Advice on how to obscure unsightly sheds...

Hey!

I need some advice please!

My neighbour recently built not 1, not 2 but 3 sheds. They're all 2.5m tall so believe they're allowed but nevertheless they're unsightly. Must be even uglier from their side, but each to their own!

I am looking in to ways of obscuring them, when viewing from our garden and our bedroom window (which offends me the most!). I should add the boundary they've built alongside is East facing for us.

The only thing stopping me from going for pleached trees along the whole way, is that my garden will look very unbalanced as my west facing currently a work in progress and looks very bare. I've grown some climbers along this west facing fence and will add some more ornamental trees ie. multi stemmed pear & acers etc over time. I should probably add that eventually I do plan to add a line of pleached hornbeam at the back at some point.

Back to the problem! I have looked at evergreen screening trees and I really don't know what's best. I think I need one to put where their first shed starts, which I believe will obscure the view the most. I want something evergreen which covers a wide area. Everything I look at online is immaculately pruned in to a standard shape and I'm not sure what coverage that would give us. I did consider buying a Red Robin or magnolia pleached tree and taking out the canes, or is that a strange thing to consider? I was also then considering adding a trelis to the top of our fence and growing jasmine between this new tree and the tree already there.

Does any one else have any other tips for this problem area and/or the west facing fence? Just to add I'm not a fan of conifers or holly.

Thanks so much!

Amy


I can attach photos but not sure how - can someone let me know please x

 

Welcome to the forum Amy

You need to select the "Upload a File" button then "Choose a File" to navigate to the photo you want to upload.


Then click "Full Image" to get the photo embedded in the insertion point:

 

Hi,

No photos yet, but assume you have a 6ft fence or similar between the two gardens ?

Anything you plant is going to take 2 -3 years in good soil to make an effective screen, so I would first see if you can increase the height of your fence ?

2 mtrs is the legal limit, but if you used some post extenders and put a 600mm trellis on top that should make some improvement and doubt you neighbours would complain about that, though easy enough to remove if they did.

You might get some quick growing climbers to cover the trellis this year.

Otherwise if you want to block things out now, then probably something like a garden Sail is needed.

For longer term coverage, depends on how much you want to spend on plants, 3 mtr high versions will cost, but smaller ones will need time to get that high.

I started with a 600mm high Red Robin and its taken 3 years to get to 2.5mtrs high and gives a 2mtr wide coverage; its grown multi stemmed / semi- pleached so I can underplant it.

Other choices are Bamboo and Conifers.

Sure others will have many suggestions too.

 

How do you feel about yew? It gives a much richer looking hedge and will regenerate should you accidentally chop too much off. Climbers will spread and grow into the sheds leading to ptential issues with neighbour.

Will wait for piccy to learn more...

 

Welcome to the forum! If you can get some photos up it will be easier to give tailored advice, but trellis on your fence and planting climbers will be the quickest solution. My own shed is hidden behind a pyracantha, which is evergreen and has attractive yellow berries for the birds, also fierce thorns which may or may not be an asset. Ivy is another quick to grow evergreen solution, and provides excellent cover for wildlife. There are some very beautiful ivies out there but they do grow vigorously - more likely to become a problem for your neighbours than you.

Trees - hollies and conifers are the obvious choice if you want something evergreen, I am afraid, but take a look at yews too. Hedging has already been suggested, there is also the Irish yew, which grows tall and columnar as a specimen tree and is very elegant. It has an attractive golden form too. Taxus baccata 'Fastigiata' (f) | Irish yew/RHS Gardening

 

Thanks so much for your help re uploading pics and everyone’s tips so far.

 

I should also add that I am willing to spend money on something mature for instant impact

 

That was my first thought too, just looking at your first photo I think that's part of the answer. Seeing the photo from your upstairs it will take something to really distract your eyes from the shed.

 

Who's fence is it? Just asking as if it's your neighbour you might need to ask first before adding a trellis to the top.

 

Both sides are ours :( - deeds were unclear and neighbours said they were both ours. The neighbour with the sheds is very shady and still attaches stuff to our fence despite it being all on our side of the boundary. He’s a nasty piece of work so I don’t really want to consider his feelings but I do want to avoid any further issues with him so probably best I didn’t choose a climber which could climb over his shed?... is there a climber I can control easily? Your comment re upstairs view, do you agree a tree would be best?