Our Changed View.

Such a shame about your view Spritz but at least you now have an idea what a double wall would look like ! It would'nt need to be too high unless the neighbours are keeping large animals-perish the thought ! A low boundary wall could be planted with lots of trailing plants and still look lovely. Well done with the troughs I hope the neighbours approve :0)

What a novel idea. At least you can have something good looking while you wait. Seems kinda counter-productive to require the fence first.

ah thats a shame the fence had to go up but well done, the troughs make it look so much better

Thats a shame Spritz that your view should be spoilt , who knows it might turn out to be for the better if they decide to have unruly dogs or perish the thought unruly grandchidren .... LOL...

You have a very handy Husband , well done to him , the troughs look very sturdy and well made ..

Well done.
Some positive thinking has made the boundary look very pretty. If the troughs still need to be along the fence in the summer, what ideas do you have for plants ?

Oh people...people

I haven't thought that far ahead, Tt - but you can bet I shall be planning ahead! The hymn 'All things bright and beautiful' comes to mind!

Sadly, one of the reasons that they have erected the fence is, we are sure - that Henry thinks that their garden is his, too.

~well done to hubby~where would we be without our handy menfolk
!The troughs are quite wide and could contain a lot of lovely quite tall plants!

OMG how sad Spritz 2 have a Fence Put across your lovely Garden ,Its great your Hubby has made these wonderful Boxs & all your hard work looks Stunning :) What a Great Team u both Make im sure that wall will look Fab once its all Built " Something2look forward 2 " :)

Such a shame you have had to go to all this expense and hard work. Morning glory would look good there in the summer, to give some height.
What a good job your Hubby made of the troughs.
A lovely medley of colours with the primulas, hopefully has cheered you up a little.

Well, Docbob - the compost will be used(eventually) in the double wall, and the boxes will be used as Nursery beds up by my greenhouse - something I am lacking.

As to Morning Glory, I was told firmly NOT to plant anything up the fence as the double wall would be built quite soon. A little optimistic I feel, in their expected timing.

Jacque - you are so right. I have to think positively and try to imagine the wall without the ugly fence there. It is something to look forward to.

Well done to your hubby for getting the job done, and you for fixing it..........(Bob the builder comes to mind here!!!!) all looks lovely, many of us have a lot worse to look at in our gardens and somethings are impossible to hide unfortunately, sorry if that sounds rude Spritz, but you know what I mean, we all have something that causes a few problems, life is not perfect is it? even in the garden!! .

I know we have been VERY lucky to have had such a beautiful setting for 4 years, Dd - it was one of the reasons we fell in love with the house!

I really am trying to appreciate what we still have - but it's hard, as it was so unexpected. One day, view. Next day, ugly fence.

Oh Spritz, looks soooo much better, an excellent brain wave, the fence is smaller than i expected, and because of the time of year, your eye is drawn to it, but i think once everything starts to grow, you will not even notice it. i don't think it blocks the view at all, once the wall goes up low planting around the base and inside the wall it's self will frame the view, well i think so.... and yes clematis would be good on the fence, you won't need trellis for this, when i said that thought the fence would be taller,,,glad it's not though! lol another idea is a jasmine, i have a lovely 'clotted cream' one that i have growing up my ugly wire fence, which is about the same height as yours. well done to both of you - project well done! :0) lol......

......i just noitced your comments with Dr.Bob, why not just have a few sweatpeas on stand by, i think your neighbour is being a bit optimistic with the wall going up so soon, surely he would'nt have a problem with a few annuals? after all he does have to be reasonable, you have your grand opening this year, what if it's not in place by then? i think they would fit nicely in your boxes and completely cover this fence, you won't even see it. the effect could look far better than before. just a thought for you.

Oh Sprtizhenry ! What an ugly fence :o(
I does look better with the colourful primulas though. I hope you don't have to wait too long for the wall to be built.

It looks much better

I know planning departments are essential to prevent some real monstrosities and new building on green belt etc. but aren't they sometimes pocket Hitlers. If planning departments had been around since the 15th century imagine the overall losses to the country - no stately homes, no quaint higgledy-piggledy little villages. no character! You may gather I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about them.

Dont we all Wagger, Spritz I do know how you feel, every garden we have had there has been some monstrocity in our neighbours garden, be it a massive white shed, ugly carport, towering fence, and by the time we have hidden this blot, we have moved on and have to start all over again, at least you will hide that fence, when the wall is up. When are you opening your garden?

Thanks for asking - June 4th and 11th, both afternoons.
I shall definitely grow some more Sweet Peas and Ipomoeas in the greenhouse and ask permission to 'borrow' the fence to grow them up. I can bide my time until it's time to re-plant the boxes, then ask!

Aww Spritz, I do sympathise, we have had similar disruptions in the past. On a positive note, your troughs look great and it looks like the the neighbours are abiding to the boundary regulations and at least they have hired professionals to do the fencing. I hate change (for the worse) but time does fly and hopefully planning permission will be through in no time for the wall to be built. x

hi spritz ,
at least your neighbours didn't put up a row of 6 foot panels , that would have been horrendus!!
but a nice brick wall will look good , hope they use old reclaimed bricks and a lime mortar to blend in and make it look 'old'...................steve

Steve - due to being listed, they will have to use 'blue lias' stone, the same as the house was built with. I am certain that this will be a condition of planning consent! It won't be brick, as that would not be 'in keeping' (that's the Planning Officer's favourite phrase.)

When we had our Garden room built, we even had to take a lump of stone and a reclaimed roof tile to the Planning Officer's desk for approval!!!!

They have been 'tightening up' on the detail of what's done to listed buildings in the last few years, and it will get even tighter, I am sure.

Sorry about you fence, but your troughs look great, good look with the fence hope it wont spoil your view.

What a sad story - although the silver lining is definitely the troughs that look fab. What about some taller "pots" in groups - I have some lovely old chimney pots that I plant up and I recently bought some wooden "toadstools" that would do a fantastic distraction job. I will take some photo tomorrow if the rain holds off.

I hadn't realized your garden was that big, Spritz, nor your home that old! It's beautiful, and the troughs look great...would be nice if you could indeed put morning glory or some other vine to cover up that metal wire...

Thanks, guys. Clarice - the cold hard truth is that yes, it does! But at least my boxes help to take the eye away from the fence.

Gm - thanks for your kind comment and ideas. I can't really put any pots there, as that edge is one of the two small lawns outside the house - we have filled the length of that fence with the boxes! I just have to be patient and hope that the planning permission doesn't take too long - I'll have to re-shape that lawn when the wall goes in.

Raquel - thank you. It all depends on the time the wall takes - if it looks as though it will be many months, I shall definitely plant climbers - I have already planted some ready to go in...

Well take heart that what you have accomplished as a temp thing is just that and i have no doubt that when the wall is built it will be as stunning as the rest of your garden to me you live within a part of the world that can only be described as Beautiful. What fabulous news about your garenen being opened to the public well done and good luck.

Thank you so much, Jewells! What a lovely compliment!

As it will be the first time I open, I am a bit scared, of course, but there are several members on the site who are experienced in opening their gardens, and they are all giving me both helpful advice and support - plus reassurance that all will be well. :-)

Will try to get to see your lovely garden Spritz sometime this year.Despite the neighbours,sure it will be lovely !

That would be GREAT!

When you open, do you charge for the admission? Is it kind of like going to a museum (well, a living one in this case!)? I'm just curious.

Hi Raquel. Yes, in a way - your garden has to be assessed by a County Organiser for the 'National Garden Scheme' and if it's judged to be good enough, the details are published in 'The Yellow Book' which has details of all the gardens in the scheme. There is a charge for entrance to each garden, but the money is all for charity. Some gardens have a plant stall, and some organise teas as well.

There's a website if you want to take a look -

www.NGS.org.uk

All the members of GOY who are in the NGS can be found on the website! You have to check out where we all are in the country first, though!