Eighteen months ago, the owners of the property that borders our backyard to the west received city approval to build a much bigger house than is the norm in our neighbourhood, aka a monster home. (The links are to previous posts about the biased committee of adjustment process and plans for the house.) The house and grounds are nearly complete. This post is about how we have responded to this major change in our environment.

The Way it Was

The previous owners of that house had a 50-foot-long cedar hedge along our property line. The trees, planted on their side, grew to be 10 feet high, and we could see only the roof of their house. The hedge was the home to several generations of cardinals, whom we regularly fed, and was visited by blue jays, squirrels, and rabbits. Here is a picture of the hedge as seen from the back of our house.

Because the cedar trees were less than 30 centimeters in diameter, they were not protected by municipal by-laws and our new neighbours were free to take them down. Indeed, as soon as the house was demolished, the cedar hedge was uprooted to accommodate a swimming pool close to the back of their property.

We See It Rise

For the last two summers, we have been watching our new neighbours build their house. With the cedar hedge gone and only the remaining 4-foot-high chain-link fence separating the properties, we had a better view than we would have wished. The new house is situated at the minimum setback from the lot line, which is 30 feet. In contrast, the previous owners set their house back 45 feet. The new house is the maximum allowable height of 33 feet and has a flat roof to facilitate high ceilings. And much of the back of the house is glass, so we have had an excellent view of the workers inside. In short, we now have a monster home overlooking our backyard.

Towards the end of this summer, our neighbours replaced the chain-link fence with a proper 6-foot-high dark grey composition (i.e. plastic) fence and added a row of sixteen cedar trees adjacent to the fence. At least the fence provides privacy between our backyards, and the cedars are a green contrast with the grey brick and glass structure looming behind them.

Redesigning our Backyard

With the fence and cedar trees in place, we had an opportunity to redesign our backyard. We wanted something that would draw the eye away from the monster home. We became interested in ornamental grasses because they grow quickly, are easy to maintain, and are visible in winter. Light green grass swaying in the wind will contrast vividly with the backdrop of a dark grey fence. Once we became interested in ornamental grasses, we started noticing them everywhere, both around houses and in public places. One of the nearby places with a lot of ornamental grass is the Toronto Botanical Garden, and its abundant grasses provided further encouragement.

The next step was to find landscapers, and we chose The Infinite Possibilities Group, a landscape design firm operating in the Greater Toronto Area. They started the design work in early August, and all the plants were in the ground and the project was completed by mid-October. My thanks to Alex Zalewski, who developed the excellent design that refined our concepts, Breanne and Julia who assisted him, and Taylor and Joel, who did the actual site preparation and planting. And they will come by next spring to check whether everything they planted survived the winter and is ready to grow. Altogether, we think the Infinite Possibilities team for their great design work and quick and seamless implementation, and we strongly recommend them.

We have a new garden that runs around the three sides of our backyard. On the side facing the monster home, we have climbing hydrangea on the fence, tall Karl Foerster grass in front of it, and little bunny grass in front of the Karl Foerster grass. Here is a picture of that side of the yard, looking north. I’ve taken the picture from an angle that excludes the monster home, just as we hope to put it out of mind.

In the northwest corner of the backyard we have a Japanese maple, with sage in front of it. On the north side of our backyard, which doesn’t get a lot of sunlight, we have Karl Foerster grass, Hakone grass, and ferns. Here is a picture of the north side of the backyard, looking east.

Finally, on the south side of our backyard we have Hakone grass in front of our willow tree. Here is a picture of that side, looking west.

The grasses now are small and sparse, but we expect they will be taller and more expansive in a few years.

Returning to the Backyard

As you can imagine, the noise, dust, and lack of privacy due to the ongoing construction over the last two summers have made our backyard uncomfortable. We hope that the fences and garden will make it comfortable once again. We have a table for meals on the patio and I have a chaise lounge for reading.  We look forward to the grass, especially the tall Karl Foerster grass, growing so quickly that it comes to dominate views within the yard. Our family will be living well in our redesigned backyard which, as the saying goes, is the best revenge.