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I meant knowing the property boundaries. The sellers should have told you. The real estate agent should have told you. The settlement papers should have had a plat that showed you. And if none of that happened, you should have asked.- Now you know.
If it were me, I'd go for the bushes. It would put a buffer between you and the neighbors, need little maintenance, and discourage children. Plus you'll get pretty flowers.
I'm not asking to be scolded. I'm asking if anyone finds it odd...and a solution for it.
It's new construction - and like I mentioned...they told us about the wall...NOT the five feet beyond the wall. And we did see a plat - but like I've said many times in this post...we did not realize that a four foot drop and five more feet of grass would be ours.
You can also see how odd it is going to be....
It doesn't quite go all the way to the end of one end of the fence...and goes past the other end... VERY weird.
That's another thing I'm not worrying about...all the lovely children () in the neighborhood PLAY on that retaining wall. The last thing I need is someone breaking a limb or splitting their head open on our property!! UGH!
Have a look through an ornamental plant catalog and find something that spreads and kills undergrowth (lawn), grows fast but not too high, doesn't need a lot of maintenance, and has thorns. Big ones Something like rosa rugosa, perhaps, but there are a number of choices.
I'm not asking to be scolded. I'm asking if anyone finds it odd...and a solution for it.
It's new construction - and like I mentioned...they told us about the wall...NOT the five feet beyond the wall. And we did see a plat - but like I've said many times in this post...we did not realize that a four foot drop and five more feet of grass would be ours.
You can also see how odd it is going to be....
It doesn't quite go all the way to the end of one end of the fence...and goes past the other end... VERY weird.
Sorry you are so sensitive. I wasn't scolding. If you noticed, I said the sellers should have told you - the builder should have told you. Had you more experience, you would have known to ask, but the folks who sold you the place weren't up front about the property boundaries and that is not good. Any sale of property should make sure the buyers know where the boundaries are. A bunch of people in yuor case failed to do that. In any case, what's done is done.
It still sounds like bushes would be a good thing to do - this is called a solution. If you are in IL as your place says, the ones I mentioned and/or a rosa rugosa if you want the thorns, would thrive, be very easy to grow, flower from early spring thru the summer, and wouldn't cost very much. They all grow fast so it wouldn't take very long for them to get big. You can kill the grass for nearly free by laying down a thick mulch of newspaper covered by grass clippings - or purchased mulch. Just put your young bushes down thru the mulch.
It also sounds like they put in the wall to solve an erosion problem. Since there is only 5' to the border, planting a border of bushes behind it would turn out nice. I would do a selection of all those bushes so there is a variety and different blooming times. The bushes would soften the edges and make it all look like it was meant to be there. You could also, on the house side of the wall put in a bed along it and plant smaller flowers if you wanted to do that sort of thing.
There are tons of ornamentals but a lot of them will be harder to do. I'm guessing you are not much of a gardener or don't have an interest (which is fine - it's not for everybody). That's why I suggested the bushes I did - anybody can grow them because they are tough as nails and they are pretty. I really was trying to be helpful. Sorry you took offense.
Spray it with Round up and be done with it. Save your money and landscape on the house side of the wall. Check with the county or city and see if you can put up no trespassing signs on the back side of the wall...from what I knew back in Ga. if you had signs they had to be 'registered' with law enforcement to be of any enforcable good...
I'd kill the grass and then plant some kind of ground cover, wildflowers, evergreen trees, or a combination of the above. The advantage to the ground cover is that you'd never have to mow it. A small meadow of wildflowers would also be basically maintenance free. The evergreens would provide a good wind block and visual block so you wouldn't have to see your neighbors. I think you could make a very attractive area there that, once established, wouldn't be an issue. Best wishes!
The survey notes the area as a "5' U.D.E." You'd best find out what a "U.D.E." is before you do much with the area! Purely guessing could it be an "underground drainage easement"? Find out what it is so you don't plant/build/improve something that will interfere with the specified use of the area.
It should be planted... groundcover and bushes... so that the roots will hold the soil in place during the rainy season. Otherwise you could be paying for damage to your neighbor's property in the event of a mudslide.
An alternate idea: you could offer to deed that strip of land to the neighbors behind you for a dollar, telling them you aren't physically up to maintaining the area behind your wall but it might make a lovely addition to their property. How can they refuse such an offer!
Then you're done with the the problem of the yardwork and liability, and they can landscape it to their taste, since they're the ones who have to look up at the hill.
Maybe plant some nice thorny climbing roses to cascade over the wall, to keep the children away.
The survey notes the area as a "5' U.D.E." You'd best find out what a "U.D.E." is before you do much with the area! Purely guessing could it be an "underground drainage easement"? Find out what it is so you don't plant/build/improve something that will interfere with the specified use of the area.
Excellent observation. And, if you look at the left side of the site plan there is another area dimensioned and labeled as "15' U.D.E". So is the U.D.E. 20 feet total with 5 feet on the OP's side and 15 feet on the rear neighbor's side? You also have a similar condition on the left and right sides of the two properties you and your sister own. Interesting. Anyway the answer will dictate any solutions to the OP's questions about what to do with the apparently useless strip of land.
The U.D.E. (which could also mean "Utility and Drainage Easement), like many easements of this nature, cannot be built upon. It is possible that the electric, gas, and other utilities are "undergrounded" there. I wonder if the electricity and telephone lines are strung out overhead on poles? If not, they might be in that easement.
OP do a visual check. Also, check where the neighborhood transformer boxes are; if they are not in the front yard area, that's another clue. Also, contact your utility companies and the city (or whatever governing agency there is) to find out what is down there. They can also tell you what you can and cannot do. You may want them to come out and actually delineate the actual alignment of the utilities in the ground (if that's where they are) or you can call your local "dig alert" service. I looked your state up: it is 1-800-892-0123. The service is free.
Location: The Circle City. Sometimes NE of Bagdad.
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Had the same situation in 63 on new construction. Everyone on my side of the streer had a 3ft downward slop into the houses behind it. We all knew it as the property stakes were in place prior to move in.
We decided to build the fence's at the top of the slope and let our down slope new neighbors have it excess property.
If you want to use it, I would kill the grass and plant ground cover or cover it with bark or use some of the other suggestions posted above. It was never a big deal to us. Oh, maybe put a gate in to make access easier.
You could cut that small space with a Weed Eater, it wouldn't take but ten minutes.
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) in the neighborhood PLAY on that retaining wall. The last thing I need is someone breaking a limb or splitting their head open on our property!! UGH!
Something like rosa rugosa, perhaps, but there are a number of choices.
