One week before we lifted our subjects the current owners received a letter from the City of Chilliwack stating that the privacy hedge on the two corner sides of the property needed to be removed. According to them it was over the property line and impeding visibility to vehicles turning the corner. We were not happy campers about this at all but at least it happened before we were the ones responsible for the work and footing the bill. We had plans to trim the hedges down to a respectable height to tidy them up and let more light into the house, but we never intended to rip them out completely. As we are on a corner lot, the driveway runs up the length of the back side of the house, making our front and side yards in theory our backyard. After another look by the City inspectors it was decided that only the hedging along the front of the property would need to be removed. The neighbours to the left of us had previously removed the privacy hedging that was once between the two properties, so when all was said and done, we are now left with one lone hedge along the right side of the house. I must say it is better than nothing I suppose. The deck is on that side so it works out well for giving us a small amount of privacy when we are outside.
Below is the before view of part of the yard looking out from the deck. Not pretty but mostly enclosed and private. Unclear of the reasoning behind the random fence panel though.....
Now that the hedge is gone from our lives forever, we are left with a “lovely” (please note the sarcasm) chain link fence bordering the entire property. The fence was somehow buried in the middle of the hedging. I’m assuming it was installed at the same time as the hedges many years ago and over time became engulfed by the fifteen foot old growth. This leads us to believe there must have been a dog of some kind living in the house at one point that needed to be contained in the yard.
So because we don’t have a dog, we have two harmless cats (though others may have a different opinion) and the fence is an eyesore in my mind, ripping out the chain link just leapt to the No. 1 spot of our to do list!
Also note again the random fence panel in replacement of a section of the chain link. At least it was dressed up (or camouflaged perhaps) by a gorgeous and also random hydrangea bush. I am hoping I can transplant the bush to another part of the yard when we rip out the fence.
The weather was wet, dark and gloomy this past Sunday, so D and I ended up bypassing our day at the lake and drove out to the house to take another look at where our wonderful privacy hedge once stood. The first time we drove by, right after the hedge had been cut down, I was in complete shock and almost cried. This time around the property didn’t look as terrible. In fact, I was super excited to spot some new fence panels leaning against the neighbour’s house (see right side of the photo above). We are crossing our fingers that they are planning on purchasing a few more panels and putting up a new fence in between our two properties! We were going to do this ourselves but definitely much later on down the line (possibly at No. 354 on our ever growing house reno list). Oh geez……let’s hope the fencing gods shine down on us for this one.
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