I have a similar problem and after talking to a couple of nurseries etc gracilis bamboo clumping variety non invasive is good. Grows to 6-8mtr tall. Other houses in the neighbourhood have it and it does block out a two storey house. Looks like you are in a tropical area with the palms and helconias in your garden. Apparently it can grow in a narrow width of 50cm from the fence, which i require something narrow as i don't have a big back yard.

Hi rIndy,

Thanks for the recommendation. I was actually looking into Gracilis bamboo to use on another border of our property as it does grow quite tall and quick! With this section though I was hoping to keep the palms and helconias where they are and try and build a higher fence or place something on top of the fence to screen it out but I am unsure of what options there are? or what colours I should use? or what material?

A nice invasive running bamboo would be the ticket to isolation. Where are you worried about it invading - your neighbor? When it invades your gravel areas, you cut out the running root, big deal. If you built a wall, you would have to maintain that, would you not?

I am renting a house that is less than ten feet(3 m) from the highway right-of-way, but about another 20'(about 6 m) from the actual roadway, which is about 5' (150cm) above my first floor. As the road curves, it passes both first and second floor bathroom fulll-size windows, yeh. Bamboo to the rescue! We are saved by the lovely self-sustaining bamboo. No fertilizing, no watering, just an occasional clipping of its toenails, each spring.

It doesn't soften the sound of the Harley's though.

To keep the bamboo from crawling out of its crib, install a galvanized or aluminum edging that goes down 6-12'(15-30 cm) to contain these babies from escape. And let the neighbor go back to Dungeons & Dragons or Sesame Street for their entertainment.

Hi Ryan, you can screening from bunnings that sit on top of the fence but they are usually only about 50cm H. Anything above that depending where you are in Australia, council laws are going to have a say about it, you may have to seek a relaxation of the law. One of my neighbours between one their other neighbours got a relaxation to build about a 4mt tall screen to blockout looking into each others bedrooms. You could plant the bamboo in between the heliconias and palms as it will fight to get to the sunlight and give the 2 storey coverage.

Hi Cascio,

I notice your from the USA. The reason clumping bamboo is more favoured in Australia is we have laws all round OZ with regards to boundary fences and plants. Yes people can put in barriers but people can't be bothered and plant rows of clumping instead for a blockout. If a neighbours plants invade another persons property here, whether it be above ground or below (the roots) to a certain distance or cause damage the owner of the plant or tree can be sued. We had this problem with a neighbours Lilly Pilly invading our underground plumbing pipes, about $3k to fix it.

Ouch! (Although, if the shoe was on the other foot?)

Robert Frost said that good fences make good neighbors, and we could not retain our sanity and extreme good nature without them, could we.

Hi Cascio, Yes it was not great, as we had only just bought the house at the time and a week later had blocked pipes. General builders inspection on purchase didn't discover the problem. All future purchases we will have separate plumbers inspection, camera down all pipes. The neighbour was actually really good about it, and we didn't feel the need to have to sue them to rectify the problem. Common sense prevails through good neighbourly discussions. One of the major problems of boundary fences and neighbours is wrong plant choice in the first place, people forget in 10-20 years the plant will be a lot bigger than first thought or what was on the plant tag at the nursery.

How about a Bougainvillea wall? It grows quickly enough and looks great on both sides. Link below, couldn't find a better example.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/109564203405011068/

Could you build an arbor attached to the house existing structure or freestanding that fills the gap at a height of 2.4 metres.? Grow a beautiful vine or bougainvillea as suggested by Julie so that you still benefit from your existing plants and gain privacy eventually. Alternately you could add slats to the top of this structure for more immediate privacy gain. The cheaper way is to use galvanised post and stainless wire with vines. Some ideas for you...

Clinton & Associates | Landscape Architects in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virg · More Info

East Village Roof Garden · More Info

Beach Contemporary · More Info

Duffy's Forest Project · More Info

And the galvanised version...

Hawthorn2 · More Info

If you can picture it, as I have no computer skills, just text, a lath fence coming down from your deck above, and then outward along your path. (Maybe above your deck as well.)

Either all horizontal members, say 1 to 1-1/2"(2.5-3 cm) each, then an equal space, then lath, then space - or, as above, teamed up with verticals in the same pattern.

This will permit all the sunlight and air circulation, plus you can view outward, but you are hidden behind this handsome fabric of lath.

And can relax and sunbathe, once more.

Hi ,

You could attach bamboo fencing panels to the existing fence. It will dress up the old fence and can be bought in 1.8, 2.1 or 2.4 metre high panels. I have attached photo of old fence with new bamboo fencing panels. Hope this helps