Hiding from Your Neighbor: Adding a Living Fence

Reader Contribution by Lois Hoffman
Published on April 8, 2020
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by Adobestock/vectorass

You get along great with your neighbors…or maybe not. Either way, it’s always nice to have some privacy when you want to grill out, have friends over or just hang out in your space.

Living in the country all of my life, I hadn’t realized that this could be an issue until a friend who lives in the city brought it up recently. Where she lives, the houses are very close together and she mentioned how sad it was that they never used their back yard simply because of no privacy.

Being the curious person that I am, I did some checking and was amazed at how many different ways there are to make your space well, your space. With a privacy fence, you can be as elaborate or as frugal as you like and you can customize the look to fit your existing décor.

There is an old saying that fences make good neighbors. I think this was originally meant for fencing in livestock but it applies here too. Before building any kind of fence or boundary, it would be wise to talk to your neighbors, especially if you are on good terms with them. You certainly don’t want them to think that they have offended you in any way.

It just may turn out that they have been wishing for a bit more privacy too. In this case, you could agree on what type of structure to build and they could also use it on their side for hanging potted plants or other decorative pieces. It could be that they may even offer to split the cost of material or offer labor to help construct it. Wouldn’t that be nice!

Probably the most popular privacy borders are living ones. Various shrubs and plants make great borders because they still let you feel that you are a part of nature. Spirea, forsythia, holly and lilacs are good choices because they grow close together and tall enough to be effective.

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