He mentioned it (I think he had a shock himself when he realized how much privacy he lost) but I can't assume it will ever happen :(

greenfish.... regarding the plastic. To me the worst part is the blaring whiteness which will just get dingy over time. Would you consider staining it on your side with a gel stain just to tone it down. For me that really clashes with your naturalistic setting. I'm a rose person, so I view all fences in sun as an opportunity ro grow climbers and ramblers! :0 Perhaps you could put a bamboo screening in front of the chainlink to hide it. It's cheap and lasts a while. I've seen this exact thing done. One of my fave restaurants used it for their patio and also criss-crossed bamboo to help support it growing vines along it. It would be perfect for your situation.You have a beautiful setting, btw.

Edit: I just reviewed the pics and that's too much fence to consider staining. Maybe just hide that with plants or also bamboo. Google bamboo screen fence and look at images.

i know vaporvac. The white is the worst. It is on the front of his property so, while highly visible, it doesn't abut my property in the way the chain link does. I may suggest roses to him for his side. I'm a rose killer :(

P.S. Did I miss your zone and location?

Thank you btaylor! I never remember my zone-9 I think? Boston area. I don't want anything columnar next to the rhododendrons I don't think. Evergreen is great but not essential as the worst impact will be during the growin season.

9 would be Fl. or Ca! Boston is now Z6! Hard for me to wrap my head around that! You can include both your zone and location next to your name if you like.

Your massive rhododendron seems to be the obvious year-round screen. I've been moving some of mine that size around my yard, so I am here to tell me you can do it! Tomorrow morning! Instant relief is possible! Your garden and daughter are beautiful, so put this one glitch behind you and keep moving forward with your obvious artistic vision.

Aw kitasei very sweet of you. Do you HAND DIG those big rhododendron??! Goon on you!! I was thinking the other day about this. I spoke to a landscaper who was doubting he could move another one I have to join this one (And have it survive). I thought he was pathetic. Moving the one there would only open up more fence to its right, but I do have another, lonely one that could join it.

Annied I would love to but the trees are in the way!

Dude, it is far from my worst problem. It is my worst landscaping problem. Yes my problem. That's why I offered to help pay for his fence if he got cedar. Also why I am asking for help with MY landscaping. I like my neighbor, hate his fence, miss my closed in garden feeling. Got any suggestions?

Google "zone__ shrubs" (whatever zone you really are.) And then refine the search for tall & shade.

It doesn’t look bad at all, it’s all in your head. I am in a suburb where houses are close together, I can see all my neighbors houses, their frontyard, backyard, garages, cars in the garages.......but no one complains here. Make peace with your neighbor’s fence, it’s good for your health. :-) Or just grow hardy bamboo...,,,,,

Some Virburnums get large enough.

No. it’s the big rhodie you want! Look back over your pictures and see how massive and dense the coverage is, head to toe, and totally evergreen. Even in the depths of Boston winter when it’s leaves furl like window shades there will be enough depth to do the trick. And yes you can do it. Rhodies have small root balls. Dig it and when it’s free, tip to its side and carry with two people like a coffin. Stake it becsuse it will be tippy like a fat lady with tiny feet. And then water religiously. You hear Ken here talk about slapping hostas on driveways and driving over them, leaving them out all winter and THEN planting them... well Rhododrndron in the northeast are the shrub equivalent. I’ve moved six and all survived. I may do one more before breakfast.

To those who counsel proportionality and tolerance of neighbors, ok we get the civics point. But this is a gardening forum and a safe space for gardeners to obsess about even a glimpse of white vinyl that disrupts the painting. Which gives me another thought—- surely a more reasonable alternative to installing a cedar fence on your side would be to affix dark green or camouflage cloth. Until you fo the rhode move at least.

“Am I crazy to consider a huge blackberry bramble?” Yes. It won’t get tall enough or dense enough to block the view in summer, and it will be bare in winter, a good 5 months of the year in New England.

Several different types plants could provide your screening. Dense evergreen Rhododendrons, as kitasei suggested are a good option. Rather than moving one that is currently providing some screening, just buy a new one. Choose one with a mature size that will suit your needs, and be sure it is one that remains dense rather than one that tends to get leggy like Nova Zembla. You can ask for particular suggestions on the New England forum, the Rhododendron forum, or at a good local nursery.

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/new-england-gardening-dsbr0-bd~t_29970[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/new-england-gardening-dsbr0-bd~t_29970-dsbr0-bd~t_29970)

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/azalea-and-rhododendron-forum-dsbr0-bd~t_29827[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/azalea-and-rhododendron-forum-dsbr0-bd~t_29827-forum-dsbr0-bd~t_29827)

Another choice would be to choose one of the large, densely twiggy deciduous shrubs that even after it drops its leaves in winter will do a good job of blocking views. Two that work well for this in my yard are large cultivars of ninebark/Physocarpus and some of the large cultivars of forsythia. Both will be wide and fountain shaped, but both in my yard completely block what is behind them year round. I don’t remember the cultivar of forsythia I grow, but my ninebark is Coppertina. Many cultivars of forsythia will be smaller than what you need, so do your research.

A third choice would be to choose a semi-dwarf conifer. You would need to do research to find ones that won’t overgrow the space, either as far as width or height. I have two arborvitae cultivars, Thuja Sunkist and Thuja Techny, both of which I expect to stay below the 12’-15’ range for quite a while. There are likely other choices for conifers as well.

There may be some clumping (not running) bamboos that will get tall enough to do the job, but the only hardy bamboo I grow doesn’t get tall enough to hide a fence that size. In the Boston area you have more option, but here I am at the northern edge of hardy bamboo‘s range.

In the interim while you wait for shrubs to reach size, you can set up stakes and wire mesh fencing and grow annual vines from seed in front of the white fence, something like scarlet runner bean that can be grown from seed. Or buy bamboo matting and metal stakes to fasten it to.

Be sure to research the width of the plants you are considering (and don’t believe plant tags which often are 5 year sizes) using a reliable resource such as the Missouri Botanical Garden’s PlantFinder.

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/plantfinder/plantfindersearch.aspx

Or just type MOBOT and the name of the plant into a web search and it will give you their page on the plant if they grow it.

Plan so there will be at least a foot between the fence and the plant’s mature size so you can weed, etc.

Fantastic advice NHbabs! Thank you so much. I have drawn my property line and the bed expansion that would be necessary to hide the white from most of my view.

I might try to convince him (probably won't work) to let his rhododendron grow free of the ball shape he keeps it in...could eventually really eliminate som of the white (not that it bothers him!)

Kitasei said it perfectly, for those whose two cents are to tell me I'm nuts, this is a gardening forum! I am not looking for counseling. I obv also live in a suburb with houses in view. I chose this corner lot for its mature plantings, trees, and private back yard. I have built up all of the gardens by hand and will continue do do so...hopefully with continued advice from more knowledgeable gardeners than I on this forum!!

kitasei your advice on moving rhododendron will come in handy. I do have one other large one but a hard look this morning tells me moving it will open up other privacy issues. I do think you are right though that that is my solution.

I will look in to buying some new rhodies and also the largest densest forsythia I can. It is a fav of mine and I always wish I had it.

I haven’t gardened in your zone, but my favorite camouflage for chain link is Virginia Creeper vine. It isn’t evergreen, but can grow quite densely. And it is native and has beautiful red fall color. It also provides berries for various birds, and is host to some beautiful moths. It tolerates shade and is easy to grow. I have seeds, if you want to start from scratch.

Martha

Thank you Martha! I am googling now :)

Just be sure the neighbor is OK with you growing something on his fence.

Yes-he is! He reached out about it. I think he has had buyers remorse.

Well it tuns out I have quite a bit of Virginia creeper in my compost area. Some call it "invasive," although I see it is native. Anyone have issues with it?

I would call Virginia Creeper “robust.” It grows vigorously, but is quite shallowly rooted, and easy to pull, if desired.

Martha

If it ever stops raining I will get transplanting! It will cet be a start in the shady areas where I can barely get a spade in!!

Have to share the other reason I loved this property. When we expanded the house keeping this and it's mate in back was a must.

"Some call it "invasive," although I see it is native."

The difference being that natives invaded prior to us, and invasives, after.

I'm a little confused by the picture where you show the property line.... I assumed that the dark blue house was the property you wanted to hide because I see a chainlink fence there. I assumed that house owns the white fence...? But the rhodie is outside the fence in the grassy area on the other side of the marked property line. Is there a house there or is that just a grassy area? Does it belong to the blue house?

I think your best bet to hide the fence would be to plant an evergreen tree on your property in your marked bed, placing it so it hides the fence when you look in that direction from your more common view points. I'm not very good with the Paintprogram but this is sort of what I men....:

I don't have any strong aversion to chainlink - as long as it is black in color so it disappears easily in the background....! Most of the fencing here is chainlink and it keeps the garden looking open and bigger than it is because it incorporates the neighbours' trees into our garden! How big is your lot? We have 1/4 acre but the open fences provides a view of effectively 1.5 acres so the garden feels bigger. As Yard said at the top, plant some screening shrubs and then forget about it. I would suggest bringing the shrubs forward to provide a path along the fence. Moving them forward will also give them more light probably. That's what we do here for the area under the pines. Most of the time here you can neither see the fence or the houses of the neighbours behind us. One of those neighbours has a cream-colored cheap metal shed that drives me nuts! (my equivalent of the white fence for you...) While it is not completely screened, most of the time I no longer 'see' it.

Thanks woodyoak! Your drawing is correct-the photo is taken from my bedroom looking to neighbors blue house. Chainlink runs behind rhodie, white plastic runs across his front yard.

I get what you are saying about opening the view. In a perfect world, I would prefer no fence and border plantings for privacy. But as you can see he is no gardener!! Before this happened my #1 priority was covering the other shed from view! so I hear ya. But now I see clear through his yard across the street and to his next door neighbors .

prior shed issue seems like nothing now:

Does anyone else feel that the huge mass of the rhodie can only be paired with 1) a huge mass of just one of something else 2) more rhodie? I'm kind of thinking any grouping of various things will look puny and cluttered there like my current azalea, scrawny raspberries do. I have 3 oak leaf hydrangea, 2 lilacs, 2 more blue hydrangea, a ton of stuff, that still doesn't have a home. I just feel like tacking a garden on to the rhodie isn't going to get me the screen I need AND is going to look puny There anyway.

view of whole rhodie and fence

I don't know if it's been mentioned but it looks like there is English ivy growing in the wooded area. If that's what it is, you wouldn't want to mix Virginia creeper with it to grow in the fence. The ivy alone is capable of doing that and forming a screen. Together, there would be an ugly, messy battle.

That is myrtle.

What myrtle is a low groundcover?

I have it all over I love it

Been so long since I heard that I totally forgot. We always call it Vinca or Vinca minor.

I got Joan J raspberries from Nourse farms in Mass. They are thornless. But raspberries need support or they fall over. I've never had any that were 6 feet tall, even with support. If you have a deer problem, thornless may be a bad idea, but if you want a big clump and to actually pick berries from the big clump, thornless are the way to go.

Thanks for the visuals... those are exactly what I was talking about. One can even use the cheap stuff that comes rolled up and criss-cross long bamboo pieces for both support and to help break up the line. It's very natural looking, cheap and attractive from where I stand! ; )

Yeah I like it! He would let me attach it to the fence-is that what you were thinking?

plant wise, I have come to think a grouping of one thing , either evergreen or very de forsythia, would be best. Something to match the height and girth and looseness of the rhododendrons. Nothing too symmetrical or pointy (I detest arborvitae rows)

any thoughts/ preferences?

Your current neighbor may not mind you growing something on his chain link fence, but you have no guarantee how long he will live there, and future owners might object and spray or cut the offending plants, including shrubs or trees that might poke through or reach over.

I personally would bite the bullet and put up the cedar fence on your side of his chain link fence and then add shrubs. That way you can choose plants according to what you really want rather than by speed and density of growth. And, as they say, good fences make good neighbors.

Ok I am back to thinking about that danged fence!

i went behind my rhododendron and found some spindly offshoots. If I dug these up and moved them to the right of the mother fence, would they fill in or stay crappy and spindly?

It would be far faster and far easier to go to your nearest big box store and find a rhodie that will be of the size you need when it is mature.

You are right NHbabs. Thanks for keeping I real. I am overwhelmed right now. I have dozens of plants to get in the ground :@

How about a lattice fencing, it could be simple and natural and you might not even have to cap it off. Also, vines can grow up it. Then you can get your plantings started in front of it and they will eventually fill in.

Terrene- I like that lattice – do you have a source for that? It be great if it was lightweight and cheap enough to just attach to the neighbors fence if he is OK with it. Unfortunately the neighbor who put the fence up died unexpectedly (at a very young age). He was a good neighbor and friend. I don't know who we are getting or how they will feel about me attaching privacy screen.

I bit the bullet and paid a landscaper to install four of the biggest shrubs I could afford. So… That fence should be all but invisible in about 10 years :/

I have a new problem. I specifically asked the Landscaper to identify my existing Rhododendron and to order more of the same. I think it's pretty clear that they are not the same, I wortied that it will be noticeable, especially when they do grow closer to the old ones, and that they are not going to grow to the same size ( I realize that these may never reach the same height as the others but I would like them to have the potential to get that big )

what would you you do in this situation?

Original:

New

The leaves are smaller and narrower and don't pop out in a proud flat fan around the flower. They are curled in ( maybe due to the stress they have experienced ), and seem a bit shinier.

Hi greenfish - I just pulled that photo from an image search on the internet and there were many attractive designs using lattice in the results. It's been years since I bought any but you can buy lattice panels at any lumber store.

Not sure about the rhodies? They don't look like the same cultivar but it might be difficult to match the exact cultivar of your old specimens (probably different cultivars available in the nurseries these days). From a distance they look similar to me.

Thanks Terrene! I am in the process of acceptance. It turns out that my big rhodi.e., now in glorious full bloom, is tWo different cultivars! I probably knew this at one point but forgot that we have lilac and pink flowers :)

Virginia creeper is deciduous as well as invasive. I am trying to eradicate it. I do not recommend it for any purpose.

Just put your own fence up six inches inside your property line.

I guess it depends on your definition of invasive. It is native and a food source for birds. I will probably try it before the house sells since I have it growing in the trees anyway and if the new owners see it on the fence maybe the will like the idea better than if I go over and pitch the idea. previous owner wanted to grow something. I've been too busy with the yard to try it yet unfortunately

https://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/745