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My yard is your yard: Neighbors dismantle fences in favor of shared space
How much do you enjoy the company of your neighbors? Enough to share a backyard with them? Meet several yard-sharers who have thrown the old proverb 'good fences make good neighbors' to the wind.
Wed, Jun 13 2012 at 7:53 PM
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Photo: WoodleyWonderWorks/Flickr
Although it probably doesn’t hold much appeal to the super territorial or to those who have a penchant for watering their tomato plants in the nude, the sharing of backyards — banding together with next-door neighbors to do away with fences and create a larger communal outdoor space often, but not always, for the purposes of growing veggies or entertaining — is growing in popularity according to the Wall Street Journal.
The WSJ’s Anne Marie Chaker profiles a handful of yard-sharing homeowners including Bill Fidelo of Brooklyn. Fidelo’s lushly landscaped backyard sanctuary extends into the backyards of not one but two neighboring brownstones to create an urban mega-garden (coincidentally, said urban mega-garden was the subject of this recent video from YouTube's Spaces channel). Says Fidelo: “When the fences are up, you tend to hide in your garden from the other people. That is no longer possible here.”
To be clear, the type of yard-sharing discussed in the article — there's also an interactive graphic — is a touch different than the locavore-fueled garden-sharing movement that revolves more around opening up one's private garden to community-based agriculture efforts and less about expanding into the backyard of your neighbor. Of course, there’s the whole “what if someone decides to move?” issue that can render the whole tearing down of fences thing a bit tricky. And what if the neighbors with whom you share a backyard turn out to be obnoxious, domineering twits? What if they wind up having children and insist on replacing the shared vegetable plot with a sand box? What if no one supports your plan to install a yurt? And what if errant dog poop, the one thing that can turn amicable neighbors into sworn enemies, ever becomes an issue?
While the yard-sharers profiled in the WSJ piece seem to be more than happy with their arrangements (and don’t seem to plan on moving in the near future), real estate broker Denise Shur points out that a shared backyard could prolong the time an individual home spends on the market and potentially lower its value. She recommends restoring a fence between shared backyards prior to putting either home involved on the market as "some buyers will not want to be the bad new neighbor who required a fence."
Says Fidelo of the possibility of loosing a third — or two-thirds — of his beloved backyard garden: “It is something I have thought about a lot. I've always known that this is something that might not last forever."
Do you share your backyard with your neighbors? No? Is it something that you’d ever consider? Or will privacy always trump the allure of extended backyard square footage? I'd certainly be game, provided that I actually had a backyard to share with my neighbor. Also, it would help if my neighbors didn't mind me sleeping in a hammock in my underwear from time to time. And if they had a really nice swimming pool.
Via [WSJ]
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I would love sharing my garden with my neighbors. On those hot dry days they could come over and water it for me. Here's pictures of my garden in Michigan: http://davewirth.blogspot.com/2010/08/halfway-garden.html
This year it's not doing so well, i think it's because i don't get a lot of sunlight in my backyard.
As someone who has indeed watered my tomato plants in the nude, I simply cannot condone this!
As someone who has indeed watered my tomato plants in the nude, I simply cannot condone this!
We tried a variation on this theme, our apartment neighbors and us, by knocking down the adjoining wall between our individual bathrooms, to create a double-pottied master bath suite. Big perks include rarely ever running out of toilet paper or toothpaste anymore. And of course, shower duets.
yep lets tear down the fences then we can all sit around the campfire singing kumbaya and braid each other hair I think not Fences are there to keep your neighbors listed as "good"
An old saying I heard years ago I have found to be true " Good fences make good Neighbors"
I had an acquaintance that did this - the 2 houses fenced their back yards as one space. The kids and dogs from both houses had the run of the yard. Each neighbor built what they felt like on their own half (patios, decks, horseshoe pits) but it was really all one big space. It worked for them. I'm not sure I'd do it.
The phrase "sharing yards" is mis-leading, at least in my experience. It typically just means "no fences." Your yard is still your yard. Most subdivisions I've lived in didn't even allow fences. One yard just blended into another. I like the open space it gives. Never once had a problem with neighbors - mostly because subdivision rules didn't allow most of the things people complain about anyway.
What I found amusing was no real mention of how the grass cutting and weeding duties are divided up...
Not going to happen. I have two dogs. That is why I put up a fence in the first place. Also, have no desire to have NO PRIVACY. We are the ones that paid for this place, not the neighbors. I do not believe in communism.
My neighbors already shared my yard without permission. Then they broke into my house and robbed me.
Stupid. By doing so you cede ownership by granting the neighbors an "easment". You then can't sell the yard, build in the yard, landscape the yard, alter the garden, or even cut the grass, without the neighbor's approval. Double dumb.
Nonsense. Allowing neighbors to use your yard does not create an easement unless they are taking full responsibility for all care and maintenance of the yard.
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I think sharing is a wonderful idea! Unfortunately it doesn't work for us all. I had to put up a six froot fence completely down my property. You see, I live next door to a PURE SOCIOPATH!
While it may be a fun idea to share yards, our neighborhood has found that fences are an obstacle for burglars and coyotes. My neighbor and I are gardeners, and use our fences as trellises for blackberries, rasberries, muscadines, and honeysuckle flowers.
Hmmm...Let's see...
In my yard I have a pool, gazebo, garden, outdoor play area, horseshoe pits, multiple patios, etc.
My neighbor has old tires thrown on his lawn, downed trees and tree branches, and a broken down car.
I think I'll leave my fences up. There will be no yard sharing here.
He can use the shared space for some of his tires.
Hey, I've got *two* broken down vehicles, piles of scrap metal, privet hedge and poison ivy jungles and bits of old roofing tin in the next yard. You're lucky!
Heck no......I like going #1 in my yard! They prob wont like that!
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