Our next-door neighbour has a very large house and some 7 acres of
derelict orchard behind it, some of it extending behind our house and
garden. He also runs most of his heating on a wood-fired boiler. In the
past he had his wood store and saw bench halfway down the orchard, but
in the last fortnight he has built a very large woodshed out of derelict
asbestos sheeting right at the bottom of our garden, in full view of our
house (though not his). In the course of building it, he has hacked
(his) laurel hedge between us more or less to the ground and replaced it
with a few tiny saplings. We are becoming reconciled to the thought that
we might have to put up a fence to hide some of the eyesore (it's about
10-12 feet tall), at least from the ground floor....

But the second problem is, he has, in the past, spent a lot of his time
cutting logs on his bench saw, and it used to be bad enough from halfway
through the orchard. Now the woodshed is the obvious place to do it. But
we work from home, and our windows face the back....

We are on friendly terms, and I did ask about the sawing, but I didn't
get an answer and he went ahead with it anyway.

I don't suppose there is much we can do: his land is classified as
agricultural land, so sawing wood is part of the brief, and in any case
we would not like to fall out with them - but short of planting a
forest instead of our garden, is there anything we can do to hide the
eyesore and minimise the noise?

--
Klara, Gatwick basin

On 8/9/07 13:22, in article , "Klara"
wrote:


Our next-door neighbour has a very large house and some 7 acres of
derelict orchard behind it, some of it extending behind our house and
garden. He also runs most of his heating on a wood-fired boiler. In the
past he had his wood store and saw bench halfway down the orchard, but
in the last fortnight he has built a very large woodshed out of derelict
asbestos sheeting right at the bottom of our garden, in full view of our
house (though not his). In the course of building it, he has hacked
(his) laurel hedge between us more or less to the ground and replaced it
with a few tiny saplings. We are becoming reconciled to the thought that
we might have to put up a fence to hide some of the eyesore (it's about
10-12 feet tall), at least from the ground floor....

But the second problem is, he has, in the past, spent a lot of his time
cutting logs on his bench saw, and it used to be bad enough from halfway
through the orchard. Now the woodshed is the obvious place to do it. But
we work from home, and our windows face the back....

We are on friendly terms, and I did ask about the sawing, but I didn't
get an answer and he went ahead with it anyway.

I don't suppose there is much we can do: his land is classified as
agricultural land, so sawing wood is part of the brief, and in any case
we would not like to fall out with them - but short of planting a
forest instead of our garden, is there anything we can do to hide the
eyesore and minimise the noise?

Klara, I would ring up Environmental Health and mention the magic word
'asbestos'.
You could also monitor noise levels when he's sawing or ask him politely to
keep it to certain times and days that affect you least. Keep a diary.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Klara, I would ring up Environmental Health and mention the magic word
'asbestos'.
--
Sacha

What part of

We are on friendly terms, :and and in any case we would not like to
fall out with them -

do you not understand?

Mike


--
www.rneba.org.uk for the latest pictures of the very first reunion and
Inaugural General Meeting. Nothing less than a fantastic success.
The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association.
'THE' Association if you served in the Electrical Branch of the Royal Navy
www.rneba.org.uk to find your ex-Greenie mess mates
www.iowtours.com for all ex-Service Reunions. More being added regularly
"Navy Days" Portsmouth 25th - 27th July 2008. RN Shipmates will have a Stand

I don't suppose there is much we can do: his land is classified as
agricultural land, so sawing wood is part of the brief, and in any case we
would not like to fall out with them - but short of planting a forest
instead of our garden, is there anything we can do to hide the eyesore and
minimise the noise?

--
Klara, Gatwick basin

Depending on the amount of garden space you have, your proximity to the
boundary and what direction is South, I'd be tempted to go for a row of the
dreaded leylandii. It does have it's place depending on the circumstances. I
don't know how much noise they would block out but would be better to look
at than an asbestos shack. There are probably climbers that you could run
through the trees to make them more attractive and help block more noise
too.
The denser and taller the foliage the less the noise.

David.

"David (Normandy)" wrote in message
...
I don't suppose there is much we can do: his land is classified as
agricultural land, so sawing wood is part of the brief, and in any case
we would not like to fall out with them - but short of planting a forest
instead of our garden, is there anything we can do to hide the eyesore
and minimise the noise?

--
Klara, Gatwick basin

Depending on the amount of garden space you have, your proximity to the
boundary and what direction is South, I'd be tempted to go for a row of
the dreaded leylandii. It does have it's place depending on the
circumstances. I don't know how much noise they would block out but would
be better to look at than an asbestos shack. There are probably climbers
that you could run through the trees to make them more attractive and help
block more noise too.
The denser and taller the foliage the less the noise.

David.



a climber like Russian Vine ?

As you say David it depends on distance and space.

Mike


--
www.rneba.org.uk for the latest pictures of the very first reunion and
Inaugural General Meeting. Nothing less than a fantastic success.
The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association.
'THE' Association if you served in the Electrical Branch of the Royal Navy
www.rneba.org.uk to find your ex-Greenie mess mates
www.iowtours.com for all ex-Service Reunions. More being added regularly
"Navy Days" Portsmouth 25th - 27th July 2008. RN Shipmates will have a Stand

In message , Sacha
writes
Klara, I would ring up Environmental Health and mention the magic word
'asbestos'. You could also monitor noise levels when he's sawing or ask
him politely to keep it to certain times and days that affect you
least. Keep a diary.

Thanks, Sacha. We have been so gobsmacked that someone could be so
insensitive that thinking rationally has been difficult. It never
occurred to me that indeed asbestos might well be a magic word here....

The diary is a great idea - though as when he's not sawing at the back
he is hammering in the front, or somewhere, so I envisage quite a tome
;-)


--
Klara, Gatwick basin

In message , "David
(Normandy)" writes
I don't suppose there is much we can do: his land is classified as
agricultural land, so sawing wood is part of the brief, and in any case we
would not like to fall out with them - but short of planting a forest
instead of our garden, is there anything we can do to hide the eyesore and
minimise the noise?

--
Klara, Gatwick basin

Depending on the amount of garden space you have, your proximity to the
boundary and what direction is South, I'd be tempted to go for a row of the
dreaded leylandii. It does have it's place depending on the circumstances. I
don't know how much noise they would block out but would be better to look
at than an asbestos shack. There are probably climbers that you could run
through the trees to make them more attractive and help block more noise
too.
The denser and taller the foliage the less the noise.

David.


They would have to go to our side of the laurel hedge, but we do have
the space. On the other hand, that is our Southern hedge, so we would
have to sacrifice some sun as well.... but that may be a minor problem,
in the grand scheme of things - definitely worth some thought! Thanks,
David!

--
Klara, Gatwick basin

a climber like Russian Vine ?

As you say David it depends on distance and space.

Mike

I don't know if you meant that "tongue in cheek", but strangely, that did
cross my mind. I had one at a previous house and have planted one here in
France too. It very much depends on the circumstances as to how appropriate
such a fast growing, large, climber is. Here we have a huge, 100 feet long,
two storey, derelict stone barn and this year I planted several vigorous
climbers with the intention of converting it into a "romantic ruin"
completely covered with climbers, including a Russian vine, clematis Montana
(both the white and pink), an Alba plus several other large varieties who's
names escape me at the moment. Also planted honeysuckle, wisteria, virgina
creepers and a passion flower. Hopefully, between them, they will encase the
entire barn after a few years and smother it in foliage and flowers. It
should be quite spectacular.

David.

On 8/9/07 14:55, in article , "David
(Normandy)" wrote:

a climber like Russian Vine ?

As you say David it depends on distance and space.

Mike

I don't know if you meant that "tongue in cheek", but strangely, that did
cross my mind. I had one at a previous house and have planted one here in
France too. It very much depends on the circumstances as to how appropriate
such a fast growing, large, climber is. Here we have a huge, 100 feet long,
two storey, derelict stone barn and this year I planted several vigorous
climbers with the intention of converting it into a "romantic ruin"
completely covered with climbers, including a Russian vine, clematis Montana
(both the white and pink), an Alba plus several other large varieties who's
names escape me at the moment. Also planted honeysuckle, wisteria, virgina
creepers and a passion flower. Hopefully, between them, they will encase the
entire barn after a few years and smother it in foliage and flowers. It
should be quite spectacular.

David.

If the Russian vine let's everything else thrive. It really is a monster!
I would never use it myself but in the OP's case, given that she's looking
into someone else's garden from her own, I think using one of those would
give nothing but trouble to both parties. He won't be too happy when his
new sapling hedging is eaten by the Russian vine......

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

"David (Normandy)" wrote in message
...
a climber like Russian Vine ?

As you say David it depends on distance and space.

Mike

I don't know if you meant that "tongue in cheek", but strangely, that did
cross my mind. I had one at a previous house and have planted one here in
France too. It very much depends on the circumstances as to how
appropriate such a fast growing, large, climber is. Here we have a huge,
100 feet long, two storey, derelict stone barn and this year I planted
several vigorous climbers with the intention of converting it into a
"romantic ruin" completely covered with climbers, including a Russian
vine, clematis Montana (both the white and pink), an Alba plus several
other large varieties who's names escape me at the moment. Also planted
honeysuckle, wisteria, virgina creepers and a passion flower. Hopefully,
between them, they will encase the entire barn after a few years and
smother it in foliage and flowers. It should be quite spectacular.

David.


No David it wasn't tongue in cheek really. As I said, it depends on distance
and space.

I was over in England last weekend and whilst out on a coach trip I had laid
on for the members, we saw a beautiful hedge which had Russian Vine growing
through and over it. In another instance, we have a long 6 ft high chain
link fence between Marks and Sparks and Matilan, "covered" in Russian Vine.
Looks wonderful and of course can be controlled.

Mike


--
www.rneba.org.uk for the latest pictures of the very first reunion and
Inaugural General Meeting. Nothing less than a fantastic success.
The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association.
'THE' Association if you served in the Electrical Branch of the Royal Navy
www.rneba.org.uk to find your ex-Greenie mess mates
www.iowtours.com for all ex-Service Reunions. More being added regularly
"Navy Days" Portsmouth 25th - 27th July 2008. RN Shipmates will have a Stand

I don't know if you meant that "tongue in cheek", but strangely, that did
cross my mind. I had one at a previous house and have planted one here in
France too. It very much depends on the circumstances as to how appropriate
such a fast growing, large, climber is. Here we have a huge, 100 feet long,
two storey, derelict stone barn and this year I planted several vigorous
climbers with the intention of converting it into a "romantic ruin"
completely covered with climbers, including a Russian vine, clematis Montana
(both the white and pink), an Alba plus several other large varieties who's
names escape me at the moment. Also planted honeysuckle, wisteria, virgina
creepers and a passion flower. Hopefully, between them, they will encase the
entire barn after a few years and smother it in foliage and flowers. It
should be quite spectacular.

David.


If the Russian vine let's everything else thrive. It really is a
monster! I would never use it myself but in the OP's case, given that
she's looking into someone else's garden from her own, I think using
one of those would give nothing but trouble to both parties. He won't
be too happy when his new sapling hedging is eaten by the Russian
vine......

--
Sacha

Well, Russian vine was my first thought, speedily rejected ... but
while contemplating it, I came across Fallopia baldschuanica "Pink
Flamingo", billed as being only half as vigorous as the ordinary one,
and listed he

http://www.prideofplaceplants.com/vi..._flamingo.html

Doesn't seem to be available anywhere but this one nursery, though, as
far as I can make out....

Would you and Ray know anything about them?

--
Klara, Gatwick basin

On 8/9/07 14:45, in article , "Klara"
wrote:

In message , Sacha
writes
Klara, I would ring up Environmental Health and mention the magic word
'asbestos'. You could also monitor noise levels when he's sawing or ask
him politely to keep it to certain times and days that affect you
least. Keep a diary.

Thanks, Sacha. We have been so gobsmacked that someone could be so
insensitive that thinking rationally has been difficult. It never
occurred to me that indeed asbestos might well be a magic word here....

I'd think so. It seems to me that while you're keen to keep good relations
with your neighbour, he's taking thorough advantage of your good natures!
He doesn't appear to be at all concerned about the effect his actions are
having on your lives and these things surely have to work two ways.

The diary is a great idea - though as when he's not sawing at the back
he is hammering in the front, or somewhere, so I envisage quite a tome
;-)

I was advised to do this when I had a neighbour that put a dog out at around
4am and left it there for hours to bark and bark to come in. She was, in
fact, a bit bonkers and the local police had a very thick file on her. But
the EH people told me that the keeping of the diary was essential. One of
our family was told the same thing when she had a neighbour who delighted in
waking her up in the small hours, making all sorts of unnecessary noise.
It's even possible to buy - or possibly hire - a monitor that will record
decibel levels.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Reading these stories aren't I just glad that I have superb neighbours both
sides, front and back (my grounds go through to the next road), but then I
am nice to my neighbours and allow 'live and let live'. Just what do you
people do to upset them and cause trouble and strife? Don't you talk and
laugh with them? Do you go out of your way to antagonise them? When I go
away my neighbours have a set of keys, come in and clear the post, open
windows to make the place look lived in and aired and when they go away we
do the same for them and feed their cats. (That caused a laugh when certain
persons unknown sent the RSPCA round to us :-))

We don't make a noise to annoy the neighbours. DO YOU?
We don't have bonfires to annoy the neighbours. DO YOU?
We don't leave engines running to annoy the neighbours. DO YOU?
If we see junk mail sticking out of a neighbours letter box for
tooooooooooooooooo long, we either shove it through or bring it home. DO
YOU?
I have owned property for over 50 years and have ALWAYS got on with my
neighbours HAVE YOU?

Seems a lot of people take a great delight in saying what an evil person I
am. I think a few people should look to their own laurels. What is the
saying, "People in glass houses...."?

Kindest regards

Mike


--
www.rneba.org.uk for the latest pictures of the very first reunion and
Inaugural General Meeting. Nothing less than a fantastic success.
The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association.
'THE' Association if you served in the Electrical Branch of the Royal Navy
www.rneba.org.uk to find your ex-Greenie mess mates
www.iowtours.com for all ex-Service Reunions. More being added regularly
"Navy Days" Portsmouth 25th - 27th July 2008. RN Shipmates will have a Stand




"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...
On 8/9/07 14:45, in article ,
"Klara"
wrote:

In message , Sacha
writes
Klara, I would ring up Environmental Health and mention the magic word
'asbestos'. You could also monitor noise levels when he's sawing or ask
him politely to keep it to certain times and days that affect you
least. Keep a diary.

Thanks, Sacha. We have been so gobsmacked that someone could be so
insensitive that thinking rationally has been difficult. It never
occurred to me that indeed asbestos might well be a magic word here....

I'd think so. It seems to me that while you're keen to keep good
relations
with your neighbour, he's taking thorough advantage of your good natures!
He doesn't appear to be at all concerned about the effect his actions are
having on your lives and these things surely have to work two ways.

The diary is a great idea - though as when he's not sawing at the back
he is hammering in the front, or somewhere, so I envisage quite a tome
;-)

I was advised to do this when I had a neighbour that put a dog out at
around
4am and left it there for hours to bark and bark to come in. She was, in
fact, a bit bonkers and the local police had a very thick file on her.
But
the EH people told me that the keeping of the diary was essential. One of
our family was told the same thing when she had a neighbour who delighted
in
waking her up in the small hours, making all sorts of unnecessary noise.
It's even possible to buy - or possibly hire - a monitor that will record
decibel levels.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

On 8/9/07 15:29, in article , "Klara"
wrote:
snip
Well, Russian vine was my first thought, speedily rejected ... but
while contemplating it, I came across Fallopia baldschuanica "Pink
Flamingo", billed as being only half as vigorous as the ordinary one,
and listed he

http://www.prideofplaceplants.com/vi..._flamingo.html

Doesn't seem to be available anywhere but this one nursery, though, as
far as I can make out....

Would you and Ray know anything about them?

It's not one that we have and none of us has heard of it. Proceed with
caution would be my advice! ;-) My reservations about leylandii are
always great but if you're going to lose sun and space, I really would think
again. I realise you would trim it etc. but its roots would take a lot of
goodness from the soil and shade the sunniest part of your garden. Would
beech do the trick? Although slower growing, they keep their leaves on if
kept at a height of about 9', even though the leaves go brown.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

If the Russian vine let's everything else thrive. It really is a monster!
I would never use it myself but in the OP's case, given that she's looking
into someone else's garden from her own, I think using one of those would
give nothing but trouble to both parties. He won't be too happy when his
new sapling hedging is eaten by the Russian vine......

--
Sacha

I planted the Russian vine in the least favourable position of all the
climbers. The barn faces South so the sun lovers are all on that side. The
passion flower is loving it's position. The Russian vine was relegated to
the North facing side of the building. It put on quite a spurt initially
reaching the top of the wall (about 20 feet) then strangely has stopped
growing with a number of it's leaves turning rust or red coloured. It is
almost as though it has decided it has grown enough for one year or that
Autumn is here so time to throttle back.

The roof of the barn (what remains of it) is huge and very steep, covered in
rusty corrugated tin sheets. I'm hoping that at least one of the climbers
will be able to tolerate growing over them without baking in the Summer sun.
The rusty tin sheets are really ugly. I may post a photo some time - the
barn is quite a monstrosity at the moment. The weathered stone walls and
ancient wooden doors / windows have charm but the tin sheets completely
spoil the look. Needless to say the barn is beyond renovation. It would cost
a fortune to do anything with and is not financially viable. So a "romantic
ruin" is it's only future as it slowly crumbles away.

David.