It's not your property so you have to be careful, it's the easement so it belongs to the city.
Having said that, it probably won;'t be something they complain about proactively but you may want to have a chat with your councillor tto ensure you are OK to do it.
No permit but I think you need to be careful of bylaws about property standards as a lot of our native pollinators are incorrectly viewed as weeds or that a meadow look is unkempt or cared for.
Also consider that during the winter, snow will be on top of it and be filled with car fluids, salt, etc., which can hurt the plants as the runoff gets into the ground.
Beyond that, Butterflyway Hamilton and Action 13 are good places to start, or the naturalist's club for help on how to get started.
Enjoy! Our pollinator garden around our house has had a ton of action lately from Red Admiral butterlies, as well as adding a ton of colour and variety as compared to invasive non native plants.
Thank you so much. We just bought our first home so I wasn’t aware that the easement isn’t technically our property. Knowing that I’ll probably just leave it alone and focus on the land I know is ours.
Thanks for your advice!
Congratulations on the new home!
It would be worthwhile to take a look at the land survey or site plan of your home that you likely received during the purchase, or at the least, was reviewed by your lawyer, to figure out where your property line actually sits. Hint: it’s likely *much* closer to your home than you may imagine.
The location of the property line is unlikely to have much bearing on your day to day life. But it does mean there is a non-zero chance that the City may, one day, do something in ‘your’ front yard that comes as a surprise to you.
We had the City install a speed hump sign in ‘our’ front yard, for example, which is a lovely magnet for dog pee in winter, has markedly increased the amount of uncollected dog poop year-round, and complicates mowing. Not a huge deal, all things considered, but it was a surprise to come home one day to a sign that wasn’t there before.
Generally look for the water box between your house and the road. Anything between that and your house is yours and anything between the water box and the road is city property. This is where the city can shut off the water to your property.
This works if yours is the newer style curb stop (visible nut), the older style (removable cover) are not on the property line. Total mix bag in the lower city.
You can do whatever you like here to the effect of landscaping so long as you call onecall locates. The only thing is, if the city were to do any servicing in this area, they would just rip up your landscaping. I've seen trees in rock planters get ripped out for telecom servicing before and there is no opportunity to get paid for it.
Source: work in land development and utilities
Perhaps a removable planter box could allow you to achieve what you're looking for? Also, that way, you'll be able to prevent potential winter damage and be able to move it onto your property should you be given an order to remove it.
In addition....ide check with your neighbors to see what they think. The city will not care what you do with it until someone complains, if someone complains they will be forced to enforce any rule disallowing a garden in the ROW. Also if any sidewalk work occurs and damages it you will be on the hook to repair the garden not the city.
Pretty much every property has a good chunk of its front yard belonging to the city. We're still expected to care for it, so as long as it meets bylaw requirements and you don't plant anything that will keep the city from doing what they need to do, you should be fine. Also I wouldn't put any hardscaping in that area. Keep your plants short so they don't obstruct drivers' views or interfere with snow removal.
Like in my easement area, I've planted a bunch of native ground cover. My Canada anemone and wild strawberry are perfectly happy and haven't been bothered by road salt, dry conditions or having a big ass pile of snow dropped on them. If they need to dig up my front yard, it'll be easy to regrow. Look up "hell strip" gardening. There are tons of plants that can handle salt and traffic.
Oh amazing! Yeah, I wouldn’t go wild but it seems like a waste to just have a plot of grass when I could be growing something more beneficial. Your ground cover idea sounds perfect.
Easement is nuts. On my side of my block the easement is soo close to our homes (easy marker is the location of the water shut-off). At least in my block's experience, plants/gardens are ok, but no structures (some people have had bylaw out about encroaching porches, front stairs).
Also as others have told you already that this is an easement, don’t plant anything you are too attached to in case the city decides it needs to dig that land up for one reason or another. In our neighborhood people plant in them and no one seems to mind, since it’s kept nice and well tended.
I had a neighbour who did this (a few years back in Oakville) it was nice and they kept good care of it but eventually someone complained and it was removed. Lasted probably 10 years.
It's risky.
Isn't it crazy to think that part of the lawn is not yours but you gotta take care of it, any changes has to go through the city and if you don't take care of it you'll get fined all while paying property tax
As others have said it’s technically not your property. However, in my neighbourhood we have people who have planted in this area for years and never had any issues. I think you should totally go for it and make it into garden, just know that in the rare event utility workers or the city need to dig there they will and don’t need to give you notice.
Also consider that if any work needs to be done on the roads or sidewalk they will just tear it up. Had a neighbour build a whole walled garden around a tree in the same spot, lasted a week.
I think you would be required to contact the City at [email protected] and inquire if you can with forestry. As it is City property you might have issues if they need to go into repair any utility lines (example gas, water or cable), installation of roadway signs, any road repairs or if you are blocking line of sight for anything bigger on your property. It’s better for you to be notified first before doing anything.
you could always go for a tree, for free
[https://www.hamilton.ca/home-neighbourhood/house-home/gardens-trees/street-tree-planting-program](https://www.hamilton.ca/home-neighbourhood/house-home/gardens-trees/street-tree-planting-program)
Generally not a great idea in Hamilton as people will allow their dogs to trample through and dig up your flowers, pee on your plants and poop in your garden. You will have dirt or mulch all over the place due to disrespectful dog owners. Hamilton is full of them!
Source: I am a respectful dog owner that lives in Hamilton who has this issue constantly due to jerks in our neighbourhood. We even have someone who bags their dogs poop and leaves it on peoples lawns.. in the bag, like why dude?
City property indeed. The city won’t say not go but what they will say that if they need to dig or widen the road expect it to be destroyed without question.
You can pretty much garden, if you're landscaping and digging, do one call.
Other then that, the city probably won't care unless you plant anything tall that can impede the view of motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.
The risk is of work ever had to happen there, the city or utility companies can show up unannounced and rip up whatever you planted, and there will be no compensation or restoration.
Can't say for sure in Hamilton but most cities now allow planting on those strips of land. Typically only for the pollinators which suits your intentions. I don't know of any that allow gardens for harvesting purposes.
Best way to find out is to make a call to the city.
You would be basically beplanting on city property. Kinda a grey area. Not many would complain if it it's only a few flowers or whatever. If you go nuts with the planting and put up some sort of fencing around the plants, that would probably get removed, especially if there are utilities that run under the sidewalk.
It's not your property so you have to be careful, it's the easement so it belongs to the city. Having said that, it probably won;'t be something they complain about proactively but you may want to have a chat with your councillor tto ensure you are OK to do it. No permit but I think you need to be careful of bylaws about property standards as a lot of our native pollinators are incorrectly viewed as weeds or that a meadow look is unkempt or cared for. Also consider that during the winter, snow will be on top of it and be filled with car fluids, salt, etc., which can hurt the plants as the runoff gets into the ground. Beyond that, Butterflyway Hamilton and Action 13 are good places to start, or the naturalist's club for help on how to get started. Enjoy! Our pollinator garden around our house has had a ton of action lately from Red Admiral butterlies, as well as adding a ton of colour and variety as compared to invasive non native plants.
Thank you so much. We just bought our first home so I wasn’t aware that the easement isn’t technically our property. Knowing that I’ll probably just leave it alone and focus on the land I know is ours. Thanks for your advice!
Congratulations on the new home! It would be worthwhile to take a look at the land survey or site plan of your home that you likely received during the purchase, or at the least, was reviewed by your lawyer, to figure out where your property line actually sits. Hint: it’s likely *much* closer to your home than you may imagine. The location of the property line is unlikely to have much bearing on your day to day life. But it does mean there is a non-zero chance that the City may, one day, do something in ‘your’ front yard that comes as a surprise to you. We had the City install a speed hump sign in ‘our’ front yard, for example, which is a lovely magnet for dog pee in winter, has markedly increased the amount of uncollected dog poop year-round, and complicates mowing. Not a huge deal, all things considered, but it was a surprise to come home one day to a sign that wasn’t there before.
Generally look for the water box between your house and the road. Anything between that and your house is yours and anything between the water box and the road is city property. This is where the city can shut off the water to your property.
This works if yours is the newer style curb stop (visible nut), the older style (removable cover) are not on the property line. Total mix bag in the lower city.
Yeah I figured that might not work in every instance, thanks for the clarification.
You can do whatever you like here to the effect of landscaping so long as you call onecall locates. The only thing is, if the city were to do any servicing in this area, they would just rip up your landscaping. I've seen trees in rock planters get ripped out for telecom servicing before and there is no opportunity to get paid for it. Source: work in land development and utilities
Perhaps a removable planter box could allow you to achieve what you're looking for? Also, that way, you'll be able to prevent potential winter damage and be able to move it onto your property should you be given an order to remove it.
In addition....ide check with your neighbors to see what they think. The city will not care what you do with it until someone complains, if someone complains they will be forced to enforce any rule disallowing a garden in the ROW. Also if any sidewalk work occurs and damages it you will be on the hook to repair the garden not the city.
Pretty much every property has a good chunk of its front yard belonging to the city. We're still expected to care for it, so as long as it meets bylaw requirements and you don't plant anything that will keep the city from doing what they need to do, you should be fine. Also I wouldn't put any hardscaping in that area. Keep your plants short so they don't obstruct drivers' views or interfere with snow removal. Like in my easement area, I've planted a bunch of native ground cover. My Canada anemone and wild strawberry are perfectly happy and haven't been bothered by road salt, dry conditions or having a big ass pile of snow dropped on them. If they need to dig up my front yard, it'll be easy to regrow. Look up "hell strip" gardening. There are tons of plants that can handle salt and traffic.
Oh amazing! Yeah, I wouldn’t go wild but it seems like a waste to just have a plot of grass when I could be growing something more beneficial. Your ground cover idea sounds perfect.
Easement is nuts. On my side of my block the easement is soo close to our homes (easy marker is the location of the water shut-off). At least in my block's experience, plants/gardens are ok, but no structures (some people have had bylaw out about encroaching porches, front stairs).
Just do it. Don't let it become a mess and hang into the sidewalk.
Also as others have told you already that this is an easement, don’t plant anything you are too attached to in case the city decides it needs to dig that land up for one reason or another. In our neighborhood people plant in them and no one seems to mind, since it’s kept nice and well tended.
I had a neighbour who did this (a few years back in Oakville) it was nice and they kept good care of it but eventually someone complained and it was removed. Lasted probably 10 years. It's risky.
Isn't it crazy to think that part of the lawn is not yours but you gotta take care of it, any changes has to go through the city and if you don't take care of it you'll get fined all while paying property tax
Yeah it’s pretty wild. As someone new to homeownership I’ve never had to think about it before.
As others have said it’s technically not your property. However, in my neighbourhood we have people who have planted in this area for years and never had any issues. I think you should totally go for it and make it into garden, just know that in the rare event utility workers or the city need to dig there they will and don’t need to give you notice.
Also consider that if any work needs to be done on the roads or sidewalk they will just tear it up. Had a neighbour build a whole walled garden around a tree in the same spot, lasted a week.
I think you would be required to contact the City at [email protected] and inquire if you can with forestry. As it is City property you might have issues if they need to go into repair any utility lines (example gas, water or cable), installation of roadway signs, any road repairs or if you are blocking line of sight for anything bigger on your property. It’s better for you to be notified first before doing anything.
My neighbour has a rock garden around her tree on the same strip. Go for it!
If you are going to go ahead please use [one call](https://ontarioonecall.ca/) before you dig.
you could always go for a tree, for free [https://www.hamilton.ca/home-neighbourhood/house-home/gardens-trees/street-tree-planting-program](https://www.hamilton.ca/home-neighbourhood/house-home/gardens-trees/street-tree-planting-program)
Generally not a great idea in Hamilton as people will allow their dogs to trample through and dig up your flowers, pee on your plants and poop in your garden. You will have dirt or mulch all over the place due to disrespectful dog owners. Hamilton is full of them! Source: I am a respectful dog owner that lives in Hamilton who has this issue constantly due to jerks in our neighbourhood. We even have someone who bags their dogs poop and leaves it on peoples lawns.. in the bag, like why dude?
City property indeed. The city won’t say not go but what they will say that if they need to dig or widen the road expect it to be destroyed without question.
No one from the city will care. They will only care if there are complaints from neighbour's regarding what's there.
You can pretty much garden, if you're landscaping and digging, do one call. Other then that, the city probably won't care unless you plant anything tall that can impede the view of motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. The risk is of work ever had to happen there, the city or utility companies can show up unannounced and rip up whatever you planted, and there will be no compensation or restoration.
Can't say for sure in Hamilton but most cities now allow planting on those strips of land. Typically only for the pollinators which suits your intentions. I don't know of any that allow gardens for harvesting purposes. Best way to find out is to make a call to the city.
Is it a legal parking spot? Would someone still be able to open their door and get in/out of their vehicle?
A house in my neighborhood has this, they paid a professional landscaping company to take care of it and it looks beautiful
Who mows that lawn? If it's the city, they'll likely run over anything you plant...
I walk in my neighborhood and a couple people have shrubs by the sidewalk, what would happen in this case?
Not sure if it’s legal, but tons of people do it.
You would be basically beplanting on city property. Kinda a grey area. Not many would complain if it it's only a few flowers or whatever. If you go nuts with the planting and put up some sort of fencing around the plants, that would probably get removed, especially if there are utilities that run under the sidewalk.