Keeping light out: Fences or Bushes

[Tropo-Bob]

Due to the neighbour suddenly cutting down almost all the vegetation in his yard, I am now exposed to many neighborhood lights. So I thinking on how to created screens against this unwanted light.

I am toying between simply putting in high fencing, or planting suitable vegetation (which will take sometime to grow).

Anybody else faced this issue? What did U do and were U happy with the result?

[fbk]

Air rifle :lol:

[astroron]

An unhappy conundrum Bob :(
High fences are expensive and bushes can and will die,or not be thick enough to shield all stray light from coming your way.
Making some portable screens out of lightweight material may be the way to go.
I don't know your immediate surrounds but I guess that living on the Gold Coast,the sky above would not be the darkest. ?
You could always move a tad further out of town. ;)
I hope you sort something out.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Orionskies]

Hi Bob,

I just had the same thing happen to my neighbors backyard today except lucky for me no intrusive lights.
As suggested you could try light weight screens on long posts or even a shade sail fixed on an angle.

Hope this helps.

[pmrid]

Cheapest option would be to grow-your-own light barrier to replace the one that was cut down. If bushes worked before, they will work again. In the meantime, image in narrowband.

Peter

[casstony]

You can really transform a backyard from just a space into a pleasant outdoor area with a suitable arrangement of shrubs and the odd tree. You could draw a plan of your backyard and ask a nurseryman to recommend types and placement of fast growing shrubs to block out light and add value to your house in the process.

[Wavytone]

I'd be looking into a colorbond fence to give 100% light block (shrubs won't) with a layer of fast growing shrubs to give the aesthetic appeal to suit your locality and the aspect.

Your neighbour will have to pony up 50% of the cost of the fence, but not the shrubs, if you want to push this. And suggest he turn the lights off as a rather cheaper option if he doesn't like the $$$.

[glend]

Leighton Green conifers, aka "The Spite Hedge". They grow pretty fast, especially if you fertilise them and keep them watered. They are fast growers and if planted no more than two metres apart they will form a pretty solid green hedge in the future. I planted seven from Bunnings, along one boundary a couple of years ago and they are close to five metres tall now, well above the fence and are cutting down nusiance lighting already. I am going to start lopping the tops to force them to close up the gaps and form a proper hedge. If you let them get away from you they can get really big, like 10metres tall. You can get advanced versions if you can't wait for them to grow, but that can get expensive.

[el_draco]

Try talking to said neighbour about shielding or may a lights out time. Worked once for me in the past. Dont know what the neighbour is like though.

[MortonH]

The OP said "many neighbourhood lights". Sounds to me like it's not just the lights from the neighbour who cut down the vegetation but other nearby lights that are no longer blocked off?

[Tropo-Bob]

Morton is correct. The lack of vegetation has allowed lights further away to become a problem, including one street light.

Interesting answers though. Thanks all.

[grimsay]

I built 3 of these screens (http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/240009-dark-sky-panels-diy-project/) using blackout material form spotlight and they're brilliant, flexible solution.

[wayne anderson]

I had a problem with the neighbors back light flooding our back yard with light so i built this screen enclosure (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=1054577&postcount=4) and it works very well.

[ChrisV]

Don't know what your council is like but many (like mine ) have height restrictions for fences. About 1.8m standard ?

[cometcatcher]

Go for a screen. Shrubs can be unpredictable. I planted shrubs that the pot said only grew to 4 metres. 10 metres later and they are blocking the sky!

Or build an observatory with walls high enough to block the light. Which is what I did in the end.

[DarkArts]

I've been pondering the same question, though I haven't got around to doing anything yet, so I don't know if these are very practical, but I thought they might work well:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/pillar-products-1-6-x-3m-charcoal-retractable-patio-screen_p3041236

I figured I could mount them on posts that were not intrusive (but so they extend well above fence height) and unfurl the screens for each observing session. That way, the garden can get sun in the daytime and I can block out extraneous light at night.

[AussieTrooper]

The height restriction in my council area only applies to your front fence. A house two over from mine has paling fence that looks to be about 4m high. It runs north-south though, so shade isn't really a problem.

If you want a taller fence and your neighbour agrees, I doubt the council would want to stop you.

[bojan]

As the house we live in (in Mt Waverley) is on corner lot, I have 3 street lamps shining into my front yard.
I planned (and planted them 15 years ago) conifers as green fense such (they are kept 3.5 metres high) that there is a "dark" spot in the middle for pier and mount... The shade is very good, but the problem now is, conifers are too high for me to cut them... renting of scaffolds is ~$50, every year, or $100-300 if I ask someone to it for me (which is the case these days, I dare not to climb that high).

[AussieTrooper]

You can buy extendable chainsaws. They are usually good for about 4m.
It is effectively a whipper snipper with a chainsaw blade. Only good for small branches though.

[bojan]

I use Ryobi trimmer (35ccm i think) from Bunnings.. it cuts branches up to 20mm thick, and I can go up to 3.5m for verticals.
I have chainsaw attachment for it, but I can't cut off the top - it is too high for me to hold the whole thing properly from the ground level, and the hedge is ~1m wide at top... so scaffolds are definitely needed for that job.. or elevator.

[glend]

Install two long treated pine posts in concrete and braced, on either side of the boundary causing concern. Put a stainless steel cable between them under a bit of tension. Plenty of shape cloth fitting at Bunnings can do the job. Get some large dark tarps from Bunnings and put snap rings in the eyelets, string them onto the high wire. Simplly pull across the yard to block the light. You can draw them back when your finished. Minimal visual impact in daylight.
I have some big black tarps that i use now and then to shield the observatory, but am just using extendable tent poles to get them high enough. Now that my Leighton's Green hedge is established it does not get used very much.

[AstralTraveller]

I long ago came to the conclusion that the statement "Grows to x metres" refers to the first 12 months - after that all bets are off. I once made the mistake of planting a 'dwarf' lilipilly :rolleyes: - it was 5m high and 3m across before it went. Presently I have a nice screen of lilipillys across the back fence. They're up to about 4m and I'm going to invest in some pruning gear before i have Bogan's problem.

[bojan]

It's Bojan's problem, not Bogan's :P

[AstralTraveller]

Humble apologies. It must be me with the bogan problem.

[AussieTrooper]

Bugger. May be worth cutting it back down at a lower level and letting it grow back. Leaves you without good cover for a few years though...

[cometcatcher]

That's what mine are. "Dwarf Lillypilly" lol. :rolleyes: They don't know when to stop. Now I read on the net they can grow to 30 metres in the wild! I'm forever pruning them. But they grow so fast they grow back the next year thicker than ever. They LOVE pruning! Double Oops.