Nosey Neighbors

We have begun marking the days by looking into the back yard to note how many more panels of fence  we can see.  We are down to two a day, but today we ran into some problems.

Yesterday we added two more panels.  We had to step down the north side fence since the drop from the back corner to the front gate is nine inches.  We brought the fence down five inches with the hope that when we get done landscaping, the drop will not seem that drastic.  Even spreading out some dirt under the higher panels helps the eye to even out the view.

One step down will help us deal with the sloping landscape.

A second post on the lowered side today further helped to minimize the look of a drastic drop.  If we did not do this, our gate would float so high in the front that we would have no privacy at all.

With this second lowered panel, we now block the view of
our north neighbor's yard from our back yard.

The east side post went in with only a few minor root removals.  We learned today that we were lucky to find a fairly clear area for the post since the next one closest to the tree is not that accommodating.  If we could use the full eight foot section, the post would be nestled right next to the tree; unfortunately, that area underground is filled with foot wide and deep roots that Rick is unwilling to disturb.  He says that the tree will just continue to grow and will dislodge the post in a couple of years anyway.

This panel is almost as far as we can get to the tree without
cutting out some major roots.

I do not want to build the fence out around the tree because it will cause a weeding nightmare and will take away the whole idea of having the tree in our yard.  If we build around it, we also will create a very awkward plot of land in the southeast corner of our lot.  I would rather try low palms or something like a bougainvillea that we can somehow attach to a trellis.  If all else fails, perhaps big pots of flowers... anything to block off the neighbors!  If you have any ideas, let us know!

The splayed roots of this tree are causing us unwanted decisions.

Everyone has a noisy neighbor, but since the houses behind us are all vacant right now, those peeking over the fence are not human, but they are rather pretty.  I will welcome this kind of nosey neighbor any time.

Pretty blooms peek to see who is making all of that racket
on the other side of the fence.