Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

"Before" (left)  and "After" (right)

I love our neighbors (well most of them anyway), I really do. When we moved into Holtwood House, we were immediately welcomed by several surrounding us, bringing by little treats to keep us going as we banged and hammered away during those initial major renovation projects.  Our house sits right on a corner in the middle of our track and the adjacent sidewalks are a major thoroughfare for walkers in the mornings and evenings.  Though we are on regular speaking terms with houses that sit across the street and to the sides of ours, I've met so many others as I've stood out on the lawn watering, waving hello to them as they walked by.

Such was the case one random Saturday not too long ago when I rose early and decided to tackle our long, worn out fence. I stood out there most of the day, painstakingly staining away. But the load was lightened as so many passersby stopped to talk about the house and all of the changes we've made in the last year. Their interest and those conversations reminded me that I'm part of a community now, something apartment living over most of my adult life hasn't afforded me.

The newly stained fence stretches roughly 75 feet

Partly because we sit on a corner and partly because of our wood fence is flanked by a 3 foot wall that provides a perfect place to rest, we are having a little bit of an issue with some neighborhood teenagers that like to park it out there some evenings each week and engage in some "activities" that their parents probably would not be too thrilled about. With the support of our neighbors, we've been taking some actions to thwart this little issue, but we've also considered placing some plants between the wood fence and stucco wall that might drape over and provide a little distraction (we hope). 

Here's the direction we're headed:

James Perse Store- Malibu

Some Mexican Feather Grass will carry over from the back and compliment the rest of the plantings we have planned for the front landscape and provide some visual interest around our fence. Hopefully it will deter our unwanted young neighbors from squatting on our fence as well.