Crappy Neighbors?

A post in 2 parts. You see, I am a wait-and-let-it-sink-in kind of person.

6/15/10

I really don't know if they are crappy, but the fence that they just put up is. This would be me venting.

We have a long, skinny lot, with a garage in the back. The people behind us, apparently don't like the view into our yard. So they put up a really ugly fence. I can only assume from the nasty urine yellow color, that it is pressure treated or a really low-grade cedar. I know that it is us they do not like because the fence only exists at the back of the property bordering ours and our next door neighbors.

Some background info - I have only spoken to them a handful of times. They would occasionally comment on the construction progress when we were building our Garage Mahal. It is bigger than theirs, but theirs sits right in front of it, so they see only theirs and the side of ours.

I am taking it personally, but they too are entitled to their opinion. I am sure that their opinion of my yard was not that good. Perhaps they didn't like my pile of reclaimed stone from an old local barn, locally quarried, of course. Or maybe it was my stack of brick that I dug up from an old buried walkway that led to a BBQ at the corner of their property, under their oak tree. Maybe it is the fact that I do not mow my lawn every 4 days, on the shortest mower setting possible, whether it needs it or not. And I like fallen leaves and plants that just show up to surprise me and didn't come from Home Depot. That is why I am a landscape architect.

I have big plans for these things. The boulders will make my front yard rock garden and the brick may replace ugly concrete on the path. Curb appeal will happen, but they will never see this now. Too bad, so sad for them. They put up the fence to block out my future awesome back yard.

I realize that my preferences do not have to be theirs. I See her out using a leaf blower pretty regularly. They have taken a bunch of trees out. Arboretum-like trees. All gone because they drop things that she dislikes onto the yard and driveway. But they did leave the American linden and a beautiful multi-stemmed oak. The linden perches dangerously close to Garage Mahal and our next door neighbors garage. Hmmm. They like their yard to be neat like a sterile kitchen should be and I do not. And they prefer to leave the dangerous trees instead of dealing with them.

I am sure they are perfectly nice people. I just will never have the kind of yard they like and I am proud of that. But with a little communication, I could have saved them a little money on that fence.

7/9/10

That was then. I stewed on this post for a while and didn't finish it. Now it is weeks later. The fence isn't that bad. I have grown used to it. It blocks my view of their kids play things and the pool. But it doesn't block the sounds of the kids or the pool filter, which has grown considerably louder. I am not complaining, just stating the facts. It is what it is.



I mentioned above that I could have saved them money. If they had just told me that they hated the view into our yard, maybe I could have moved my boulders or done something to spruce it up. Whatever. Apparently their bad view was worth the cost of an ugly fence.

What I failed to mention earlier is that the fence is not on their property line. They left a pretty substantial 'L' shaped plot of land between the fence and our property line. In the past, they just had workers come and mow this all to the ground once a year. When we had our survey done, they said they didn't know it was theirs. The space between the garages has been used by them to toss old tree limbs, etc.

Oh, and I failed to mention the most important part. This 'L' shape plot is VERY prone to poison ivy. In fact, my poor husband spent the first 2 summers in our house trying to get it under control. The part that spreads into our yard anyway, which at the time seemed to be all of it. It seems to be an endless battle.

Now I have yet another design challenge to conquer. When I do get around to the back yard, how do I deal with the fact that there is a big gap between our property line and theirs? Do I put up my own fence, creating a nice poison ivy-laden dog run between fences, for lack of a better term and lack of dog, for that matter? I don't like that option, so back to the drawing table.

Needless to say, I will still hear the filter and the leaf blower. And I suspect that the addition of the fence means that they will soon forget the 'L' shape poison ivy-laden land that is theirs. I hope that they don't. But that is probably wishful thinking.