Chicken pecking

[Chickpea]

Absolutely gutted, for the past 24 years we've lived here there has always been a lovely old privet hedge running the length of the garden (about 70 footish) and unfortunatly, it is not on our boundary. Yesterday our newish neighbours came round to tell us they're ripping it all out and replacing it with 6ft fencing!! Not happy, it's going to make such a stark difference to the garden, but nothing we can do about it, so we're rapidly hatching plans to disguise it and grow things up it. (good job I planted a tray full of morning glories). Will be sad to see it go, was all I could think about last night.

[chocchick]

What a shame, although as someone with a privet hedge, it takes work to trim it, so maybe that is why they are replacing it?

I've read it's better shelter for a garden than a fence, and we get sparrows living on side. It's lovely and private too.

[Tina C]

That is sad. Maybe they are worried about having to be responsible for cutting it? Maybe you can come to a compromise?

 

We wanted to get rid of a privet at our last house - but our neighbours wanted to keep it. It was our boundary, but we respected their view and left it, on condition they kept their side under control. They never cut their side (and it was very wide) and it was so huge it shaded half of our garden.

[Chickpea]

Yeah, we're looking at the plus side to it now, no cutting, therefore no cuttings littering the garden, and we could never get anything much to grow in the bed next to it, so we are now in the market for lots of new plants! We're gonna paint the fence green and create a sort of raised bed out of cotswold stone so we have two levels of planting, and create a nice cottage garden vibe to it. Good project to work on.

[Egluntyne]

What a pity...it is bound to have birds nesting in it.

[Cinnamon]

Lucy, plant some lovely busy things like Honeysuckle on trellis up the fence,then get those little woven bird houses & pop them in amoungst the plant.

We have all sorts nesting in ours,& its lovely to see.

 

I am sure it will all look lovely once its done & the planting is established

[bronze]

maybe they have animals they dont want escaping

sad that they cant fence on their side of it though

I know I would in that situation

hedgerows should be protected

[Martin B]

Couldn't you just take a cutting and grow it on your side?

[Tina C]

Good idea Martin, if it works. But sounds like new plans have been made so alls well that ends well?

 

We have some of that Ivy with big green and cream leaves (sorry don't know what its called) - it grows really fast and thick and the blackbirds like to nest in it. Might be worth putting some against the fence?

[Chickpea]

Nice idea Martin, but the current hedge was established when the houses were first built (1910) so it would be some time before it would get to full strength again! Also our garden is rather long and structured into rooms so would be difficult to incorporate.

 

Love the idea of nesting boxes in Honeysuckle, we are definatly getting some more of that! I can see we will also need some bug boxes and a hedgehog house thingie we can put in our jungle bit. I think it is going to make a bit of an impact to the wildlife in the garden.

 

Another bright side - it means we can get at an old rotting shed easier and replace it with a greenhouse

 

Oh and these are the neighbours that have two large dogs, so the chickens will be safer too.

[Martin B]

Dig it up and chuck it over?

[Egluntyne]

You seem to have found the silver lining in this particular cloud! Good for you Chickpea!

[Popcorn]

Chickpea,

 

When we moved into our house two years ago we had hedgerow that ran up both sides of our garden. Last year our neighbour on one side decided he was getting too old to maintain it, so he replaced it with 4 foot fencing. I was sad to see the hedgerow go too. It had been there since the house was built in 1927. The grass in our back garden is also the orginal grass from when it was all fields and land, so it felt right to leave the hedge.

 

Our other neighbour has since followed suit, and has replaced the other side (with our consent, as we said we couldn't afford to do it) with the same 4 ft fencing. I must admit, it did reveal lots of weeds and brambles and holes for cats and foxes to get through.

 

Now it's been up for a good while, I much prefer it. The hens are safe, it's less work and it makes the garden look bigger and we have more border space. the garden is much easier to maintain. The fence posts have little baubles on the top of them and it looks really pretty. I want to get some pretty lighting to run along the fence too.

 

We are hoping to put up some trellis this year and fix some bird boxes.

 

So, it does have it good points. Make sure you get some nice photo's of the original hedgerow before it all gets pulled up. I think you plans sound great. Lilac is a lovely plant to grow up a fence. Green all year and the smell from the flower is lovely. Good luck.

[ubereglu]

Grow a few clematis' up the fence using some trellis-they're very pretty and chickens don't eat them!

[red]

Sounds like you've turned what at first seemed like sad news into a wonderful opportunity to improve on the space you have and make the most of your garden.

 

As you say it may be for the best if their dogs are going to be able to get through and reach your girls If that's not an issue maybe you could persuade them to keep a section of it at one end since there's 70 feet to play with. If not it sounds wonderful to have climbers and raised planting ... and a greenhouse too - lovely!

[Snowy]

Always sad when a privet hedge goes isn't it, along with all the wildlife it supports. But they are also a lot of work and take up so much premium space in our gardens. We have a lovely hedge running up one side of our garden. It has wrens and blackbirds nesting in it. Oh, and a 6 foot fence is also hidden in it somewhere! In fact I think it's only the ivy, honeysuckle and clematis that is holding the fence up now!