I need to wine so that I don't cry.

[Carrie12345]

We bought our house almost 13 years ago.  It's a tiny house in a heavily wooded area. I can't see any neighbors behind me, though we can see their outdoor lighting at night.  We can see the garage side of the neighbor to one side in the winter, but not so much in the summer. We can see the neighbor across the street only by looking down our driveway and up theirs. Maybe 5-6 years ago, a house was built to the other side of us, and it was a bummer to lose those woods, but that's life.

That house got new (weekend) owners around 3 years ago.  They cleared a lot of the natural woods and scrub brush around their property and, while it does look lovely, it is outside of the norm of the neighborhood. It also reduced some of the privacy factor.  A few weeks back, we had a break in the weather, and I heard them out there with chainsaws, taking down some more "baby trees".  I kind of rolled my eyes and put it out of my head.

So, here I am, out on my balcony for the first warm morning of the year, looking over to my right... and it turns out they basically clear cut to the property line. They could stand in any of several windows and see me sitting here in my jammies. It's heart breaking to me!

Our association's property codes require leaving something like a 15' buffer from the property line, and there are markers from when their house was built. Usually when people break that rule, they're made to plant fast growing trees to remedy it, but it's all rocky back here and nearly impossible to plant anything you can't stick in a raised bed, so there's no point in reporting them even if I did want to risk starting a whole thing. (Also pretty much impossible to put up a solid fence, which wouldn't do anything anyway, given the slopes of our properties.)

It's just doubly sucky because I hate my house, and the outdoor space that we have from May to October is its only saving grace. Now it feels like I've lost a big part of that. Maybe it won't be as bad as I think once the leaves come in on MY side of the buffer, but it's May 2nd and we're still in bud form.

Anyway, I'm never going to understand why someone would buy a house in the woods if they didn't want to have a house in the woods.

 

[ThisIsTheDay]

I would be absolutely crushed too.

Can you plant a few lines of fast growing trees someone on your property between the two houses? While we no longer live in the woods, we have a too-friendly neighbor, and we've planted some kind of evergreen row that's done surprisingly well and created a nice buffer between us. It's a small space between houses, about 30 feet, but also sloped (walkout basements).

Not only have you lost your privacy, but clear cutting like that is usually ugly to look at. ?

[Carrie12345]

I don't think you can tell much by this picture, since they haven’t picked up all if what they cut down yet, but it’s all rock under there. Their downed trees kind of mix with our bare branches in 2-D, lol. 

[Angie in VA]

A friend's neighbor took down their trees so they could look over at my friend's property. She was crushed. She talked to them about her privacy and they understood. I think my friend planted some fast growing trees or tall shrubs on her side. 

I'm with you. We have trees around us and I like it that way. 

[GailV]

I'm sorry.  I don't get that mindset either. My dh is the type who keeps planting trees and trying to make our non-wooded lot into a wooded lot.

If that happened around here, the rocky area would be filled with invasive honeysuckle.

[DawnM]

We have a neighborhood much like you are describing.  We have 2.5 acres, the neighbors are kind of visible, but couldn't see in.  However, when the new neighbors moved in next door, they cleared an area up the hill and right on their property line, and built a shop, where they work out of, and the windows look right down the hill.

We have a great sunroom/kitchen area where I often run around in jammies and sometimes even just a towel in the am to grab my coffee.  And the sunroom is floor to ceiling windows.  

I honestly don't care, I feel that is their problem.  So, while I don't run around in a towel as much, I do sit in there in my jammies and/or yoga pants and Tee, and don't care!  

[DawnM]

1 minute ago, happysmileylady said:

He he, I live in a neighborhood where privacy like the OP has is just not possible. Even most of the fences are 3 ft chain link.  I not only hung laundry in my jammies, I went to get the mail in my jammies too lol

 

of cours, I have 8.5 weeks till I move so... 

 

HAHA!  Yeah, in CA we did have a privacy fence, but we could hear our neighbor yelling at her teenager all the time.  And we could see in their windows from the area without a fence.

[Katy]

Wow, that stinks.  I think I would report them, and not worry about starting a thing. Their poor choices may have impacted your property values.

[Carol in Cal.]

Oh, that is really too bad.

If I were vengeful...but I'm not...but, bamboo is very invasive...but that would be wrong.

[Garga]

I hate that for you!

I had friends who had gigantic trees at the end of their yard.  They were huge evergreens and in the snow it looked like Narnia.  Just gorgeous.

But it turned out those trees didn’t belong to my friend.  They belonged to the neighbor who chopped them all down and put up a stark white privacy fence.  The trees provided complete privacy, as they overlapped each other so I guess he just didn’t like trees.  It makes me hurt every time I go to her house now and see that hideous fence.

I feel for you.  I can’t stand to see a natural thing that’s providing privacy torn down, just so you can look at the side of a house covered in plastic siding.  I also hate siding, even though I have it.  I think it’s hideous, especially when it’s a puke greige color.

[alisoncooks]

My neighbor went a little Weekend Warrior and cleared a bunch of shrubs and vines from the edge of his property. Don't get me wrong...he was well within his rights. But now we all have a wonderfully (not) clear view of the rental duplexes right next door. Why?!  Who wants LESS privacy? (Especially when you're dealing with a high-turnover rental!)

[Liz CA]

We have lived in a wooded area on acres and this would have been annoying to us as well. Short of saying something to them, I suppose you have the consolation that they are only there during the weekends? And then there is Bamboo as Carol mentioned...  :)

[SanDiegoMom]

We moved from a house in a normal, crowded neighborhood where we had the saving grace of a beautiful canyon right behind our house. We looked out every day over the canyon and watched the wildlife. Then we moved to a house on the other side of the country and I was so sad to lose my canyon, but we moved to a house on the end of a clu-de-sac that had tall trees behind it, and I sat out every day in the screened in porch feeling like I was in a treehouse. And then the landlords decided to move back in and we had to move again. Now we live in a lovely house that has a beautiful yard, but no privacy. I can see fully five houses yards all around mine, and I can't sit out on my deck without wondering how many people can see me. I wonder what will be next. ?

[bolt.]

I live in a city, with property that backs beautifully onto a park with a creek. Our fence is 1m chain link. 

Right now, I can see clearly the yards and windows of 23 houses from my kitchen window. (I just counted.) To me, this vast, shared, natural space is delightful. Dozens, perhaps a hundred people walk the paths every day. Sometimes they say hi to people on porches. It’s really normal to wear pj’s or housecoats on our porches.

Although I can see straight into the houses that are directly across the creek from us, all I can tell is the colour of their paint and whether or not they are at home in their back rooms. However — I couldn’t tell a towel from a sundress if I tried. (I’m pretty sure I would be able to discern between nudity and a skin-tone-appropriate t-shirt.) I checked my daughter’s window, and the angle (2nd floor) adds enough reflection to make it opaque to a casual observer.

So, aside from people who are actually motivated to be peeping toms, I think our privacy is fine.

I think, maybe, this kind of ‘backing into a green space’ isn’t for everyone. Privacy is a very personal value. I just thought you might like to hear what’s great about non-woodsy lots where people don’t feel motivated to visually obscure the fact that their neighbours’ houses exist.

[regentrude]

I am sorry. I never understand why people are cutting down trees unless absolutely necessary. In my home country, law does not permit you to cut down a tree on your property without applying for permission;  you need to document a specific reason why the tree has to be removed (if it is unsafe, or damaging our foundation, etc), and you must plant an adequate replacement tree. 

People should realize they don't own trees.

[Carrie12345]

10 minutes ago, bolt. said:

 

I think, maybe, this kind of ‘backing into a green space’ isn’t for everyone. Privacy is a very personal value. I just thought you might like to hear what’s great about non-woodsy lots where people don’t feel motivated to visually obscure the fact that their neighbours’ houses exist.

 

I agree that each unique location has benefits for different people.  I've lived in lots of different places, but I bought my house here because this was the one for me!  If the market ever turns, i will be looking for a new hidey hole.  (Not just because of this, but this dos add to it!)

[hornblower]

That makes me so mad! 

OUr house is surrounded by trees & huge hedges and a creek with a protected green belt but still I always want MORE trees. I try to fill any gaps and cut any sight lines. Unfortunately there are several older trees on the other side of the creek that will probably have to come down at some point and that will suck because nothing that could be planted will fill in those holes in the foreseeable future. The only time I'd not want to be surrounded by trees was if I could see the ocean. I do not want to see neighbours or the street or other people's houses. If I wanted that I'd move back into a condo. We're huge on privacy at our house.

We do have tree protection bylaws in our municipality but the fines are too stupidly small too act as a deterrent. The lots are valued at well over a million and the fine is a $1,000. Builders who want to expand building envelopes to put up larger houses or residents who are superstitious about trees (yup, this is a thing in some cultures) just cut them down and pay the fines so we're losing many old growth cedars and hemlocks. 

One of our neighbours is constantly over pruning & he cut down a bunch of lower branches of trees on his property which means I now can see his garden from some angles. Ugh. Dh threatens to start gardening naked to see if that will stop them. He already hot tubs in the buff and I wander out with the dogs in the morning in my undies... 

 

[goldberry]

I would be heartbroken.  And yes, I would report them, even if it's too late to do much good. 

[wintermom]

I would report them. Hopefully there will be some kind of "fix" for this, and they'll think twice before they cut more trees in the future.

[PrincessMommy]

You could plant bamboo near their property line.  It's invasive and hard to kill off... and gives you loads of privacy very quickly.   I think it will grow in anything.  They probably bought because they liked the house and wanted a "lawn" ? hugs. 

 

One of the reasons I moved where we are is because of the old trees and much more privacy.    I have had to remove some very ugly brush and vines and it's cleared out the side of my property so that I have less privacy.  My plan is to plant fast growing buffers like arborvitae. or cedar.  I'm trying to figure out how to add more trees and get rid of our front lawn.

[Ausmumof3]

Are you in a fire risk zone?  Having cleared fence lines and a cleared space around the house is pretty much the difference between us having a house and not where we live. 

There are environmental regulations about clearing trees and in some places where they were extreme those who were fined for illegal clearing still have their lives and homes.

anyway that might be totally irrelevant to where you live but just wanted to give you one more reason why not everyone who loves trees wants them right up to their back door.

[Carrie12345]

8 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Are you in a fire risk zone?  Having cleared fence lines and a cleared space around the house is pretty much the difference between us having a house and not where we live. 

There are environmental regulations about clearing trees and in some places where they were extreme those who were fined for illegal clearing still have their lives and homes.

anyway that might be totally irrelevant to where you live but just wanted to give you one more reason why not everyone who loves trees wants them right up to their back door.

Like, California style? No.  But we live in a mountainous forest, so... yes, fire's always a risk.  

I don't have any issue with people who don't like trees for whatever reason. I DO question their decision to buy a vacation home in the woods.  And I can almost promise you they're not thinking about fire risk, or they wouldn't have left all that now-dead wood lying all over the ground while we're at the highest risk point of the season.

Living here, with 3 firefighters in the house, I'm very comfortable saying that that 15' isn't going to make a difference in the 4600 acres of fuel our development sits on, in the middle of even larger game lands and wildlife preserves.  This isn't a case of "My suburban lot has too many trees."  This is more like buying an ocean front home and wanting to pave over all of the sand.

[PeachyDoodle]

I'm so sorry. That just plain SUCKS.

I also will never understand people who clear out beautiful trees for no good reason. My cousin now owns our late grandmother's house (where we lived for 10 years). He has completely destroyed her beautiful wooded 3-acre lot, including her beloved pink dogwood trees and hundreds of bulbs and flowering shrubs she planted with her own two hands. I guess he plans to seed it all with grass (right now it's a disgusting pile of dirt). He takes forever to finish a job so my guess is it will sit like that for YEARS before he does anything with it. And obviously it will never be the same again.

It's his house now, so he can do what he wants, but it makes me physically sick to drive by there.

[Bluegoat]

That is too bad.  Ideally, I think you'd have a chat with them, and suss out their plans.  They may actually be working toward something specific and that might shed some light on what they've done.

Some people though just have bad taste.  My parents had two neighbours like that.  They built a place on a lake at the end of a dead-end street.  About four houses were built at the same time when the property was subdivided, all high end homes.  My parents were the only ones who really went to some effort to keep the trees on the lot.  They took down some that were very weedy, and later some that were diseased, but they always tried to keep a wooded feel and the ones growing well.  The other people, all of whom were very nice, flattened the trees before they even built the houses.  

As it happened, they were at the end of the group, and there was a lot next to them that was unbuilt for years - the land rose up above them somewhat. An older home was on the other side, they owned the lot.  Well, after a while, their kids built a home on it, and put it really as close as possible to the property line, and it was a very tall house.  It really loomed in a weird way.  (They were weird - the woman used to walk around in a bikini and fur coat.) 

But later, the parents died and their lot was bought.  Another couple bought it, knocked down the house, and bulldozed every tree.  Then they shaved off the slope between their house and my parents and built a giant concrete wall.  It was huge, two stories high and completely loomed over my parents' back-yard.  They perched the house on top of it.  My poor mother was beside herself (more than was reasonable IMO but she is high struncg.).

The thing was, the couple thought it was really nice.  THe concrete was fake rocks, each one very large, so a machine had to stack it all.  The "rocks" at the top had scooped out tops which they planted petunias in.  They thought they'd spent a lot of money making sure it looked ok from the neighbours POV.  My parents ended up building a fence that covered a lot of it, but ultimately they moved.  

[marbel]

I understand not wanting to report them.  But if they are found in violation of the rule, maybe they will be made to plant something in it's place.  Something fast-growing. Or maybe they will reveal a plan for the space (as Bluegoat mentioned above) that fits the regulations.  

We moved from a place with complete privacy in the backyard to a house in the suburbs with low (or no) fences; I have a view into 5 back yards from my deck. The neighbor on one side had a big shrubby thing that blocked the sightline between our back decks. It was pretty, too. But last year she she had it chopped down.  Turns out it was unhealthy. There's something new there now but it's going to take some time to grow back.  It is weird to go out there and sit on the deck and see her family sitting on theirs.  But, we still do it.  Even in pajamas.  

((Hugs))

[G5052]

Trees make a huge difference in a house IMHO. I don't think I appreciated that as much as I do now.

We moved to a rental house in an older neighborhood, and I have a smaller lot with more trees. We have trees on all sides now with our trees and those of our neighbors. I'm really enjoying it. The way the houses are oriented is better too.

Something to look for when/if we move.

[Ausmumof3]

12 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

Like, California style? No.  But we live in a mountainous forest, so... yes, fire's always a risk.  

I don't have any issue with people who don't like trees for whatever reason. I DO question their decision to buy a vacation home in the woods.  And I can almost promise you they're not thinking about fire risk, or they wouldn't have left all that now-dead wood lying all over the ground while we're at the highest risk point of the season.

Living here, with 3 firefighters in the house, I'm very comfortable saying that that 15' isn't going to make a difference in the 4600 acres of fuel our development sits on, in the middle of even larger game lands and wildlife preserves.  This isn't a case of "My suburban lot has too many trees."  This is more like buying an ocean front home and wanting to pave over all of the sand.

Well I guess different types of forest have different risk but where we live the recommendation is actually 20m round the house and 5m (15 feet) along a fence line.  It doesn't sound much but it creates a defendable space.  It won't stop the forest from burning but does allow for asset protection.  However with fieries in the family you probably know the recommendations for your area better than we do.  Dh is a volunteer firefighter for our area.

leaving the dead wood on the ground doesn't sound smart though!  Hopefully they plan to clean that up soon.

[Halftime Hope]

the former owner of my house bought three small crepe myrtles and gave one to each of the owners that shared a fence corner with him.  My neighbour to the left planted his in the corner next to mine, but he does not keep it shaped up. Mine is now about thirty feet tall and it is drop-dead gorgeous.  His has lots of dead wood in the interior, and lots of unsightly sticks going every direction.  The house behind me has a shed in that same corner, but it is kept nicely.  The house kitty-corner to me planted a nasty red photinia in the corner, and it was knocking down the fence by my back-fence-neighbor's shed.  I told my back-fence-neighbour, and he offered to cut that photinia for the neighbor. Now when I look out over that corner, I can see my gorgeous tree, the 4-way corner of the wooden privacy fences, and --surprise and joy -- empty space where that stupid photinia used to be.  Just beyond the space is another tree in that yard, so I've actually got some layers of under-tree space interspersed among the existing trees.  It's really pretty now!  Maybe the neighbour who had the offending photinia will enjoy seeing my crepe myrtle (beautiful red-bark trunks and braches), and hopefully, keep their lame photinia cut short.  I'm not counting on it though.  My back fence neighbour and I keep nice yards, but the other two we share the fence corner with do not.  Sigh.

[easypeasy]

To the OP, I am so sorry. I'm sad for you. ? My parents have had something similar happen... neighbors bulldozed everything on their far side yard (which is verrrry close to my parents' house... but very far away from the neighbor's house). Then they built a giant shop RIGHT on the property line that the guy works out of every day (starting around 5 am every morning). He put up a nasty, tall chainlink fence with barbed wire looping around the top of it, like a prison, and stores his equipment between the fenceline and the building (so HE can't see it from his house... but it's right by my parent's front porch).

The guy has lived there, building-less, for 10 years. My parents talked to him the entire time they were in the building process. He didn't mention he was planning to build a shop until my parents' house was finished.

Luckily my parents only have small windows facing that way (a bathroom and two bedrooms), so it's just their front porch peace that is affected (and the noise when they're trying to sleep while he's banging around heavy equipment in his shop).

4 hours ago, Halftime Hope said:

the former owner of my house bought three small crepe myrtles and gave one to each of the owners that shared a fence corner with him.  My neighbour to the left planted his in the corner next to mine, but he does not keep it shaped up. Mine is now about thirty feet tall and it is drop-dead gorgeous.  His has lots of dead wood in the interior, and lots of unsightly sticks going every direction.  The house behind me has a shed in that same corner, but it is kept nicely.  The house kitty-corner to me planted a nasty red photinia in the corner, and it was knocking down the fence by my back-fence-neighbor's shed.  I told my back-fence-neighbour, and he offered to cut that photinia for the neighbor. Now when I look out over that corner, I can see my gorgeous tree, the 4-way corner of the wooden privacy fences, and --surprise and joy -- empty space where that stupid photinia used to be.  Just beyond the space is another tree in that yard, so I've actually got some layers of under-tree space interspersed among the existing trees.  It's really pretty now!  Maybe the neighbour who had the offending photinia will enjoy seeing my crepe myrtle (beautiful red-bark trunks and braches), and hopefully, keep their lame photinia cut short.  I'm not counting on it though.  My back fence neighbour and I keep nice yards, but the other two we share the fence corner with do not.  Sigh.

 

Quick hijack:

Wait, what's wrong with photinia? ? We have both crepe myrtles (dark red, purple, and pink) and photinia in our backyard and the photinia is my favorite! lol Is this a case of "one man's trash..." or is there some negative association with photinias that I don't know about?

[Carrie12345]

4 hours ago, easypeasy said:

To the OP, I am so sorry. I'm sad for you. ? My parents have had something similar happen... neighbors bulldozed everything on their far side yard (which is verrrry close to my parents' house... but very far away from the neighbor's house). Then they built a giant shop RIGHT on the property line that the guy works out of every day (starting around 5 am every morning). He put up a nasty, tall chainlink fence with barbed wire looping around the top of it, like a prison, and stores his equipment between the fenceline and the building (so HE can't see it from his house... but it's right by my parent's front porch).

The guy has lived there, building-less, for 10 years. My parents talked to him the entire time they were in the building process. He didn't mention he was planning to build a shop until my parents' house was finished.

Luckily my parents only have small windows facing that way (a bathroom and two bedrooms), so it's just their front porch peace that is affected (and the noise when they're trying to sleep while he's banging around heavy equipment in his shop).

Oh my goodness, that's nuts!!!

Funny enough, our neighbors have opened up the side of the property that *we keep the least... aesthetically pleasing, lol.  Our trash cans are on that side, the kids' toys tend to scatter there (I mean, they're older now so it's not crazy toy land, but there are random balls and stuff like that,) and currently a pile of building materials.  But nothing like barbed wire! ?

[J-rap]

Wow, I'd be so disappointed and mad.  Didn't it even occur to them how this would affect you?  (Obviously not!)  That's just so inconsiderate.  I'd report them anyway, because I'd guess there is something he could plant.  You could drive around the area a bit and you might get ideas of what might quickly grow there.  (See what others have grown...)

We live in town with houses close together so have never had that kind of environment, but on one side of our house where our living room/dining room are -- the side with the most windows, we've always had super sweet neighbors and we didn't care if they could look in and see us doing school or eating or walking in our pajamas.  ?  But last year, that all changed with the new neighbors who moved in.  I hated closing off those windows because we get so much sun.  

We discovered lace roller shades and they're great.  They continue to let in a lot of sunlight but neighbors can't look in.   Even at night, they can see the lights through all the little holes but can't make out anything.  (I've gone outside to look. ? )  They're similar to these:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/69876231694509856/

 

 

 

[Halftime Hope]

17 hours ago, easypeasy said:

Quick hijack:

Wait, what's wrong with photinia? ? We have both crepe myrtles (dark red, purple, and pink) and photinia in our backyard and the photinia is my favorite! lol Is this a case of "one man's trash..." or is there some negative association with photinias that I don't know about?

I can only speak for photinias in my area of the country, but here they are widely diseased (see below), and often mis-planted in suburban landscapes.  If it weren't such a daunting task to dig them out, we would remove the ones planted 18 inches from our brick wall.  Every year, I trim four to five feet off the tops of them, to keep them from ruining the edge of my roof and my fascia.  (See lazy neighbour in the thread above: I have to trim his as well.)  Disease aside, when they are properly placed in a landscape and can be left to their own devices, they should grow to 10-15 wide and 15 - 20 feet tall.  That's perfect for a privacy screen at the edge of an acre, in a spot where they never have to be trimmed.  It's horrible for most smaller suburban yards.  Environmentalists hate them because the trimmings are so wasteful going into landfill like most do.

If you like them and have a great spot for them, I'm glad they make you happy. :-)

quoting Neil Sperry:

Question: What is killing my redtip photinias? What can I use to stop it?

Answer: Redtip photinias are being ruined all across America by Entomosporium fungal leaf spot. The first symptoms are some harmless-looking maroon speckles on the leaves. Soon, the plants begin to yellow, then turn almost white, then scorched and burned. The entire plant may be lost within one growing season. There is no good and reliable chemical control for this disease, which is why few nurserymen and landscape contractors recommend redtips any more.

 

 

 

 

[Bluegoat]

Wait, why do the trimmings go into landfills?

[easypeasy]

6 hours ago, Halftime Hope said:

I can only speak for photinias in my area of the country, but here they are widely diseased (see below), and often mis-planted in suburban landscapes.  If it weren't such a daunting task to dig them out, we would remove the ones planted 18 inches from our brick wall.  Every year, I trim four to five feet off the tops of them, to keep them from ruining the edge of my roof and my fascia.  (See lazy neighbour in the thread above: I have to trim his as well.)  Disease aside, when they are properly placed in a landscape and can be left to their own devices, they should grow to 10-15 wide and 15 - 20 feet tall.  That's perfect for a privacy screen at the edge of an acre, in a spot where they never have to be trimmed.  It's horrible for most smaller suburban yards.  Environmentalists hate them because the trimmings are so wasteful going into landfill like most do.

If you like them and have a great spot for them, I'm glad they make you happy. ?

quoting Neil Sperry:

Question: What is killing my redtip photinias? What can I use to stop it?

Answer: Redtip photinias are being ruined all across America by Entomosporium fungal leaf spot. The first symptoms are some harmless-looking maroon speckles on the leaves. Soon, the plants begin to yellow, then turn almost white, then scorched and burned. The entire plant may be lost within one growing season. There is no good and reliable chemical control for this disease, which is why few nurserymen and landscape contractors recommend redtips any more.

 

Well, I learned something new! We've not lost any to the fungal leaf spot (knock on wood...). We have 3 that are planted in our huge backyard in spots that just needed something "big and bushy" to fill in some awkwardly empty spots. We keep them shaggy-looking, but only about 8 feet tall or so. I like that they're leafy year-round and so those spots stay filled and that they survive while being planted beneath our enormous trees that don't let a lot of light through, AND that they are hardy enough to survive my Certified Black Thumb of Plant Death. Oh, and robins nest in them each year, which I also like.

Our dogs like to eat the crepe myrtle branches (??? why, I do not know!), so while those line our back fence line in full sunlight nicely, I didn't want to plant anymore!