After 25 years of living with a chain link fence in the back yard and hating it most of the time, this year I decided to take the leap and go for a wood privacy fence.
The chain link looked lousy behind the garden, and I thought a solid fence would hide the alley and stop the dog from barking at squirrels she could see three yards away. But for years I did nothing because I did not want to offend my longtime neighbor, who had lived in the house next door since 1952.
To try to hide the alley, I planted a line of arborvitae along the fence. They grew raggedy and bent with the load of wet snows over the years. I planted vines to cover the chain link, but in the winter the fence was naked.
Then my next door neighbor died. New people bought the house, then two years later decided to sell. I started getting fence bids before the house was occupied again.
I took pains to let everyone know what I was doing, and the fence was finished in June. My new neighbors, who see the pretty side of the cedar fence, say they love it. Somehow the fence makes my yard look bigger, which I like. The dog's barking has been reduced even more than I hoped for. Wind doesn't knock the perennials around as it once did, and the garden looks much better with a solid, uniform background. I am thrilled with this new addition to the yard.
What do you think of fences? Do they send the wrong message to neighbors? Would you be offended if your neighbors built one? Are there other ways to create a good background for a garden?