Why not post some photos of the situation to help see what the context is. If this were a typical tight lot in California, you might be talking about trying to shoehorn some trees into a 15 foot deep backyard. In Wisconsin, the offending balconies might be 50 feet away... I would think that even in a climate such as Wisconsin's, it might be possible to plant some very fast growing trees such as poplars or birch trees that could give you some pretty effective screening within a couple of years. Post the pictures, and you will get a better reply that actually addresses the merits of your situation. I bought such a house some 17 years ago here in Berkeley, and fortunately already had a 20 foot tall hedge of Pittosporum trees that had been planted by the previous owner, because a two storey apartment building is 15 feet distant on one side, and 50 feet away at the rear. Most people walking out into my backyard these days never even realize that the building is there, and it feels plenty private when I am out in the yard. I really only see the neighboring apartment building at night, when the lit up windows do appear partially screened by all the foliage.

I had written off bamboo, but I'm considering it again en lieu of installing motorized drop down privacy screens on my patio cover that I have been quoted from $3.5K to $7K to install. For much less than $3K should I be able to put some kind of containers against approximately 30 ft of fence pictured at the beginning of this thread that will allow me to plant super-fast growing running bamboo, while also making it physically impossible for them to get out of control? I would like something that will be low maintenance and will grow to a height of 15 feet or more and be thick enough to block the view down into my patio from the neighbor's upstairs window within a short period of time. I need something that grows pretty much straight up without much of of it hanging down or sticking out into the limited space of the patio. Can they be planted in the largest containers to start or do they have to be started in small containers and repeatedly transferred to larger and larger containers as they grow larger? I'm thinking of getting beds raised at least 3 feet so it will raise the planting level so that they have a head start to reaching the height required over the 6 ft fence required for the privacy screen effect. Container This will be in the Sacramento, California area.

I am now reading this and I know it has been some years. I hope you took care of your issue and I have the same. The dudes addition will look direct on to my backyard. It is not an addition from facing but to the side of the house that will face my entire back yard. We also have fence restrictions to build one high enough would not be possible. I am so pissed off at this that I will put my home up for rent....I mean rooms for rent and I will keep the garage for storage and move to my vacation home. Hmmm. This is the bay area and I could make a fortune not that I want this at all. 6- 8 people living there with cars on a court? Guess the dude will think again before he puts my back yard in full view of his home. I can not think of any way to block his birds eye view of my entire yard since he is builtding on the side of the house all along the side of my back yard. I do not want to be mean to other neighbors but I do not know what else to do. How did yours turn out

My wife has a hard time visualizing things on the screen and picturing them in 3D. After a life time of making 3D objects from 2D drawings, I'm pretty good at. Her needs are very modest- roomy kitchen with the sink facing the view, attached garage, and most important- something we can afford to build and live in. The back porch and sun deck have been left off due to laziness on the part of the draftsman. They are important elements, and will be on the actual house! Yes- That roof will collect a lot of sun and rain water! My plan is to have a pond on the property as a reservoir to hold irrigation water, and of course to enjoy looking at. We currently have a small 15' pond that is the focal point of our back yard. That's another thing my wife has requested- a garden pond. I figure dig it big enough to hold say 20,000 gallons, and feed it with the water coming off of either the house or barn roof- or both, if necessary. That way, I have a pond to enjoy, and a supply of irrigation water for the dry spells. Every inch of rain that falls on the barn, for example, is about 1400 gallons At an average of 4" a month, that's 5600 gallons in an average month! A 25' X 35' X 4' deep pond will hold well over 20,000 gallons. 99% of the time, the closet, utility room, and bathroom doors will be open. I only want to make them closeable should we need to tidy up for guests coming up to enjoy the deck. Termites in SC are rated 'extremely heavy', the worst rating. Being colder and higher than much of the state, I'm sure the termites are much lighter than, say, Charleston. Here in FL, we don't say 'if', but 'when' when it comes to termites, and the house will be designed, built, and maintained with this same mindset.