Barrier between houses

[Mommiesbiz1]

My husband and I moved into a rental home where the yards were without water and maintenance for a year. We have spent a good amount of money and time on trying to revive the grass and removing weeds. The house has come a long way and all of my new flowers and bushes make the yard more welcoming. We have recieved many compliments from the neighbors except from the ones to the left of us.

Problem: We share the yard in between the two houses, but our portion is much smaller than theirs according to the fence line of the back yard. There was an existing flower bed that marks out our portion, but it stops when it reaches the garage. The area of concern is from the street to the garage on the side of the driveway. This small section is about 20 feet long by3 feet wide and butts up to the neighbors front yard. The neighbors that I am talking about rake all of their debris onto this area on our side and leave it, or they have spiny balls that fall from their trees onto this area and they wont pick it up. There is a language barrier, so I really cannot talk to them about it. I am wondering if I should just plant roses in this area to create a barrier in between the houses? Any thoughts?

 

[Trace]

I think the roses would be a good idea. Or, if it's feasible, you could extend the flower bed to cover that section. You do want to be able to delineate it so that they're not just raking their stuff into your yard as before and claim that they couldn't see it was a flower bed. So, maybe a raised bed, or small, decorative fence of some kind would work. You can't really do anything permanent since it is a rental, and actually from that perspective even roses might not be the best idea, unless you're good enough with roses to be able to have them survive moving with you.

The tree sounds like a sweet gum or sycamore, and unfortunately there's not much you can do about the seed balls but rake them up. Your neighbor can't exactly control the tree's shedding. That part you might just have to put up with.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of limitations that come with rental properties. I'm lucky in that I have a laid back landlord who really doesn't get upset about changes we make unless they're damaging or really awful (for instance, he doesn't care for the wisteria, because it looks like a giant weed--and since it still hasn't bloomed I have to agree). However, that might also be a resource for you. Check with the property owner, and see if they might have a solution to the problem that will satisfy you, keep the neighbor on reasonable terms (since you can say it was the landlord's idea), and add value to the property.

 

[LindaKay]

Roses sound like a good idea. Creating a beautiful barrier will get your point across without seeming as nasty and hateful as "Private Property" or "No Trespassing" signs. I would definitely talk to your landlord first to see what he/she says, though.

 

[blueiris]

If you want something more like a dividing wall, I would put up an ornamental fence for support and grow a vining plant vertically upon it. Morning glories grow fast and will offer some privacy.

 

[Pat]

The living fence of roses is a great idea. My daughter lives in a HOA area that does not allow fences and many people have made living fences from tall trees and other large plants.

 

[DancingLady]

If you plant on your side, you should be fine. If they aren't fine with it then maybe the landlord can talk to them about property lines and the fact that you can't just rake your yard debris into someone else's yard. I think planting along the line will send a pretty clear message as well as make it less convenient for them to continue doing that.

 

[Micheleteresa]

I think that the suggestion of a living fence is a good one, it will create a distinct separation of your area and theirs without putting up any type of fencing or even having to verbally address the situation.

 

[Mika]

I definitely agree with the living fences. You can train a few different plants to become gorgeous fences.

Just make sure you know for sure and exactly where the yard line is. One of my friends once had this problem. She thought she knew where the fence line was by reading where the old fence was and put up an expensive new fence. A few years later someone bought the house next to hers. Long story short, they ended up fighting about the "ugly" fence and they found out the old fencing was half a foot off, so the new fence ended up being placed completely on the neighbors yard instead of on the line. They ended up ripping it out completely, and she had to buy new fencing - which they still weren't happy about.

I also had another friend's family plant some trees near the yard line only to realize about 20 years later they were actually on the neighbors yard and that neighbor chopped them down and sold the lumber.

So just be careful about knowing where your line is and pull your fence into your yard a bit more just to be sure.