I guess you would have to define both cheap, quick, and how long you want it to last. You could till up the whole length and plant the sunflowers that would take ? how many weeks to grow and would last ? months. You could give up the idea of 70 feet of privacy and erect just a few panels of lattice that might give a sense of privacy.But "erect" is the keyword--these would have to be installed so as to stay put; might require postholes, or wires and stakes, or something. The idea of a few posts and wires, with or without the bamboo fence, is interesting, since some very rapid annual vines can possibly grow on the wires alone. Again, this living fence will decay in the winter, so it depends on your expected timeframe. Would these look somewhat tacky and makeshift? Yes. Do you think the neighbor will have the fence up in a year? then that might be okay. Another option is to quit thinking about the far boundary--the 70 feet--and invest in some lattice panels, large container plants (or any such barrier) to surround a small sitting area near the house. Or do you think that 2 yrs from now you'll still have no fence and you could have saved up a bit for your own.

"Now that I've slept on the thought though, I think that it would be best to cut down the tree in broad daylight. This way it doesn't come across like I have something to hide." ~SpruceLee You may get a citation for destruction of private property if you do such, in broad daylight or under cover of darkness. "Maybe I should go down there one last time and give him one last stern talking to about how rude he is before I do anything tonight." ~SpruceLee How rude *he* is? You are threatening his property, if you gave him 'a stern talking to' the first time, as your posts suggests, it's no wonder he's not cooperative. Granted that looks like an ugly tree but you're not even a landowner there, you just rent, you're in zero position to dictate what the land owner keeps on his property. Are you one of those kids who Mom and Dad never said 'no' to? Because you're coming across as a self-entitled brat, imo.

I know exactly how you feel! Our neighbours deck is built onto the lot line. It was here first and we bought this lot to build on and did know what we were in for. Even still I am annoyed by the closeness. But after almost two years I also just use the yard however we want. If they want to stand on the deck and stare down at us really they are the ones that seem odd not us enjoying the yard. We live in Vancouver so climate not far off yours. To date we have a six foot fence as well as trees slowly maturing. Our most recent purchase is an evergreen magnolia but it will take years to really obstruct the view of the neighbour. In the meantime we use angled patio umbrellas when out on our back patio. Works like a charm.

Neighbors I've had planked their vaulted ceiling and then continued the planks horizontally across the wall all the way down the two longest parallel vertical walls to the flooring with really light wood and same light finish for beams -- it looked great. They used the same light finish on the vertical paneling but vertically on the end window wall and same light finish for the window and door trim -- so NO very dark to very light contrast -- which made the end wall visually disappear and permitted the view to be the star. Another house with a vaulted ceiling (but less windows and not a great view) used a lot of light (walls) to dark (trim) contrast and the dark (trim) parts grabbed the visual attention. Prefer to let the view and furnishings/decor claim the attention.