We have some good friends in the Land Surveying business who have given us valuable advice on where (and where not) to plant our Perennial trees and plants, and where not to remove invasive and overgrown trees and plants that may, or may not, belong to you. If you are considering adding into your landscape a new installation of beautifully attractive and EXPENSIVE PERENNIAL GARDEN plants, you may do well to be informed of where your property ends and your neighbor’s property begins. This is known as a Property Boundary Line.
Have you ever heard the term GOOD FENCES MAKE GOOD NEIGHBORS? You may have a fence installed already or maybe you are planning one. You, like many more, may prefer to separate your backyard space from your neighbor’s, with attractive shrubs and trees. Or maybe there is that rogue tree, that your never cared for the looks of, which sheds its leaves and needles all over your beloved Hosta investment and you just want to cut it down because you are “fairly certain” that it is located on your side of the property line. Let me give you some sound advice…..HIRE A LICENSED LAND SURVEYOR!
If you are considering any of the above, it is not only prudent to hire a Land Surveyor to determine the property lines, it is imperative to do so. And understanding your landscape, the property boundaries, and where to place, or avoid cutting and removing, is an important first step in the installation of your new landscape, or the removal of “your” old dead or dying perennials.
UNDERSTANDING LAND SURVEYING:
First of all, let me clarify some significant terminology faux pas when you call the Land Surveyor to come and do a survey of your property. Our friends, Randy Chapdelaine and Shon Keeton, absolutely delightful and trusted Licensed Land Surveyors at Chapdelaine & Associates located just outside of Nashville, Tennessee (now celebrating over 52 years in business! and our land surveyors of choice here at the Perennial Garden Society), describe just a few of the types of land surveying options as follow.
There are MANY types of surveys that Land Surveyors perform, some are significantly more expensive than others. When you are attempting to determine where to place your perennial garden, or to see if a tree or shrub you wish to trim or remove is within your property line, you will begin with the least expensive service that a Land Surveyor offers…..PROPERTY LINE STAKING.
Good Fences Make Good Neighbors
Robert Frost
Property Line Staking:
Property Line Staking services are performed on the ground, on your property, so that you can physically see where your property is located. A Land Surveyor will begin by gathering information about your property from your county tax assessor and register of deeds offices. Typically, from these agencies the surveyor is able to obtain aerial photographs of your property, tax maps, tax information that includes permitted structures on the property, and subdivision plats and deeds, both from which property dimensions will be established through Metes and Bounds legal descriptions and recorded plat dimensions. Once your land surveyor has this information, he enters this data into technology such as Carlson Survey Equipment Hardware and Software, or CAD Drawings (DWG) which converts field data and draftsmen data into usable information or plans. Once this data is entered, the land surveyor will go out unto your property (the guys in orange vests) with transit and GPS field equipment. They will locate your property corner pins first. Corner pins are typically iron pins approximately 2 feet long that resemble rebar and usually have an endcap identifying the Licensed Land Surveyor who set the original pins when the property was originally divided. Sometimes, if the original survey was performed in the 1960s or earlier, and when current technology was not available, there may be other markers instead of iron pins located on the land, such as piles of rocks, concrete monuments, particular species of trees may also be mentioned in the deed and these markers will be used to establish what the intent of the original surveyor was. Occasionally, some markers on the subject property are missing and the Land Surveyor will have to go to the next adjacent property to find their markers and measure back to your property. If the adjacent property is missing, once again the surveyor will go down to the next available corner pin at the next neighbor’s property and measure back according to your deed and according to the neighbor’s deed or plat and so on and so on until a pin or monument is located.
Once the corners are located, stakes are driven into the ground along your property line, between each corner, and the stakes will stand approximately 2 feet above ground and have an orange flag for easy visibility. These stakes are spaced approximately 100 feet along the border from corner pin to corner pin, very visible to the field of sight.
WHAT IS A BOUNDARY SURVEY?
A Boundary Survey has nothing to do with staking lines on the ground of your property. A Boundary Survey takes field data and creates a plat or map of your property. A Boundary Survey can be used to determine your property lines, as an overhead visual on paper (or digitally) of where your property lines are located. A Boundary Survey can also be used to change a property line by either dividing into multiple parcels or tracts of land, or by adding to an existing parcel of land in a land exchange.
Sometimes Boundary Surveys are required by Title Companies when purchasing or selling a property to demonstrate with accuracy exactly where boundary lines lie, and what your property has on it, such as buildings and other structures, ponds, creeks, and other property appurtenances, the acreage, and sometimes even topography. Also included on a Boundary Survey are the names of adjacent parcels of land and who these properties are deeded to at the time of the survey. All of this information is illustrated on the map or plat. Sometimes a legal description of the property is included for the closing attorney to record the deed.
CAN MY LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT USE A BOUNDARY SURVEY TO DESIGN? Typically a Boundary Survey is not used to design with. Design work by a landscape architect is typically done using a Site Plan that the Land Surveyor has created.
WHAT IS A SITE PLAN?:
A Site plan is typically more detailed than a Boundary Survey and demonstrates on a map or plat the exact location of the details of your property. The palimpsest of the overlay of lidar topography reveals property boundaries with precise measurements of all appurtenances, topography, hardscapes, driveways, roads, easements, pool aprons, above ground utilities such as telephone and electric poles, and all structures specific to the site. A Site Plan can be used by your landscape architect to design your new Perennial Garden if you request it in CAD/DWG form. (Be aware, a Land Surveyor will not typically release his stamped drawing that can be manipulated by a computer to someone who does not have a License). The Site Plan will show every detail of your property, even property Set Back Lines. Property setback lines are established by your county or city zoning and planning department and are a set number of feet that you must be away from the property line to build. Site Plans can be used to permit the construction of proposed additions to a property, such as barns or additions to the dwelling structure, and a Site Plan can also be used by Architects and Engineers to design the additions. Sometimes HOAs require a site plan to demonstrate on paper your proposed addition so that the HOA can visually see your intent and see if you are well within the limits of the HOA rules and regulations.
So give the Licensed Land Surveyor a call early on in your project. Most surveyors stay very busy and it may take several weeks to months before they can get you on their schedule to perform the survey services.
Some tips when choosing a Land Surveyor:
Make sure that the Surveyor maintains a current license in your state or jurisdicition.
Ask around about the reputation of the surveyor.
