Kerrie, I live in Victoria and my pool in completely internal, that is to say it is part of the house and not an addition to the house. I planned to have an external door with the required regulation lock height and seld closing mechanism. Hubby was dead against this door and so I agreed to have a window instead, not long after, we found out that the laws had changed and you are no longer permitted to access to an indoor pool from the outside, so it was just sheer luck that we changed the door to a window. Further, when we purchased the awning windows (2) with regulation restricted 10cm windouts, our building inspector tried to tell us that the windows weren't allowed and that they would have to remain shut and we were also going to have to concrete "bars" into the brickwork on the outside. I argued that regulation pool fences had the same 10cm restriction and after contacting the Victorian Building Commission, I have confirmation in writing, that the windows are deemed to be adequately safe and the inspector has accepted the finding. My access to our pool now, is only from the inside of the home obviously and if that becomes illegal, then we'll just have to sit and look at the pool longingly through the window, as there won't be any access at all ha-ha I'm not advocating that people argue with regulations but if I hadn't investigated my options further, who knows where I would be, having spent $1,500 on these two windows with laminated glass and how beautiful would my brickwork have looked with prisson bars attached. Cheers, Barbara

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.

Thank all so much for your help Soil testing will be great idea. As it does not matter how small or large I plant the back of the trees or plants always Die. yesterday I spent chopping again at the back of the plants to save them. I do have dogs so it is a big concern when they are in this area of the back yard. I caught him leaning over the fence with a big white pump spraying the neighbours trees and handed photos to Police and the neighbour. Thank god for smart phones. He told police he was watering the trees. so he did get a big warning. I have beautiful parrots that come every day to eat and sit in my other trees. I love watching and listening to them from my balcony.

Hi Re the location, I would not be putting it in the pillar or cutting it. They are there to give the wall its' strength particularly at the height it sounds like that you have. The letterbox would be better built into the double brick section of wall at a practical /aesthetic location. A simple box such as this from Bunnings can be inserted which will do a double course no problems. Option 1 would be to drill 4 holes from the front straight through at each corner. These locate your corners in the front and back from which you can then use the Arbortech from each side. I am not a fan of hammering old walls as particularly high ones are prone to mortar separation and weakening of the wall. I would rather take the time to cut it regardless of how long I'm at it. Option 2 would be to get a brick cutting company in to cut it for you inc lowering the height then you install it. Cheers