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New fence has ruined my garden, please help!

Hi, I love my garden but it has been ruined by some new build houses which have been built next door. My original border has been ripped out and replaced by horrible fencing. I have planted one tree, 2 photinia red robins, lots of perrienial flowers and i have a few old honeysuckle and climbers but it still doesn't look nice. Do I make my border deeper and plant hedging at the back? Won't hedging take too much goodness out the soil to plant flowers in front? The land next door is higher so the high fence doesn't block the new build garage. You can see the before and after photos here. http://s1294.beta.photobucket.com/user/Laurenmcgi/library/Garden Any ideas will be great thank you.
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  • sotongeoffsotongeoff Posts: 9,802

    Lauren-your photo link -doesn't work-tried copying and pasting still doesn't work-can you try againimage

  • Hi Lauren  - copying and pasting the link worked for me (using IE). The garden looks lovely but sorry I can't get my head around exactly where the problem area is. I can obviously see the first pic which looks like a building site but can't place the area in the rest of the photos.image

  • sotongeoffsotongeoff Posts: 9,802

    http://s1294.beta.photobucket.com/user/Laurenmcgi/library/Garden

    got itimage

    I think it is the pictures at the end?with the high long fence?image

  • kate1123kate1123 Posts: 2,815

    I think I can see your problem, I would get some trellis up on the fence ASAP and then you can cover the new fence with climbers.

  • do i take it that, the original garden was on somebody's property? i am a bit confused. it was a very nice garden, i must admit.

  • Matty2Matty2 Posts: 4,817

    http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/creative-projects/how-to-make-a-rustic-trellis/352.html

     had a long new fence and found this an interesting way of splitting it up. I used chestnut fencing, already wired to gether. I have not put climbers on all of it - cost - but it does detract from the bareness of the fence and is a quick fix.

    image

     I did it early last year, you can just see 2 and there is a third further along the fence. The plants are new this year.I am going to do another if the garden dries out.

    Bjay

  • above looks very nice and you could train plants on it and widen the borders too!do not be tempted to put trees or hedges  in to many places or your garden will shrink.image

  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,023

    The 4th photo top right is a before pic I think and the 8th photo just below it is an after pic, also the photos after that. So there was a hedge before the fence and now it's a bit of a shock having a tall brown straight fence after a soft, bushy, green hedge.

    I would put up trellis and plant climbers, roses, clematis, honeysuckle and plant some shrubs between including some evergreen shrubs or variagated evergreens so that it will have some cover for winter too.

    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,023

    Meant to add what a nice garden you have and I hope you get used to the newbuild in time, hope they are nice neighbours. It must have been pretty upsetting when it was all going on. I clicked "submit replt" earlier than I meant.

    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • jo4eyesjo4eyes Posts: 2,058

    Is the new fence yours or does it belong to the new property?

    If yours, then yes get some trellis on top to increase your/their privacy. If not yours then consider attaching trellis panels to your side of the posts so that it's raised above the height of the new fence, but not actually attached to those panels.

    I personally would widen the border a bit, as a narrow border isnt right with a high fence/boundary.

    If the fence is yours remember that you will need access to it for maintenance. So you could even run a line of flagstones along the boundary/bottom of the fence- that gives a safe platform for ladders etc, with the planting being infront of the whole. Climbers will scramble across & up any trellis pretty quickly & the space behind will allow shrubs to widen properly rather than being flattened on one side. J.

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