All my shrubs (which is the whole perimeter of my back yard) are atleast 2 feet or more in from my privacy fence. I figure if my neighbors wanted shrubs they'd plant their own. I will not abuse them by forcing mine on them. 2 of them already abuse me with their nasty Silver Maples. If I wanted one of those I wouldn't have cut mine down. Mulch out the beds all way around the perimeter so you don't have to deal with weeds as they are growing to full size. I'm friendly with my neighbors but the first thing I emphasized to my new one was that nothing in my yard would cause him a problem as I'm far enough from the line, and my closest tree is appoximately 12 feet away which is a dwarf Japanese Maple and won't be a problem.

I'm always surprised how many people abusively plant trees with canapies 50 feet wide and they plant the tree 10 feet from the property line. Shouldn't that other person, or future new owner be able to plant what they want, not have yours in the way?
Cher

I agree. One shouldn't purposely plant something that will encroach on the neighboring property. And I don't understand why would you want to plant a hedge that constantly needs to be trimmed? I would choose plants that are the proper size and shape at maturity, not ones you have to wrestle with into infinity.

and i should clarify.. about the dog collar ...

i am presuming you want the plants on the fence to keep the dog away from the fence ... but if you do it spaced properly .. the dog will still get to the fence.. for years to come ...

friends have the bark collar.. took the dog about a week to learn how to not bark ... and if the dog is having a bad day.. all they have to do is shake it at her.. or put it on.. but not even turn it on ...

pavlov at his best ...

ken

Thanks for all of your input. purpleinopp - do you have any recommendations for a shrub that will grow better than the ones I'm looking at? Budget is also a concern.

Without knowing where you are, or the size of your yard, how much sun/shade, there's not enough info to make specific suggestions. Unless you happen to live in OH or AL, I probably wouldn't get into that since I would just be speculating. Plenty of others on here will be able to give you some good ideas from their experience in your area and climate.

It doesn't sound as though your neighbors may be active gardeners, but what is growing at the fence at their side? Will your 6 or 7' privacy hedge cast shade and change their planting conditions when mature, something else to consider if being neighborly yourself.

How about asking your nosey neighbor what flowering shrubs he could recommend? Nosey could mean lonely and he might like giving you ideas and appreciate that you respect his opinion enough to ask. Then you could incorporate those into a border bed. Rather than a privacy hedge, I would probably plant a variety of shrubs (evergreen and deciduous) to create a bed with some depth if you have room. Choose shrubs that would be pretty from both sides of the property line which also wouldn't need pruning. Not knowing where you live, I can't really tell you what would work, but here in zone 7, I have Abelia, azaleas (not the small gumpo ones), Viburnum, Euonymous manhattan (not fancy, but a pretty green with nice evergreen leaves and gets to 6-8' if you prune it-maybe higher if not), camellias, exochorda, bayberry, ninebark. I have small understory trees as well (dogwoods, crape myrtles, and serviceberry. If you don't plant everything in one line, it actually creates a very good screen in a few years and looks beautiful to boot!

I think it's the height of irresponsibility to allow one's dog to bark uncontrollably and, thus, to disturb the peace. Where's the civility in that? The neighborliness? Forget the vegetation, if I lived in your neighborhood, the annoying barking would be a bone of contention.

Two neighbors have dogs like that...so annoying! I hear the damn things barking at 10pm.

I have a yellow lab who has just as loud a bark than any other dog and at the end of the day I'm the master and she speaks when asked. Once in a while a bark might slip out but she gets it back under control. Its called training and discipline.

No idea why I'm rambling about dogs right now.

My back neighbors reach, even come over the fence to mess with my shrubs. Is that incivility on my part? One neighbor apparently thought the back of my planting was messy, came over and took it away - including a newly planted rare shrub which he must have pulled completely out of the ground, thinking it one of the weeds. I never found out from him exactly what he did, just drew my own conclusions from what I saw later.

If you look at how so many people drive and how they position themselves and their shopping carts in stores it is not surprising that there is all these disputes over property lines and neighborhood noise etc. among homeowners. There seems to be a variety of ideas about boundaries and appropriateness.

I for one don't like it when multiple posters respond to a question and only one poster is thanked for their particular answer. I don't think that's appropriate at all.

I thought OP's last entry that started with "Thanks for all of your input." was thanking everyone. Starting a new paragraph for the rest of the entry might have been more correct, but being grammatically correct has never been a requirement on here.

He/she is trying to do something to stop the barking and is asking for help with that and for planting ideas.

bboy, I sympathize! The old (I think she said she was 87) lady who used to live next door would come over, inside my fence, and pull "weeds" in my yard while I was at work. I spent almost $100 the first summer on various plants and seeds and she pulled up almost everything. At least she was forthcoming about telling me "I got them weeds for ya." Gee, thanks... I'm sorry she's passed on now, but since she quit mangling the azaleas down to a few inches, they were STUNNING this year! And now I have a great dane and NOBODY comes in my yard. Maybe you need a dog!

I had a dog for over 15 years. What's too bad is that my fence isn't higher, it wouldn't be so easy to climb or reach over. But the root problem is of course the other people's lack of respect for boundaries.

When I said something to Mr Come Over and Clean Up's wife (he wasn't home) - I went over to point out that a rose they were reaching over and cutting back wasn't a blackberry - as soon as he got home he ran over and rang my doorbell, as though there was a need to get me under control.

The other people did more damage to my shrubs after I pointed out the metal property line marker - which indicated they were reaching up to 2 ft. onto our side - and stated my awareness of/displeasure with the unauthorized cutting.

Back to the topic, the traditional quality hedges are yew, holly and box. Slow but making very dense, long-lived shreared surfaces. Never any sudden exploding out of bounds and out of shape with bursts of rapid growth.

We used to live next to a Bar. The loud rock bands till 2 AM and the constant drunks partying on the bar porch & parking lot got to be a little too much. So glad we moved...whenever I stress out about my current neighbors I just recall what it used to be like & count my blessings.

Just a reminder...be glad you have a nice yard, instead of living next to a nuisance!

I do have a neighbor with 4 barking dogs which she yells at all the time...but again, I'm counting my blessings.

That said, I am also researching the question of screening shrubs. The problem being that there is a row of trees along my property. They are beautiful, but they don't provide any privacy. (they are too far away to shade the house, too.) I'd like to plant some screening shrubs, like maybe Arborvitae, but the shade from the trees may be a problem.

May have to put the shrubs in front of the trees, if possible, instead of beneath them.

There is a city ordinance where I live regarding privacy shrubs on property lines that addresses height. If it backs up to the street, 6' max. If it backs up to a neighbor, 8' max.

You are way too nice!!!! It's inside your property #1 & #2 if you planted a tree and it went over the property line the neighbor has the right to cut straight up from the property line. I don't know the laws where you live but if I were you I would put up a6ft + wood/vinyl fence depending on your local law usually it's 6ft. Then I would put the Arborvitaes in front. If you can get the higher size I think is @ 12', do it. It's your property for you to live in peace and have privacy to look at than what your were seeing. TALL FENCES MAKE GREAT NEIGHBORS!!! I wish you were my neighbor.

It all boils down to what the municipal code in your city dictates you are allowed to do along with what you believe is "neighborly" but here's another opinion for all those who might look at this thread while searching for similar answers:

If you live in a packed residential area like I do (and if moving is not feasible) with neighbors windows looking directly into your own windows then you will probably appreciate some privacy shrubs for screening. I strongly believe that good fences make good neighbors and I would be extremely grateful if my neighbor would stop obsessively pruning all their plants to the height of their fence line so that I wouldn't have to constantly hear or see them every time I look out my window or try to use my yard. We had to plant shrubs along the wall we share with them even though they have more room to do so than we do. Unfortunately, they severely cut back our exquisite NON-MESSY ornamental evergreen shrubs which have hung slightly (less than 6 inches) over the fence in their front yard which gave them privacy simply on the principle of maintaining their property line (they have nothing planted below/along the fence line or any other justification for doing so). Not many of us appreciate the feeling that we are being "watched" and I certainly think that even the property line fanatics who have posted above also appreciate privacy to some extent. I would be more than happy to lightly prune back my neighbors shrubs if they were to grow over too far onto my side but then again I think that would be a great "problem" to have. If your neighbors are reasonable people try talking to them. Perhaps they would appreciate the privacy shrub installation as well. Sometimes communicating with nasty neighbors is unfruitful but its worth a shot in the beginning.

Also, a word on large trees: We have several protected endangered oaks on our property including an enormous one that is over 300 years old. The trees were here long before any of the houses in my area were built. Around 15 years ago, developers thought it might be a good idea to erect a massive house on a tiny lot 10 feet away from the property line and right under the trees massive canopy. The old house that was knocked down was large enough (2,500 sqft) and was set back an appropriate distance from the trees. The new house is a monstrosity and home to neighbors who hate all trees and love lawn. Needless to say this has resulted in significant problems over the years with the new neighbors who are unhappy that the biggest tree is close to them. Luckily, where I live (California) neighbors cannot just cut your tree/shrub to their property line if doing so injures or kills the tree. Cities should do a better job at preventing these issues by ensuring massive houses are not built on tiny lots or fix zoning of properties to ensure that old large specimen trees aren't being cleared to make way for concrete yards and McMansions which have destroyed the character of the city and do nothing to help the current housing crisis.

Wow, this is a hot thread. Not surprising! We all have to figure out how to either get along, or isolate. Sometimes both.

I agree with you, OP, that it could look nice. Re your dog that's easily set off: Might there be any way to more immediately block her view of the neighbors? Like, if it's a cyclone fence, put some of those inserts into it, at least until your shrubs have grown up, and/or she matures? You wouldn't have to put full-length inserts in. Just whatever blocks her vision, so the light above that height could still get to your shrub border.

[P.S. NOT a fan of "bark collars" or any other punishment-motivated form of behavior modification for dogs. How would YOU feel about being treated that way? But that's a discussion for some other forum. Meanwhile, let's concentrate on prevention.]

Since you already have a fence, and could potentially make it opaque (prevent bark-triggering) for your dog, up to a certain level, there's no reason you have to plant a shrub border, depending on how much of a gardener you want to be, and how chill your dog gets to be as she grows up. Could be that, once you hide/block the fence from at least your own view, you disguise it with some kind of perennial border. To me this is a happy idea! But to each their own.

So if you're wedded to the idea of shrubs, and tall at that, please know that any shrub you plant that you want to let get six or seven feet tall will require that you plant it at least 3 feet from the fence line, if you want to keep said shrub moderately healthy or possibly even robust. (I'm imagining that you've made your fence opaque already, for about 30-36" high, for your dog's sake.) Hopefully you have enough space for that. In my experience reserving LOTS more of my yard-screening tree/shrub "hedges" (for instance, in my location I use Techny arborvitae, their beds are 10-12 ft across because their ultimate height is over 20 feet) just means less mowing. YAY. I edge those borders with plastic landscape edging, just to make the division between weeding/mulching and mowing clearer. For both tree and shrub border edgings, I've had to move the edging further into the turf over time, as things have grown and I've come to understand any plant's requirements. It works as long as you have room to do that.

Don't know your hardiness zone, but I'll add another potential shrub to your list of possibilities: cotoneaster. I love this particular shrub. It's very shapeable. Its only weakness is its susceptibility to fire blight, which if it's not a problem in your area, may make it well worth it to plant.

Good luck!

Joan

Put a fence

Put a fence instead

It's not ok to make your neighbor responsible to trim back hedges that you wanted to plant.

I would agree that it might be a bit rude to deliberately ask your neighbor to trim back your hedges on their own dime. However, I have found that most people value privacy and aesthetics over most other things. It would be prudent to have a gentle conversation with your neighbor about hedge trimming--namely, who is responsible for the physical act and any associated financial investment. If they seem put off by the idea of additional landscaping in your yard, perhaps they are concerned about losing light or the cost of pruning. In that case, offering to cover the cost of pruning/offering to conduct maintenance yourself is likely the most low-conflict option. If they decline your offers to pay for gardening services and are truly concerned (which I have found to be very rare), I would consider planting at such a distance from your fence line that you can access your plants from their backside for maintenance. The latter option is not always ideal due to narrow lots in many suburban areas.

I have personally found most neighbors are quite enthusiastic about the addition of well-designed landscaping and most are more than happy to have a lovely shrub as a new sight line. I can think of few people who would be opposed to gaining more privacy. Many times this necessitates planting a hedge or adding in a mixed border along the property line in addition to an existing fence. While fences function well as part of a holistic landscape design plan (especially for those with outdoor pets), you simply can't discount the power of good landscaping. Landscaping has many other benefits aside from enhanced privacy--it can increase property values, reduce water reduce runoff,/flooding, attract wildlife (and thus the lovely chorus of songbirds), make your neighborhood a more pleasant place to walk in, help shade and warm your house (reducing heating/cooling bills), while also reducing both particulate AND noise pollution. I believe that these benefits are worth the investment.

Note the date of the original question.

Date duly noted! Food for thought: later-posted comments are no longer for the OP but are quite useful for people seeking similar advice