I think it is quite common that when only mowed lawn borders the property line -- and it's not obvious exactly (to the inch) where the line lies, for each party to cut a little more than what they own, just to be thorough, without "laying claim" to someone else's property. However, if it is more than a few inches and the line is not exactly obvious, then it might be good to put in some kind of visual cue. Fences are not rude, but actually solve potential problems between neighbors. If you don't want to install a fence, a hedge or landscape bed is a possibility, but it is more maintenance than a typical fence. But before you do anything, make certain of where the line is. There is probably a marker or pin buried where the side lines intersect with the front and back line. Sometimes they're hard to find. Sometimes not. Sometimes they don't exist.

I'd suggest getting your property surveyed and ask the surveyor to leave a clear visual marker on the surface - here that meant the pin in the ground, with a length of florescent pink ribbon attached to it :-)

When we moved here in 1999 there had never been a fence between our property and the neighbour on the north side. The owner(s) there bought the house from the husband's parents - who were original owners from when the houses were built in the early 1960s. We had a 'rescued' dog who was unreliably friendly with strangers, so needed to put up some sort of barrier between the properties. The neighbours wanted to retain the open look and were afraid we'd put up a 6' wooden wall for a fence :-) We didn't want to do that either, so we all agreed to put up a temporary fence using horribly tacky plastic mesh stuff! We put it up along where both we and the neighbours thought the property line ran. A year or two later we were ready to put up a more permanent fence (black chainlink to be consistent with the surrounding properties and retain an open look). So we had a survey done. It turned out that where we all thought the property line ran was incorrect and we had been gardening on a foot or two of the neighbour's property - with their consent because they didn't think it was theirs! Since the neighbours are nice and gardeners too, they 'adopted' the plants that were on their property as it was easier than digging them up and moving them! We've been very lucky that all our adjoining neighbours are very nice. But having a survey done puts everybody 'on the same page' and is much better than guessing.

Might be a good way to meet the neighbor. Introduce yourself and say you are confused about the exact location of the property line...do they know where the marker is? You can have a friendly, non-confrontational, no accusation conversation and if they can't show markers, you can wrap up the conversation by saying you hoped you could find the markers on your own without having to hire a surveyor. Would they be interested in splitting the cost to run the property line, so they'd know, too?

I tried that approach with my (I suspected) encroaching neighbors, although I was here first - they didn't want to pay, and it turns out they had their woodshed and chicken coop both on my property and had planted on it, as well. They were furious about the survey and blamed me that it wasn't where they thought! They moved their buildings, (I held my breath about an adverse possession claim) then they waited about 3 months and pulled up the survey stakes! I called my contractor and he brought a crew and put up a fence the next day while the holes from the stakes were still visible.

I hope you have nicer, more reasonable neighbors than me!

My husband's cousin works with situations like this all the time. The survey is necessary if you want your property. I do like Olychick's pleasant solution, but if they've lived there for that long, they will probably object. Be interested to find out how this gets resolved. Good luck!

I would say it's better to pay for a survey than live with neighbours that are resentful. Looking for previous survey markers is hit and miss. We live on a crescent so the house next door is on a pie shaped lot. We have lived here since the house was built our new neighbours on the pie shaped lot didn't. We have the original survey done when the house was built. In addition I know hydro puts their poles on the lot line.

One day I came outside and I heard someone on our side lawn so I went to investigate Here the guy next door was digging holes in our lawn. I asked him what he thought he was doing to our lawn. He said I'm a surveyor and I used the marker at the back of our property. Our lot comes out to here and I'm planting a hedge. I laughed and said your neighbours at the back have moved that post so many times that no one knows where the lot line is. I said do you want to see the original survey of our property. I have a copy. He looked astounded and said Oh with a sheepish grin, so I mentioned that the hydro pole is on the lot line and when we moved in the survey marker was at the pole.

I also said that if he thought that property was his he'd better get his own survey done because I know it's not. Later that day I noticed that the holes were filled in and seeded. We remained good neighbours as long as they lived there

We're doing a survey and then will decide how to proceed.