new fences

Fran! This is great! What a bonus! Pity about the gap, but you'll sort that out in no time. Now you have a really lovely boundary on both sides! :)

lol and if I keep my al fresco activities close to the lower fence, then even if she comes out I should still be private - I'll be able to work on my "seamless suntan" without having to keep one eye open all the time!

Bliss....roll on springtime eh Fran?!

lol yes indeed! this year was the first summer in my own garden, and I'm going to be ready for it next year

I am so looking forward to being able to ENJOY mine next year Fran! I was so busy in it this year that I hardly had time to reflect. My own fault entirely...kid with sweets again...but I am pleased I did it nonetheless, as from now on there will be a lot more time for reading, enjoying the sun, swinging in the hammock and drinking in all the colours!....that is if we get any nice weather! ;)

there's no time to rest and relax in the first year, so much to do, no time to chill. I'm as bad re kid wiht sweets; how can you sit there and do nothing but observe where the sun rises, which parts get sun, and when, and how much, for a hole YEAR!!!

Not me Fran!! :)) you've been extraordinarily patient. The best I could do was two days....and that was only because we were so busy emptying boxes indoors!

What great new fences - and if they are a bit lower that does mean more light for your plants. I used to enjoy chatting to neighbours over the fence but its not really possible here - privacy has its good points but so does neighbourliness - but we nearly always had lovely neighbours and that makes a difference. If you need to sunbathe in private why not get one of those wind screens meant for the beach?

lol Karen, most of my hesitation was trying to find out what the plants wre! still several unknowns. And I only got my books on the shelves last month, been boxed over a yrea, got some I'd forgotten I had - and that's another reason for staying in.

It's a shame in a way, Strea, but it's also a lot easier: I do'nt have to brace myself when I go outside if they're already outside, in case they feel chatty; i don't have to try not to look at that side of the garden cos i couldn't help seeing beyond it into theirs.

we've still got our front gardens, separated by a bed down the middle, so we could still chat, though it's not likely either of us would choose to sit out in front on a warm day!

the previous place was the first time I had any outdoor space, and the neighbours to each side wren't particuarly friendly - nor the ones upstairs, judging by their rubbish i had to pick up on an almost daily basis!

lol that was one reason I was so nervous here: never had nice neighbours, didn't want to do the wrong thing and alienate them right from the start.

Your neighbours look to have done a good job there Fran. Now perhaps you could consider painting your side or what plants could be used to 'beautify' it.
As for neighbours ours are fine, except for one exception. We live in a bungalow and our bedroom window overlooks the back garden and especially the birdtable. In a morning, I get up first and make a mug of tea for both my OH and myself, which I bring back to bed. We then like to pull back one of the curtains, sit up in bed and while drinking our tea, watch the birds visit the table and meanwhile plan our day (the joys of being retired) Unfortunately, this is often spoilt if our neighbour comes out into his backyard (his garden is fully flagged) to go to the shed or the garage. He always makes a point of looking in at our bedroom window, which I not only find intrusive but also rude. When I've told some friends about this situation, they've suggested I should wave to him, but I can't bring myself to do it. I'm considering vertical venetian blinds, but that will obstruct not only his view, but ours too. Sorry to highjack your blog Fran, to have a moan. Keep on enjoying your garden :)

I would go for the Verticals,Julia..at least you can angle them..but maybe the way you did angle them ,would be the wrong way,and you would see both your Bird table and your Neighbour ? in that case,you could raise your cups and shout cheers!,or do what my mum did once,whilst we were eating a meal.Our table was in front of a window,and a nosy neighbour always watched from her bedroom window .Mum went out and asked if she would like to come inside and look out for a change ! Lol ..I was mortified,but it worked :o) Sorry to hijack too Fran...your neighbours are probably very nice,but if you have had bad experiences with previous ones,I can see how you feel..but most are nice,if maybe you could make the first move..Maybe the last person who lived there,wasn't a good neighbour either? once bitten,as they say..:o)

Being a short person I could not see over some of your new fencing in places Fran. A lot of older persons don't do outside much. It looks very good and, as said, a low fence equals more light. It all looks better than when you first moved there Fran. All in all, it looks a very well kept little developement for older people. Shame it is so isolating for the badly sighted and non drivers.

New fencing looks good Fran and as it came as a freebie thats an added bonus....

Just had another look Fran - what happened to that rather nice cotoneaster with the red berries? Can't see it on the second pic. (or is that a different place?)

@ Waddy – It was the HA that put in the fences, the fence it replaced was put in by the neighbours; he told me he’d never put up a fence before, and on sloping ground, too …
I had thought of painting my side of both fences, but the thought didn’t stay long! Not sure what colour, but I saw another GoYer’s “before and after”, and they used forest green paint, so that’s what I’d go for – blur the fence into the plantings.
Sorry to hear about your neighbour (there’s always one, isn’t there?!) To deliberately look into someone else’s window is rude indeed; invasion of privacy. Lol you could wave to him with just two fingers! Or do the same to him, go down your garden and stare at his windows, see how he likes it – he might get the point, though I doubt it. You can buy self-adhesive window film to tint the windows; not sure how much you’d be able to see out, though. Could you get a tall fence all the way along? (there were two tall panels near the house when I moved in, the rest was lower)
No probs about hijacking convo!
Next time the handymen come here, they’re going to make me a new bed-frame, using the slats from my old one, which is creaking like a galleon under full sail! Still, it’s been through three moves with me, so not surprising.
For some idiot reason, the bedrooms face west, and the front of the house, the lounge faces east and the back garden, which means that I have to have the curtains closed at night to keep the street light out and for privacy, and I never get any sunshine in either room (the rooms do but I don’t!). So I’m going to have the bedroom at the back, and the bed under the window, to double as a window seat; then I’ll get early-morning sun and be able to watch the birds (if I can get my binoculars set up!)

@ Bloomer – vertical planting sounds a good idea, if they can be trained to spread upper branches to make a sort of higher fence panel. Lol your mum! Watching people eat is so rude, and so off-putting for the victim (I had a long weekend at an RNIB hotel, and the other person at my table would sit there even after she’d finished and watch every move I made, her gaze following my fork up and down … got to the stage where I waited until ten minutes before they stopped serving, just so I could eat in peace).
Most people are nice … if given the chance to prove it. But it only takes one ratbag to make them sour.

@ Dorjac – the woman on the other side of me, with the shorter fencing, has only been out in her garden once – well, I’ve only seen her once. We had a chat, which was nice; she said she’d had a stroke and didn’t go outside much. But if I keep any “risqué” activities close to that fence, it should be safe enough even if she does come out.
I suppose I should do an annual round-up, then and now, and will if I can remember where I stood when taking the first lot of pics, so the second are from similar angles!
Lol being without a car is a disability itself, these days! I’ll have to get a toy-boy with a car …
The estate is run by Anchor HA, which has a couple of residential homes in town, to which we sometimes get invited, but there’s nothing actually *on* the estate for social gatherings, which is a shame.

@ Lincs – thanks, dear. You’re right: I did ask the handyman, when he came to repair the fence panel that had blown down, about getting the rest of it fenced: he said at least a couple of hundred quid. Nice to know I don’t have to spend that now!

@ Stera – same place, ten out of ten for observation! The cotoneaster was growing in the space between the old wooden fence on her side and the chicken-wire on my side; at least that’s where the stem led. As the blokes had to take both fences out, it didn’t survive. The stem was badly constricted by coming through the chicken-wire, and I don't suppose the roots had a lot of space, either

Thats a pity Fran. If its still around you can grow new ones quite readily from the seeds, and cuttings take easily too. Its an amenable shrub as its happy being trained flat. against a wall. If you haven't got the seeds any more i could send you some if you like.

I think you're wise deciding not to paint the fence. It will soon darken and be less noticeable.

sadly the blokes who installed the fence cleared up thoroughly; mind you, there'd probably have been complaints if htey hadn't! I still have long thin stems growing through the chicken wire at the bottom of the garden; only one fencfe there, but the mesh still constrains them.

It was inertia, rather than any deliberate decision,not to paint the fences. They look nice and fresh as they are, and i don't know how I'd get behind hte shurbs, as I'd have to to avoid patchwork. mind you, given my ision, it'd be patchwork anyway.

Hi Fran... added blog to GoYpedia :o)

Those fences look great, really sturdy. I must admit I like high fences (a bit of a recluse when in the garden I suppose!) but any fence is better than none :)

thanks TT!

Thanks Gee - I like privacy, I'm a bit paranoid about invading other people's privacy even by accident, so I can feel double secure now.

I asked the bloke how long they'd last (when i was thinking of getting them myself) - he said they'd last twenty years, "long enough to see you out" and I said "Oi!"

Cheeky chappie :)

I was a tad peeved ...

And well you might be!

lol young people ... anyone in their 20s or even 30s can't imagine anyone as ancient as me lasting long.