How to create a shared backyard space?
Many people are tearing down their fences and choosing to share their backyard with their neighbours. This is a really nice option if you are all friends, have kids that play together or if you are new to the neighborhood and want to make friends with those that live around you. Sharing a backyard may not always be easy, so it is important to create a yard that you all can love and enjoy.
Gardening
If you live in the suburbs or in the city, chances are that your backyard is not really all that big. If you want a garden and a place to entertain, this may simply be impossible due to size issues. Well, sharing your yard with neighbours can allow your back yard space to triple. You can all put in a garden together and enjoy the fruits – and vegetables – of your labour. It is important to work out all of the kinks first so that no arguments break out in the future. Decide who will plant what, get a good care schedule together so that the burden is not on one person’s shoulders and best of all, share the food that you grow.
Entertaining
Having get-togethers outdoors can be really fun. You surely like to barbeque and invite your friends and family to join you. When sharing a space you want to make sure that your neighbours are cool with you having a barbeque since the backyard technically belongs to all of you. You should all plan things like this together so that no one feels like their toes were stepped on.
Landscaping
You can all really choose your own backyard landscaping. If you really want to work together and make the yards cohesive this is certainly fine too, but not absolutely necessary when you are sharing backyards. Take the time to discuss whether or not you will all be doing your own things with landscaping or if you are all going to co-ordinate and landscape as if all of your backyards are one.
Talk about disbanding
A time may come when you will all want to break apart and have your own yards to yourself again. Or, perhaps one of your neighbours is moving and the new neighbors do not want to share a backyard. This should all be discussed before anything like landscaping and parties are. You want to be able to get out of the agreement without losing friends in the process.
Some people actually recommend drawing up a simple and straightforward contract to discuss issues like this. You will want to make sure all pertinent and agreed upon rules are in the contract and that all neighbours are in full agreement. If would not hurt for all neighbours to go together and get this contract notarized. Then, make sure each person has a copy.
Talk about private time
There will be times when one set of neighbours either wants to have a private get-together or wants to simply relax in their backyard without being disturbed. You all need to talk about how this will happen before deciding to share a backyard. For example, will you want some advance notice so that you can work around your neighbour using the yard? This is a very important question that you want the answer to before planting that first tomato seed.
___________________________________
About the author:
Stephanie writes about the home improvement world. She likes reviewing sites like Kane Bros. which specialize in www.kanebros.com. In her free time she likes to spend time with her new baby girl and teach her everything there is to know.
