I am a horrible meddler with this sort of thing - definately, some roses are more receptive to this than others. My first major success (although that is probably only in my eyes!) was with a huge moyesii - an enormous shrub which is terribly stingy with basals and a tendency to have gaunt, rigid, thorny and totally bare 'legs'. There is now a Forest Pansy cercis growing as an understorey with Russian sage poking through while the whole crown of the rose towers above - it looks rather well. Encouraged, I started limbing up a few climbers (Meg, Altissimo, a huge Scharlachglut and Iceberg) - any rose which has sufficient rigidity does well - A Graham Thomas grows on top of a 7foot wall while mutabilis is underneath in my garden at home. It was a combination of necessity - having to use as much height while making the maximum use of the tiny growing areas available - and curiosity - I am addicted to mucking about with plants, especially pruning and grafting although hybridising is still a bit of a fail for me). Have only just managed to stop short of attempting espaliers and step-over roses. Roses which have not enjoyed this pruning and training regime(raising the crown, thinning out but definately not grown as standards or tree roses as such) tend to have a fair bit of multiflora - they just cannot be easily kept within bounds and take up too much ground area. Hybtid musks - well, Penelope shows promise (again, a bit mean with basal growth and exactly the right sort of sparse canes) while Moonlight or Buff Beauty are respectively too vigorous (the canes are too slender and long) or just too lax and sprawly. In shady gardens, a rose will naturally stretch for light so limbing roses is a way of working with the hand you have been dealt - in my tiny garden,Zepherine Drouhin, grows against a high north-facing wall and the entire height of the rose is naked and in shade - just a couple of long bare canes tight against the wall - white martagons, ferns and hellebores do a sterling job of concealing the canes) while at the top of the structure it arches forward over a 4 foot wide pergola, flinging out long laterals over the garden like a green roof. Previously, it was a mildewy mess but the ventilation increase of arching through the air instead of huddling against a dark wall has turned a problem into a triumph (slight hopeful exaggeration here). So, this is well worth experimenting with - Sophies Perpetual is next on my list as well as a very upright moss, Mme Louis Leveque. Will probably be having a good prune of Darlow's Enigma (as it is going to block the vegetable garden paths if not curtailed). Falstaff would definately be a good Austin to try. It is a fairly useful way of utilising posts, especially when traditional pillar techniques are not appropriate - I grow some roses absolutely upright and either grow a clematis or something like mina lobata or eccremocarpus or simply leave the upright canes bare as with standard wisteria - as long as the roses can make some horizontal growth over an arch, it will flower profusely. Hmmm, thinking about this question has made me realise that many of my roses are pruned and trained in exactly this way - a good way of maximising space and it looks, to my eyes, graceful and abundant if other planting is encouraged to fill in around the base of the roses.

lets side step the issue for a second ... first... its YOUR house.. its YOUR yard .... BUILD A NEW HISTORY .... don't try to save trees/shrubs/etc ... for the history of it all ..been there.. done that.. what a nightmare.. until i removed all the prior owners problems .... i cant tell from the picture whether the width of the lot is defined.. on the right ... with a fence right behind the plant in question .... but i can see someone way out back .. and i see the fence on the left .... IMHO .... for what it is worth ... both plants on the right of your picture .... seriously impede the view of and use of your yard ... in my yard.. they would be totally removed .... dead.. gone .... presuming that the photographer is standing on the patio that you will be spending much time relaxing on .... why do you not want to see half of your yard .... if you see the wisdom [???.... lol] .. of that logic .... then proper ID and rescue of a much too large... poorly sited plant is irrelevant .... [BTWay ... are those two plants approaching the power lines also?] new house.. new yard .. new to the garden ... carpe yardum ... seize the yard.. start by getting rid of your problems.. start with a fresh canvas ... and think about planting something in front of that shed ... after a few adult beverages... peering out over your domain ... that thing is going to start bugging you .... lol ... may as well start hiding it this spring ..... now .. the tree on the left .... again.. cant ID it at that distance ... but it looks excessively old .... overly mature... and has a history of improper pruning ... you might want to think about removal of that one also ... every problem [your plants] has a solution [and the snow started it.. lol]... try to look beyond the immediate problem ... and focus on the potential that was created .... i know its hard for new homeowners.. and new gardeners have trouble accepting that things must die .... but my logic is.. if i replace 3 dead plants.. with 20 new plants.. mother earth is plus 17 ... dont worry about it ... my best advice ..... get out the lawn chairs .... and spend the next 60 days sitting on every inch of that patio ..... and spend time inside each window... and REALLY LOOK AT YOUR YARD .... try to imagine it with and without the plants .... move the chairs way back in the lot and look at the house ... sit everywhere .... think about what is there.. and where you want to go with it ... in the garden.. there is rarely any hurry .. we can kill that bush today .. or in spring [might want to see if it flowers] .. or in summer ... define a plan .. think it out... go to work ... good luck ken

1. Positively identify where your property line is located & whose side the trees are on. Then request no more pruning if they are on your side, put your fence in the same line as the trees, or interplant smaller bushes/evergreens/trees in the same line as the existing trees, keep quiet if they are on the neighbor's. 2. Bushes or trees will not block the dog from visiting you. It will require a fence. They will improve privacy and look more attractive than a fence, at the cost of some of the land you have rented out if you can't put them in the same line as the existing trees, but only a fence will keep the dog out. You might speak to the husband about splitting the cost of the fence. Around here, when fencing a property line, you stand on the line looking out. The half of the property line on your right is your responsibility, when the neighbor does the same, the part to his right (your left) is his responsibility. This is usually resolved by one person buying the materials, the other putting the fence in. Works out to 1/2 and 1/2. If the neighbor won't work with you to solve the problem, put up the ugliest fence you can create that will still be effective, then plant a screen to hide the fence from your view and let the neighbor enjoy it. 3. Your state may differ, but in my state, you have a right to protect your property and livestock. If the neighbor's dog attacks and harms your dog on your property, the neighbor is responsible for the vet bills and all damages. It is neighborly to warn the neighbor that their dog is wandering, and sometimes you have to make it clearer that you will take all necessary action to protect your property, but the neighbor is still responsible for the damages regardless. You may eliminate the neighbor's dog when he attacks your dog on your property. Here, the victim has a right to self defense and protection of property. Doesn't seem to be the case everywhere. 4. Foremost, make sure your dogs are trained not to roam off your property, which it sounds like they are. Otherwise, you are just as irresponsible as your neighbor.

As soon as I get a ladder over here (it might not go high enough) or a relative with the tractor with the front-end loader to boost me up there (or someone less inclined to vertigo), I will probably aim to measure the limb in key spots first, and mark it off with ribbon or something. I don't recall exactly what type of Oak it is now - there's several different types on the property, but knowing the type would I think help to discern the strength from whatever data is out there. I'm sure someone has tested this stuff! I can "easily" wait a year to actually suspend the swing after the limb has been drilled, bolts inserted, boo-boos treated, and testing/tightening as needed. I had the swing for at least a year before I got the idea to look for "just the right spot" WITH "just the right limb" - took me a year or more to find that (because I got hung up on "a perfect limb" that is on a great tree, but a completely lousy location to have a swing unless totally intended for aesthetics alone) and then more wandering around the spot to feel certain I had some idea of how I'd "work" the area/landscape it. There's underbrush and saplings to remove and I need to decide ahead of time if I should go ahead with a different type of fence to replace the field fence that is at the "back" of the area. (Eventually I want to replace the field fence on two sides with something sturdier and possibly more visually appealing, but that's like close to a thousand feet of fencing sooo....) It also gives me plenty of time to pressure-wash the swing, get it well dried, get it to soak up some Thompson's water-seal, possibly replace at least two known broken slats or just repair them with wood glue - who knows, maybe even paint it or "decorate" it - whatever. In summary, it won't kill me to wait a year or more longer. Now I just wish I had stepped up and asked about this earlier in the year - when I could have done the drilling before the "sap had started to flow". I wonder if TSC will have bolts long enough for this or if I'm going to have to go searching around one of these old-old tractor/hardware stores in the middle of nowhere. :)