully awful. :-)

Most urban/suburban areas have noise/time restrictions that are fairly
easy to invoke. The first line of defense is, of course, asking the
offenders (or the offenders' parents) to tone it down. My own opinion
is that anyone is entitled to a couple of loud, late, annoying parties
a year. If they become a regular feature, I complain first to the
residents, and then to the cops. "Dueling stereos" is, IMHO,
counter-productive. I really prefer working from a moral high ground.
That is, *I* am entirely blameless, but am suffering awfully from the
excesses of others. And hope no one remembers the night I felt obliged
to play Bach organ fugues at full volume.

Bill Spohn wrote:

Since I have two neighbors who believe in living life at full
volume on their back decks, I really can sympathize . . . we've
got birches, willows, poplars, red twig dogwood, olive, grape
vines, and burning bush all planted to help with the view . . .
wish we could do something about the noise -- why on EARTH would
someone want to discuss the intimate details of their finances /
sex lives where the whole neighborhood can hear?

Well some people don't think anyone else is listening - you might try
commenting on what they are saying sometime, to someone on your side of the
hedge. "Oh man - did you hear that? Someone actually invested in X??"

Unfortunately, with one set of these neighbors, it's more like
which of them -- there is a rotating population of about 9
adults who live in the house -- is currently being hounded by the
collection agencies. Or, and I kid you not, whether it's the
eldest son's wife's or girlfriend's turn to sleep with him. I
don't think they HAVE any shame! The police are there about once
a month to arrest someone on a DV complaint . . . oh, well, I
guess every neighborhood needs one to keep life from getting so
peaceful that you veg out. The other pair -- admittedly only a
couple of times a year -- get monumentally shloshed and either
conduct an all-out shouting match or, what is actually worse,
start serenading each other. Because we live out in the county,
getting police response on a noise complaint is a joke.

Chris Owens




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Zemedelec wrote:

I suppose a group marriage or polyamory doesn't fit the situation.
zemedelec

Huh?

Chris Owens




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What do you all think of a mounding earth first and then putting the fence?
This would give her the privacy within a year rather than waiting for the
trees to grow in? Of course, drainage would have to be considered in the
design.

"gregpresley" wrote in message
...
Well, you do have the option of hedges, plants, vines, or trees that drop
their leaves, because I"m assuming that in ontario you will only be using
your pool in summer. That does broaden your possibilities. If you are set
on
an evergreen hedge, some people have used blue spruces as a hedging
plant -
they grow right to the ground and will grow into one another - maybe space
them 7 -10 feet apart - you might only need 3 or 4. However, they are slow
growing, so you'd probably need to spring for some big bucks to get more
mature specimens.
I like the idea one of the posters said, of building a little pergola,
trellis, or summer house between the deck next door and your pool area.
Done
well, this would also provide a lovely sitting area for you after your
swims......with lots of lovely vines coming through and around - grapes,
wisteria, silver lace vine, climbing hydrangea - you name it.
"walms" wrote in message
...
Hi folks,

I'm in a suburb in southern Ontario. We decided to buy a house that
backs
onto conservation to get a little more privacy than the standard lot
would
offer. Everything was great until our next door neigbour decides to
install
a patio door and 2nd floor deck off the back of their house with a full
view
of our back yard!!! (which wouldn't be so bad if they had a better past
time
than watching us swim).
As the old saying goes, tall fences make for good neighbours... I'm
looking
for a 15' fence! unfortunately the local bylaw will only allow for 6'.

Any good suggestions? It seems to be popular to go white cedar, but I'm
not
totally impressed with the look. I have to cover about a 30' length.

I've done a couple of searches and came up with a few names:

Hungarian lilac
Spartan juniper
English laurel
Red elder
Siberian pea shrub
tall hedge buckthorn
Russian olive

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance

On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 19:16:26 -0400, "GIJane"
wrote:

What do you all think of a mounding earth first and then putting the fence?
This would give her the privacy within a year rather than waiting for the
trees to grow in? Of course, drainage would have to be considered in the
design.

============================snip!================ ================
I tried that. If your city is like the hole where I live, the
bureaucrats, beancounters, buttinsky neighbors, and other low-lifes
will yell. Seems that here, at least, the grade of the property is
registered and fences are measured from 'established grade', not from
a mound of dirt that I carefully piled up to make my 8' fence reach
12'.
you might want to check for zoning restrictions before you break a
sweat, like _I_ didn't :(

Eastern Tennessee......................madgardener
"JNJ" wrote in message
news
Sue in Mi. Zone 5
(Right in the middle of 20 secluded acres.)

Must be nice to have that kind of money (or to have gotten in early,
before
it became so expensive). Not many places you can get something like that
for a reasonable cost these days.

James

Thanks for the entertaining posts folks! Nothing would please me more than
moving to a secluded area. I was raised on a 250-acre farm so the idea of
living in the burbs will probably take a lifetime to get used to.
Unfortunately, moving to the boondocks is not an option anytime soon.

There is an existing 6-foot fence that separates our properties but it is
located in a swale giving me about 4 feet of privacy. The good news is this
area gets all the run-off, which should help vigorous growth. I really don't
have a clue about how to classify my soil; my best guess would a mixture of
loam and clay. The area gets full sun all day and I'm not concerned about
privacy in the winter months.

At the moment I'm leaning towards a row of deciduous trees. I did the trig
and confirmed that the ideal height would be about 14 feet.

Anyways, thanks for the comments.



New list...



Pergola

Laylandii

Cannon Balls

Amur Maple

Shot Gun

Pussy Willow

Barberry

walms wrote:


At the moment I'm leaning towards a row of deciduous trees. I did the trig
and confirmed that the ideal height would be about 14 feet.

I'll bet Pyracanthas will grow that tallG. Mine are 9' right now.

Not many places you can get something like that
for a reasonable cost these days.

James

If you don't mind heat and humidity, try Louisiana. Low land and real estate
prices away from the urban centers, lots of interesting wildlife, some of which
regards you as a snack/threat (think alligators and water moccasins) long
growing season for vegetables and ornamentals.
zemedelec