Dear Joshin zenshi we normaly use Madake and moso bamboo for fence making. some fence like "ajirogaki" use shino dake. In south eastern US, I can find find enogth bamboos on ground to make fence. In your area Easter star trading company carry bamboo. Check American Bamboo soceity's web site to find bamboo also. We expect bamboo fence last about 5 year more or less. Bamboo fence is not for permanent fence. Since you are Buddhist monk, you may not have enough budget. ^^. I am buddhist and professinal gardener. I reguraly visit to Chinese Purland temple( dojo) and Korean zen temple/ Chogyo order. If you need to have free publication of Buddhism for fellow buddhits, I can make arrengement also. Please contact to me at japanesegardener1@yahoo.com If I may to ask you what zen sect do you teach? I am gradly help you Gasho. mike yamakami

Try http://www.livingwillow.com/ http://www.organicgardening.org.uk/factsheets/gg37.php http://www.westwaleswillows.co.uk/fedgeplanting.html

Sean - it would be really useful to know more about your location. Apart from being in the North East where are you? On a hilltop? Near the sea? Many of the suggestions you have been getting, while hardy in much of the UK might not be happy where you are. Cordyline, for example can be shredded by the wind and burnt by frosts and really isn't worth looking at in that condition. You need to really get to know your land. You might have sheltered micro climates within it. Or frost pockets. Or wind tunnels.

Hello, I don't know how much I can advise you, but I'd like to comment on a few things mentioned here. I've bought property many times here and on the subject of gazumping and gazundering, yes it happens here and there but nothing like as rampant as has been implied. It's never happened to me. In most cases the only time some renegotiation can take place is after you've had a structural survey done on a property and you find some fault that could work out expensive to repair, then you might look again at the price agreed. Transactions have been speeded up lately, but yes you can be stuck in a 'chain', for a while, but we get there in the end. Best to buy a property where 'no chain' is advertised, but that's not always possible. I don't know what price range you will be looking at. Most of us here will go to an 'Estate Agent' in a town where we plan to live, there are always several of these, and most often now you will already have seen properties on line that appeal to you, so you go to the agent to arrange a viewing. If you like what you see you make an offer on it. Some haggling can go on here for a short time. When agreement is reached, you arrange for a structural survey to be done and both sides will employ a solicitor to do the conveyancing. When all is satisfied, Exchange of Contracts take place when 10 percent of the agreed total is handed over by the buyer to the seller's solicitor. 1 month later [28 days] Completion takes place, they move out, you move in. In most cases, things run reasonably well, but you will always hear of nightmare stories, concerning delays mostly, if stuck in a chain. Just to correct some points made above by some members. Yes we have huge Fridge Freezers, usually called 'American', we used to have one but it was too big for us. Yes most of us have dish washers, they are so popular and essential for many people. Yes we have tumble dryers, sometimes within our washer or separately. I use mine nearly every day. We are an older couple, just us and a dog, and my electricity bill every 3 months, is about £100.00 which I think maybe $130.00 U.S. Most people here have Central Heating, which means you have a modern dual purpose condensing boiler in a cupboard, or on a kitchen wall, this takes care of your constant hot water and central heating to radiators. The price is about the same as the electricity, depends which supplier you are with. Doesn't matter where you live, many of us do 'home shopping' these days. We order nearly everything online, get the supermarket to deliver it to the door. Clothes are very cheap in supermarkets and other more budget outlets, most of the stuff is made in Bangladesh after all. Health care is free. Medications are free even if you need 20 different ones [if you are aged over 60]. Everything is free medically, except for medications if you are under 60 and can afford to pay them. Yes you have to wait for appointments, but in my experience, if they know it's 'urgent', i.e. something serious, they move you along. There are major problems with Accident and Emergency at the moment due to the time of year and pressure on the system, but I have found the medics that come out to your home, in the rare event you might need one, to be expertly trained. If you can afford private health care on top of this, then so much the better. One of the taxes we pay here which nearly everyone hates with a vengeance, is the Council Tax, which is a tax on property. It's paid monthly for 10 months of the year usually, lots of people don't pay anything much if they are on low incomes with no savings, and then others who do pay have to pay more to make up shortfalls, which causes resentment. I'm in a Band A property which is the cheapest. I pay the equivalent of about U.S.$1600.00 per annum. Larger properties are Band D to Band H and they pay more. We're all just getting on with our lives regardless of Brexit. Who knows how that will turn out. If you'd like to tell us which part of the UK you will be buying in, I might be able to advise you further. I hope this has been of some help.