So ... last night DH and I were at our house checking out various things, measuring, etc.
I was in the kitchen finding the neat little built in's in the cupboards (pull out pot and pan rack!!, pull out dish towel rack!!) DH comes in from the yard and tells me that this blonde kid had just cut through our yard to his house from the neighbor's yard.
Our neighbors have a huge trampoline in their backyard. Last night they probably had at least 7 or 8 kids from middle school to early high school age using it.
Not even five minutes after DH tells me this, we are standing in the doorway from the kitchen area to the backyard, when blonde kid cuts through our yard again. He even had the wherewithal to apologize sheepishly.
Later, DH and I were standing on our driveway (getting pictures of Mama Robin and babies) and not once, but at least three times, various kids walked on our driveway to the front of the neighbors house. One even had the audacity to spit on our driveway.
From a liability issue alone, I think this is a huge problem. I'd really rather not have to use my homeowner's insurance this early on.
More so though is it is plain rude of them to be traipsing along our property. Especially when it's obvious we are home!
It's also an issue of privacy - we shouldn't have to wonder if someone is lurking in our backyard.
But ... the question is, how best to deal with it?
We plan on getting our privacy fence put up sooner than later (especially with realizing how free the neighbor kids seem to be with using our backyard as a pathway.) But until that can happen? And also the issue with the driveway - that won't go away with a fence.
We realize these people will probably be our neighbors for a long long time. We don' want to make enemies, but we also don't want to have our space invaded without our permission.
What would you all suggest?
Neighbor Question
May 20th, 2016 at 12:35 pm
May 20th, 2016 at 12:51 pm 1463748708
May 20th, 2016 at 03:24 pm 1463757863
May 20th, 2016 at 10:29 pm 1463783367
May 21st, 2016 at 12:16 am 1463789810
I don't want to be the "mean" person.
Butterscotch - That'd be fine if they asked permission. The front yard and driveway don't bother me so much. It's the backyard that does.
As for liability - suppose a kid is walking through our backyard an trips over one of the broken deck boards and hurts themselves? Since they got hurt on our property, wouldn't we then be responsible? Even though they did not have permission?
Ceejay - yeah, the spitting probably was subconscious. We do have lots of flowers, etc. Like I said, the front yard one thing, the back another.
We're meeting with the former owners Sunday night to go over what all is planted. So we also plan on picking their brains about neighbor issues.
May 21st, 2016 at 01:10 am 1463793049
May 21st, 2016 at 12:02 pm 1463832133
May 22nd, 2016 at 12:44 am 1463877856
Another option is to build a raised bed along the driveway. Most kids won't go through a flower bed, especially if it is about a foot high. That makes the short cut more trouble than it is worth. Another option is motion sensitive sprinklers like they have to chase deer out of the garden, put strategically in the areas they are cutting through. If they get sprayed every time they go through, they'll quickly knock it off.
Make sure any fence you put up in the back is tall enough to not be an easy scramble over for a kid. A four foot fence can be easily climbed, a six or seven foot one, not so much.
May 22nd, 2016 at 12:48 am 1463878112
Our back yard fence will be 6' tall. We were just talking tonight about growing something along the tops of them. But to line our driveway like that? Brilliant! I'm going to share this with DH and see what he thinks.
May 22nd, 2016 at 02:54 am 1463885651
May 22nd, 2016 at 04:19 am 1463890778