WHEN you hear about neighbours at war, it usually involves boundary disputes.

Either the two parties can't decide on who owns what, or one will have placed (or planted) something large where the other doesn't want it (usually Leylandii). I know I recently had to put up a fence for a friend, but I could only fix the panels to every other fence post. It was a shared partition, and neither neighbour could agree on the type of boundary, so they both put up their own fences, back to back.

I also know a lovely young couple who live next door to a rather inquisitive and meddling middle-aged man. They had grown their boundary hedges fairly high (but not so high so as to block out any of his views or light), in order to enjoy some element of privacy whilst out in the garden. The nosy neighbour asked them to cut the hedge, but they refused. Again, this was a shared boundary, so the gentleman cut down what he considered to be his half of the hedge. It also happened to be the top half. The couple are now in the process of busily planting tall, thick, fast-growing trees just next to the hedge.

Recently though, I have heard of an increase in neighbourly complaints arising from a completely different source. The popularity of water features in domestic settings has soared, and with it an incentive to build bigger and more complicated ones. It is the new 'keeping up with the Jones's', taking over from patio and decking areas. The noise of running water can carry quite some distance, and the sound can vary tremendously from a gentle, cheery babble to a sluice-shattering torrent. The quiet, empty stillness of the night can transform a little trickle into an annoying gutter. After all, the Chinese have been reputed to use dripping water as a form of torture.

When I built my own small water feature, I made sure that it was quiet enough so that it didn't affect the day-to-day life of my next door neighbours. The flow was slow and rolled down a piece of sandstone before sliding into the pond, hence keeping the splash down to a minimum.

I do know of someone who moved out to live in a small village at the foot of the moors. It was idyllic. Peaceful, tranquil and restful. Last year though, their neighbours constructed a monster of a water feature with waterfalls and dropping ponds. They have not had a decent night's sleep since it was switched on. It sounds like a drain and keeps them running to the bathroom all night. They can no longer sit outside to enjoy the isolation of the area. The rurality has been taken away. They get on well with their neighbours, and are too shy to say anything about it to them (typically British). However, they are now seeking medical intervention to alleviate the stress and insomnia caused by the water feature.

Obviously, these are all situations that could be avoided through friendly, level-headed, constructive, and maybe mediated, discussions. Consideration of the neighbours should have played a major role in the location of ponds and pumps. The water features could be placed on timers which switch off at night, or softened through design alterations. Buffers in the form of shrubs and borders could be placed between the source of the noise and the neighbours' garden or house. Like many things in life though, the most important thing is communication and consideration.

Published: 05/07/2003