Don't forget a straw bale wall still needs a foundation.
For a long time I have dreamed of putting in a 'living wall'.
I imagine (living here), you are pretty handy in the DIY dept, so a series of A frames with 'shelves' could give you 1) good visual protection, 2) a formidable barrier, 3) once installed, with the right plants and irrigation system, a really beautiful wall of flowers, herbs, vines, bamboo, whatever you choose.
But bottom-line, 50m of plants won't come cheap either (unless you have loads of kind friends with gardens and surplus plants ;-) But what a wonderful project... good luck, and please let us know what you decide to do in the end.
I don't really think that hedges prevent burglaries...they may infact just provide cover for someone to move about in your grounds....and prevent your neighbours witnessing some stranger(s) 'shiftily' moving about around your property.
Planting a hedge would be a much cheaper option than a wall, but it's a' hell of a job' to maintain yourself (especially if it is going to be 2 metres high and full of thorns...probably the reason why your neighbours have got rid of it). I have a well established old mixed hedge, of more than 100 metres in length, running along the busy road by the side of my property . It screens the road a bit, doesn't really deaden the sound, but I suppose it does absorb/ counteract some road pollution.
An ordinary terracotta brick or stone wall would cost a fortune in materials and labour and reflect sound out to my neighbours on the other side of the road...so I have thought about getting a straw-bale wall built which could be rendered..a much cheaper option, can be rendered and capped to look like substantial stone wall. It on the back-burner for me, as I have other more pressing jobs to do in the house and I may not stay put, anyway......
So whatever you plant, be carefull that it isn't too rampant for you to easily maintain and isn't going to be expensive to do so if you don't intend to do this yourself.
I think a much better solution would be to treat this whole event as a blessing in disguise, a 'design opportunity' perhaps....so why not have fun creating a wide, curvacious border, with choice shrubs, rose bushes, one or two evergreens, those woven or metal obelisks..... strategically placed to give you a bit of privacy so you dont feel so exposed. You could even include some sections of trellis topped fencing and grow espalier apricots, clematis, climbing roses, etc...Much nicer than a hedge !
If you opt for wood panels, again check for any restrictions with the Mairie before outlaying the expense. My neighbour across the lane wanted to have a wood panel fence for privacy running from the front corner of his house for a distance of about 8m alongside the lane basically to stop anyone walking on the lane looking straight at his front door/windows. The mairie said no, had to be stone, wire or plants. I don't understand the wood restriction as it can look neater etc than wire but there you go.
Others have suggested you plant a hedge as the easiest and cheapest option.
If you decide to have a wall built just your side of the boundary, it will require that your neighbours grant access to their property to render the brickwork their side - from what you say, they may be awkward about this - unless the wall is built away from the boundary so workman can stay on your land.
A quick, temporary fix is to erect screening made of bamboo and then grow a hedge behind it on your side, but allow plenty of room so hedge trimming their side can be done without going onto their land.
Also consider: it seems they want that side of the property open, they may try to sabotage attempts to grow a hedge. I know of such a case near me where someone decided they did not want a hedge grown… they did not even live next door so it was difficult to see what their beef was, but the person was a known local trouble-maker and the Gendarmes had to get involved.
You might like to check to see if your neighbours ‘have form’ in this respect as badly behaved people usually have a reputation, but I certainly would go and see the mayor, tell him/her of your neighbour’s behaviour as they may be able to have a word.
Dorothy, we too have had a spate of burglaries in our area. By providing privacy for yourself you are providing screening for the burglars at the same time.
My friend actually asked her commune to cut back a hedge which the burglars broke through and which then kept them out of sight.
A blackthorn hedge would deter burglars and you can get the plants from mes arbustes.
Looking at this very objectively - you're calling it "the" hedge but they probably saw it as "their" hedge. Tiny difference but I think that might be at the root of the bad feeling. OK you benefited from it while it was there, but it was their hedge, their maintenance (maybe they weren't crazy about the maintenance either, as they get older), their responsibility. You had no stake in the hedge and they had no responsibility to provide it for your convenience. So I think you have to accept it with good grace, that a person can do what they like with their own hedge if they don't want it there any more.
You say your property is completely exposed on one side but if it's a boundary between the two properties, I guess that it is exposed onto the neighbour's property, rather than onto a public area? so essentially, your two properties at that boundary are now simply 'open plan'?
I would grow my own hedge, then I'd be confident that it would stay there for as long as I wanted it to.
I agree with Paul, a block wall 30 mtrs in length will cost a small fortune. You will also need to get a digger in to put in footings, then foundations for the wall (a privacy wall needs to be quite high), reinforcement, masses of concrete blocks and then rendering to finish once completed.
If you do not want the maintenance of a hedge then wood fence panels would do the trick but again quite an expense.
I would do all in my power to remain friends, nieghbours at war...no matter which country you reside in can be a lifetime nightmare. Advice make sure a photo record is kept and all correspondence dates and times ..you could of course go seek the advice of the https://www.demanderjustice.com/?gclid=CK3t-rWv0csCFUwq0wodr4oGKA in the event all else fails..go placidly amidst the noise and haste.
A rather antagonistic comment Alexander. Can you please stick to the 'dinner party' code of conduct please? And not a dinner party at 3 am when everyone is slightly the worse for wear....! Thank you.
Hello Alexander... this lady just wants to maintain a bit of privacy - which she had. The neighbours seemingly couldn't care less - unless of course, they don't get "their way"...then its a different story.
It's not a nice feeling to have poor relations with ones neighbours - particularly when you have not done anything wrong. I sometimes think "incomers" try too hard to please and "fit in"...and then it is perceived as a sign of weakness, rather than what it is.
A 50 metre wall will cost you a fortune... no doubt many times more than the cost of Hedge maintenance for the next 30 years.
Yes, it was stupid to even bother, but I really try hard to have good relations with them. I'm still upset!
We will go to the Mairie (we are also speaking to an architect). We did think about a hedge, but we are not crazy about the maintenance .... it's 50 metres in length.
As the neighbours didn't consult you, why on earth have you even bothered to consult them?
Instead of a brick wall, have you considered planting a fast growing hedge - within your boundary? It would be cheaper, not require any planning permissions (or neighbour permission), and, would still provide a good degree of security/privacy.. and would be much cheaper and more aesthetically pleasing.