screening for fence -- ekodeck or bamboo ?

Hi members,

My tenant put up this unsightly netting on my timber fence to prevent her kids from climbing.
I am planning to sell this IP. The house is renovated, and I'd stage it nicely for sale presentation. The only thing which would put off potential buyers is the poor condition of the old timber fence [+ the netting]. My neighbour was not keen to replace the fence. I am thinking of installing fence screening instead, since this $2k investment might be worth it. May I have your opinion on ekodeck vs bamboo as shown in my pictures ? Which option would you choose ?

 

I wouldnt spend up to hide the fence as anyone wanting to fix the fence must rip it off to do that. I would fix the issue. If you wanted a cheaper screen there are also cheaper bamboo and reed screens that can be rolled across and stapled / nailed. Depends if you favour a real fix or a disguise.

A longer lasting cost effective could be colourbond fencing. You rear neighbour then gets to pay 50%. Just follow the process for neighbourhood fences act in your state.

 

Yeah, don't like yoir chances of getting the neighbor to contribute half the cost of a standard timber fence (let alone Colorbond) if it isn't currently in a state of disrepair/falling down.

You could go get on the turps and stumble home pinching a few witches hat's from some roadworks to put in front of the fence to give it that finished look

It will all come back to cost (V's your time)
First up is to remove the barricade netting and then decide.

If you still want to do something I'd price the colorbond fence (even if I had to wear the full cost)
Then I'd price up the Bamboo cladding for a comparison
Ecodeck cost will prob be double either of the others (people usually space it too far apart to cut down on cost, then you can see straight through it and it looks even "cheaper")...

The fence will look better without the barricade netting regardless

* just to add, looking at the rather terrible job of the fence extension, you probably won't find any bamboo screening tall enough to cover from Top to bottom unfortunately

 

I'd consider removing the mesh and planting clumping bamboo - it will grow very fast and obscure the fence in no time. As an added bonus it will block the view of the house at the back.
Varieties to consider - multiplex Goldstripe, Alphonse Karr, Slender Weaver - all these are quite narrow and will grow to 3 - 4m high but can be kept shorter.
Friends of mine planted some (they dug a trench and planted the bamboo about 1m apart) - twelve months later, the fence and the house at the rear are now not visible.

 

P.S. I just noticed that you're in Melbourne - if you PM me, I'll let you know where you can buy in the eastern suburbs.

 

I have clumping bamboos at my PPOR and I would never plant them in an IP. They are very hungry and thirsty plant with regular fertilising, watering and trimming required to keep them looking great else they go yellow and drop tons of leaves and branches start leaning from the top. A constant source of issues with neighbours. I pay $300 every 3 months for professional bamboo trimmers to keep them looking tidy and keep neighbours safe very constant leaf drop. They grow 8-10 meters high so you can’t just use your hedge trimmer.

Another great alternative is tiger grass which has following advantages:

1) No leaf drop
2) only grows to 3 meters which is perfect height for most people
3) easier to turn it into a hedge
4) very fast growing - you will have a hedge in 5-6 months.

 

Always been wary of bamboo (of any variety). Sounds like my fear is well justified.

 

Nothing wrong with bamboos if you are up for high maintenance. My point was that bamboos aren’t for IPs though.

When we moved into our PPOR, we noticed our next door neighbours’s second storey main bedroom window had an almost full view of our entire backyard. There was an existing hedge but it wasn’t tall enough. Slender weaver bamboo was the only compliant and practical solution for us to block a second storey window and now the window has been blocked by a very thick, green wall of oxygen rich bamboos.

We have to maintain it regularly and it has certainly enhanced the look and feel of our backyard. Because it’s just 6 meters of side fence, it’s not light blocking for us or the neighbours. They actually thanked us as the thick bamboos greatly reduced the summer heat into their bedroom. Instead they get cool breeze throughout summer.

Our hedge is very similar to below photo from Pinterest but it’s quite a lot of work to keep it looking like this.

 

Do you know the type of plant you removed to grow the bamboo?

 

Bamboo144 by Maplesmatta posted 4th Jul, 2021 at 11:38 AM

Slender weaver can be planted in pots in the ground , which controls their growth habit . They are clumping around 1 m radius rootball when mature.

 

We removed orange jasmine (murraya) hedge which unfortunately doesn’t grow over 2m in Sydney climate. I have seen it grow to 3-4 meters in Brisbane.

 

I've seen it grow to 4-5m in the Eastern suburbs - saw a very tall hedge a few weeks ago. Probably needs time (10+ years), the right spacing, nutrients and lots of water.

 

The OP says he/she wants to sell the property so he probably wants to make the property look good in a short time so either a structure or fast-growing plants seem a good solution.

I think bamboo is like any other plant - choose the right variety for the purpose otherwise you end up disappointed. Seek advice from a grower/supplier.

Last year, I wanted our tropical garden bed replanted and spent a lot of time researching possibilities.. I'd seen Slender Weavers on tv and your photo shows just how great they can be (love the exposed canes!) but they grow too tall and too wide for my purposes so sought advice from a grower - he recommended the Alphonse Karr and Goldstripe varieties which only get 3-4 metres tall and can be trimmed easily enough so seemed ideal but in the end we decided against as the garden bed is just too narrow.