I can totally relate to this!
I live between two of the most invasive people I've ever met in my life! A gate means nothing to either of them!
We put up one fence between the lady on the north and us right after buying the house, but she just thought of it as something to look over. We had a short chain link fence the rest of the way around the yard, but decided that the rest of the neighbors were great, and didn't fence them out with a privacy fence.
My husband was in the Navy when we bought the house 21 years ago, and we rented it out after 3 years until he retired 10 years ago. We had a new neighbor on the south side when we moved back in who thought our yard was his yard, and he was in "our" yard all day long it seemed. So, up went another fence. He was so mad about it that he didn't talk to us for 8 months! That was a very nice 8 months! I just wish it had lasted 8 years!
The lady on the north has become so invasive in the last couple of years that I feel like she lives with us. I can't walk out my backdoor without her yelling over the fence to say hello. To me, my backyard is an extension of the inside of my house, and I feel like she's looking in my windows! She's very friendly, but drives us crazy. On top of it, every time she says something, the dogs start barking. I have to ask her at least twice a week to PLEASE stop yelling at me over the fence because of the dogs! She can't seem to remember this request for more than a few days, and I can assure you that there is nothing wrong with her memory. Now it's to the point where I avoid her like the plague. I've also added trellis to the top of the 6 foot fence, and grow morning glory on it, with the hope of getting just a tiny bit of privacy!
Three years ago, back when the neighbor wasn't bothering me as much, I asked her if she'd like to have the veggies that I was growing while we were out of town, since we would be gone for a month. Of course, she jumped at the chance. When I got home, I found out from other neighbors that she had been giving tours of our backyard to anyone and everyone that came along! I have no idea who any of these people were, and from what I've been told, it was almost daily that this was going on! I was beyond mad, so up went my sign...
Of course, it doesn't stop her from coming in, because the dogs love her and don't bite anyway, but it has hopefully stopped the unknown tourists from dropping by! I also need to explain more clearly to the guy on the south side that when I say "No, you can't come in", I really mean it! He's confused and to him it means sure, come on over anytime!
Here's the trellis from last year that I had to put up to help keep her from invading the view from over the fence. I sure with the morning glory would get busy and fill it in this year!
