The hostas are down but the fence is UP!

16 years ago

Yup, everything is down here in southern Wisconsin also.

To make it worse, the development company that abuts our land put in their fence Tuesday, and I found out the hard way exactly where the property line was ... 1-2' into what I thought was our property. (The line is very angled and no one seemed to know where it was.) I have hostas entirely missing, hostas on MY SIDE of the line trampled and signs misplaced. Any of my plant markers on their side of the line they just tore out and threw on my side; they dug up a 2' x 3' rock that straddled the line & put it on my Gold Standard and Lord knows what else.

I had removed 80% of my collection from this area already this summer so I'm grateful for that. The only reason I had not removed these is #1, I thought they were on my side of the property line and #2, the whole area was in litigation in an adverse possession suit which I fully expected to last another year. However, we found out Monday that the development company had somehow coerced the former owner of our home to sign an affidavit saying he had permission from the development co. all those 30 years to mow the lawn, use it for target practice with guns and bow/arrow, store his boat. Yeah, right! You have to have 20 years and our suit was based on the former owner. We have been offering to purchase the land all summer/fall which is often how these suits get settled. It was just a small strip of land in what is to be a 1 1/2 to 2 acre lot! And the houses there won't go up for another 5 years...and that's if anyone will be able to afford these million dollar homes.

They did dig up a Guacamole and just threw the clump to the side which I grabbed and planted by my house while they lunched off site. The sign is totally missing but I can make a new one. On a good note, the fence is a two-tiered split rail and actually looks nice. I was afraid they were putting up a orange snow fence! And, when I found out the property line bisects Wisconsin's largest black cherry tree, I almost had a coronary! Seriously, my B/P was dangerously high for a couple of hours. I had to leave with my DIL and take Norvasc to get it down. Thankfully, the fence stopped a few feet from the tree trunk and I imagine they will do the same on the other side.

On another happy note, my DH likes the look of the fence and is allowing me to extend existing beds on our side and connect them all to make everything look in proportion again. So I have all winter to make new plans. I also told DH to dump all the shredded leaves for the rest of the fall on these new areas. Should we put black plastic down under the leaves or do you think the leaves alone will really kill the grass?

Getting over and on with it and looking forward to a new season,

Char

p.s. Everyone have a great Thanksgiving next week!

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Comments (5)

hostasformez4
16 years ago
I feel your pain Char!

I plan on looking up pictures I took when I visited last summer to see if I can figure out how much they took of your yard you mowed on the other side of your supposed property line.. You had reclaimed all those plants from other people's gardens too. What happened to them? How horrible but as you said you were able to save many of your hostas by making the new bed I saw pictures of on the forum. I posted pictures of all of us standing beside the black cherry tree in the gallery if I remember correctly.

At that time you told us you had contacted the owners of the land and they assured you nothing would happen for many years. Things change in a heart beat don't they. In this day and age not many of us can afford multi million dollar homes! It really wasn't the labors fault and too bad they couldn't have given you a little time to dig up a few more hosta instead of distroying them.

Why did they put up a new fence? Was that to keep you and all your neighbors out of your formerly used land?

At least when I had my septic troubles I was able to save most of my plants where as you were not given the opportunity to remove the ones in the contested area.

This too will pass but the memory will linger a long time.

Connie
loisflan
16 years ago
I'm so sorry, Char. Those who are not gardeners don't seem to realize how emotionally attached a person becomes when they nurture a plant and watch it grow and develop. People seem to understand attachments to pets, but not plants. Just another life form... Maybe you can rescue some of your plants from the other side of the fence next spring. My guess is that they won't be doing any digging that close to the fence. Have fun planning your new, expanded garden. Lois
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bunnycat
16 years ago
It's a shame that they couldn't be bothered notifying you that they were going to clear your hostas from the disputed area. Even one day's notice should have been enough for you to do some quick digging and moving.
I feel bad for you.
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Hosta_Haven
Original Author
16 years ago
Connie, regarding the plants I rescued from another garden, they are still way back there next to the corn field. I only took ones I really cared about and that would thrive in the main part of my shady yard. That area was beyond the part we mowed and was only planted to beautify the area that had formerly been taken over by thistle and burdock and trash. Those are now considered abandoned by dev. co. and it is my hope that they will continue to thrive. I don't think the development company will bulldoze it as there are many young trees and this is at the very, very back end of a very, very large lot. They would be smart to leave it for any future new owner. That is my hope anyway.

Lois, next spring, I will "trespass" and attempt to recover many of my plants within the hosta bed, the most important to me being "Spilt Milk". I did more investigation yesterday and almost all of them are there, waiting for spring. I hid them with leaves and a few wood chips to weigh the leaves down. Big Mama is missing but maybe the crown is down there some where and she'll show up in April/May.

Bunnycat, we did find out on Monday night that the land was lost and the lawsuit was dead...so we did have one day's notice. However, I felt it was so late in the season (mid November?) that they'd have a better chance surviving if I waited until spring. We'll be able to test the theory/choice in the spring when we see if the Guacamole they threw aside (the one I grabbed while they were gone to lunch & planted next to the house) survives. If it doesn't, I still have 3 Guacs left.

Thank you all for your thoughts and condolences.

Thanks again to Ken, Papou, & others who pounded into me the necessity of garden maps. They will be invaluable.

Char
lisasmall
16 years ago
Oh, boy, I hardly know what to say.

Something I've found: many crews will cooperate with you if your request comes with a flat-out bribe a tip for their extra trouble. Maybe, for twenty bucks, they would have been willing to pop each hosta out of the ground for you and drop them on your side of the fence. Of course, this means you have to be there at home when they're working, in time to see what they're up to. :(

Hopefully this won't be an issue for you any more, though. :( And maybe spring will let you recover your plants, if they don't mow that close to the fence.

The hostas are down but the fence is UP!

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hostasformez4

loisflan

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The hostas are down but the fence is UP!

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