Another neighbourly disagreement - how to proceed?

[TiredMum]

We have something similar in our area, it is a large area of land and can fit about 4 cars on it. 

I've noticed some neighbors have boulders painted white along the property line.  Which stop people driving over that area.  Mostly neighbors park on their own (bit of council) land. 

My neighbors have had friendly chats with us and do park in front of our house on the street, but they were polite and do move the vehicles if necessary.

It does seem a bit unusual for Kate to park in the location she has chosen.  I can't think of a polite solution.  Having a party with guests parking on her 'bit of land' seems to smack of retaliatory rudeness somehow.  Can you park in the spot she prefers and thus she would have to park elsewhere?

[Shotochick]

I would go the raised garden bed. I have been drooling at some corrugated iron ones that are quite moveable when the need arises, treat it like a community herb/tomato garden maybe?

http://www.bluewatertanks.com.au/OTHER%20PRODUCTS/CORRUGATED%20PLANTERS

[Iris]

At Iris - yes we have gutters.  We have the house in the middle of the property, then garden, then lawn which extends to the curb (& gutters) and then the street.  She drives onto our drive way, then onto the lawn, parks her car and walks to her house   pretty much every day now.

At Sparksals - I do not want to stoop to her level and start a tit for tat war (as tempting as it is  )

I guess I could try something like this: http://www.news.com.au/national/humourous-picture-of-melbourne-parking-dispute-goes-viral/story-fndo4cq1-1226547568069

But I think the sprinlers and a native tree are the best way to go for now.  Thank goodness it's Friday, I'll go to the nursery first thing tomorrow morning!

I need a jaw dropping smiley. Unbe-freaking-lievable.

May I suggest nice, sturdy star pickets to stake that tree. Otherwise I'm guessing she'll just drive right over the tree.

[sparksals]

Wait!   She drives onto your driveway to get to the frontage?   Since the dw is your property, can you prevent her from parking on the frontage by prohibiting her from entering your property by the driveway?  She has a lot of nerve.   
 

[wonderfullyanonymous]

Wait!   She drives onto your driveway to get to the frontage?   Since the dw is your property, can you prevent her from parking on the frontage by prohibiting her from entering your property by the driveway?  She has a lot of nerve.

I was wondering this my self. Could you put a gate and small fence at the end of your driveway?

[onyonryngs]

I would go the raised garden bed. I have been drooling at some corrugated iron ones that are quite moveable when the need arises, treat it like a community herb/tomato garden maybe?

http://www.bluewatertanks.com.au/OTHER%20PRODUCTS/CORRUGATED%20PLANTERS

I like those!  And they can be painted any color to match the house. 

[WillyNilly]

Can you also put something (garbage cans, another car, your bike, lawn chairs, etc) in your driveway to block her passage onto the lawn?  The lawn I understand is public land, but surely the driveway is personal property... or at least property the home owner gets to decide use of.

And if she complains, etc, I would get all sugary sweet innocent and say "well we had these plans for a while... we tried talking to you but you stormed off in a huff and have been ignoring us, otherwise we would have discussed it with you in advance."

[Outdoor Girl]

Double check with the municipality that she is permitted to park on the grass.  Where I am, it is legal to park at the curb in front of my house but it isn't legal to park up on the grass.  If it isn't legal, there you go.  Call the by-law office and have her ticketed.

If it is legal for her to park on the grass, I would also check with the municipality to see what landscaping is allowed on the boulevard.  In my city, I'm allowed to do any landscaping I wish as long as it doesn't exceed a certain height and it doesn't block any maintenance things like electrical and telephone connection boxes.  If you are allowed, I would immediately put up some sort of fencing along the edge of the driveway to prevent her from using it as an access to the boulevard.  And then I would add a flower bed, complete with stones encircling it.  I wouldn't spend a lot of money, because she is liable to still drive over it and I doubt she'd be willing to pay for damaging your property.

[gramma dishes]

...   She drives onto our drive way, then onto the lawn, parks her car and walks to her house    pretty much every day now.

If she has to drive onto your personal driveway to get to your lawn area, then could you just gate or otherwise block your driveway?

[MrTango]

I'd check with the local government next time it happens and see if it's legal to have the car towed from your property.

[Kaypeep]

Install some bird feeders, as many as possible.  When her car starts getting covered in bird poop, she may reconsider parking there.

[Alpacas]

I like the idea of something like this http://www.hildermanslawnandgarden.com/info/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/misc-aug-sep-2007-141-medium.jpg to prevent her driving onto your grass.
Of course not as bit as it would probably be really expensive, but i would really do something against that neighbor.

[sparksals]

I think the way to go is to install landscaping that prevents her from parking or block access to the driveway.  You have every right to tell her not to go on your property, but she could try at avert that by driving over the curb to the spot.  Put a nice rock garden there if bylaws allow.

[PastryGoddess]

I found out the hard way that rocks only a few inches high can do quite a bit of damage to the underside of your car.  So you may not need a large "rock garden" there. 

Another option is maybe a small fence that runs just beyond the length of the public frontage.  That way if she continues to use your driveway she will have to actually park on your private property and can be towed.

[FizzyChip]

Thank you all, for your helpful advice 

Over the weekend, we went ahead an bought several small (about 3 feet high) native shrubs & planted them down the centre of our frontage.  We also surrounded each plant with white river pebbles, which show up well at night time (there's a street light nearby) & so far, the neighbour has not parked on the lawn. Couldn't say where she is parking though as I have not seen her or her car since before our gardening efforts.

Will of course update with anything further, but so far, it looks good.

Thank you all again