Good fences . . .

A number of years ago the young couple who lived behind us announced they were getting a dog — and thus needed to fence their yard. To our surprise they wanted our advice on what kind of fence they might get. They wanted something that would not detract from Mark's beautiful Asian-influenced fence (below) that separated our two properties. We talked about possibilities over a glass of wine and gave them a couple of books that had inspired Mark. 

We were so pleased with the fencing they added that we hired the same company and extended it into our garden on the side that had ancient wire fencing. Last year we added similar fencing in the front garden. Nothing fancy; it will fade and blend into the landscape and give me a nice backdrop for planting. 

Imagine our surprise when we looked out from our usual chairs into the garden late Wednesday afternoon. We could suddenly see a blinding bright light in a back yard a couple of houses east of us on the street behind us. At first we thought it was a huge "pod" structure. But when we looked closer this is what we saw. 

The properties behind us are all higher on the slope that runs down to our property. So this solid white plastic fence is extremely visible from a distance — visible right into our living room. I took this photo through our garden fence across two neighbor's properties. 

Mark is already trying to decide what we can plant to hide that view. I figure the fence should be less visible this winter when it snows and everything is white. At least we don't live directly next door to the fence. I'm afraid I would be hard pressed to be polite about such a visual monstrosity running along my garden. If only they had gone with a picket fence, I'd be a lot less frustrated. 

Comments

[Kristin]

There are plenty of reasons not to like HOAs, but I am glad that ours does not permit such fences!! Good luck with the planting screen.

[Linda Brazill]

KRISTIN — ​I also remember reading that solid fences inhibit air flow which is bad for plants and also makes a fence more vulnerable to wind storms. Maybe it will blow over. Of course, I'm sure they'd just put it up again. ​They're probably very nice people . . .

[hb]

Oh, my. That's soooo bright, and not in a good way. Plus, plastic. :(

[Kris P]

Ugh! I hate white plastic fences.

[ceci]

I've never had occasion to price this kind of fence - I wonder what the appeal is? Cheapest possible option? Around here it would quickly get stained with sap dropping from tulip poplars, which would vastly improve things but perhaps not what the perpetrator envisioned.

Ceci

[Elizabeth]

Some people just ain't got no taste, eh? I'm seeing lots of them. People like those vinyl fences because they're relatively inexpensive, supposed to last forever, and are maintence free. Plus they think they're attractive. I know. I've asked them. The people I've talked to are quite proud of them. I shudder, and dream instead of beautiful stone walls with half-moon gates. At least there aren't any vehicular carcasses in the front yard.

[Linda Brazill]

ELIZABETH — The fact that they like them may be the saddest part. I'm with you on stone walls. The first time we visited Vermont we stopped constantly to take pictures of walls, stone piles, rocks etc. We don't have the same type of rocks here so it's rare to find nice stone walls unless they are cut stone which is not the same thing at all. 

[Linda Brazill]

CECI — Maybe the nearby maple tree will drip on it. I can only hope. Ha.

[Susan Adler Sobol]

I once had neighbors with a chain link fence (for security reasons I assume - it was a large estate property frequently on the Garden Conservancy tours) which they tastefully covered with woven willow panels. I can't think of the proper term for woven willow. They must have been exorbitantly expensive. I had some small dividers of the same material that I used in my vegetable garden. I would bring them in every fall so they wouldn't deteriorate as quickly.

[Linda Brazill]

SUSAN — We had a neighbor whose fence was wire, not chain link, more like big chicken wire. Old, rusty and not that great to look at. We used some kind of willow panels to cover  parts of it. Nothing fancy and definitely temporary. They didn't last long and spurred us to think about something permanent that would be a nice addition to the property. His old wire fence is still there on the other side of our wood fence.

[Christine]

When Robert Frost wrote “Good fences make good neighbors”, he definitely did not envision this type of fence!
Yes, it’s a good reason to hope for an early snowfall…or at least a few days of dense fog.

[danger garden]

When I was a kid I remember thinking my parents were so old and cranky because they would complain about neighbors doing similar things. Now I get it! That's just horrid.