New build on prairie
 

We are building on a lot that has a retaining wall topped with iron fence. Drop is about 8 feet, with easement of 7.5 feet from the lot line.

We will be adding a pool after market, wondering what you did with landscape in the easement. We have trees, and green space view. Can’t plant in the easement, so did you, Leave grass to mow, or mulch area?

Thanks in advance

Talk to a landscaper and ARC - different districts could have different rules for the easement. Don’t rely on what you hear on the internet

We have been in the Villages since 07, Know the rules. This will be our 4th home.
I am looking for someone who has a home, like our lot, are you mowing or mulching. Since the pool will be along the easement, what is their experience

We already know we have both options at our design team meeting. So your post is what I expected, from someone who does not have a lot on a prairie. But thank for participating

A drop of eight feet. Might be wise to contact a professional landscape architect, A steep drop can be dangerous and difficult to mow. Steps with landing levels a possible solution. Retaining wall? Traditional landscape timbers, will not last long in Florida. Iron fence? Real iron fences have not been made since about 1920 or 30. What people call iron fence is typically steel.
The difference iron, is brittle but it does not rust. Either is a pain to paint.

An interesting project. Probably better done before the house is built.

If it were me I would have landscape stone put down down, that way it wouldn't have to be mowed.

The wall which surrounds all lots built with a drop, are brick, are already completed by the developers. Many Million dollar homes around Evens Prairie have the same drop with retaining walls built by the developer. Our lawn doesn’t have a drop, just the wall behind our home. The short fence is on top of wall

So no worries on the wall. My question was did you keep a lawn in your easement behind your pool, or mulch to keep lawn cutting away from pool.

Just curious. Why would you buy a property to build your new home, on a lot that sounds problematic to say the least.

We are thinking same thing. We will have a small raised back wall to the pool, but thinking grass cutting may still be a pain in the birdcage

The lot as is the hundreds of million dollar homesbuilt around TV on prairie, or lakes is not problematic. Post is about, did you leave grass or mulch, or rock, behind your pool in the easement. There are over 100 homes being built with the same brick retaining wall, with a short metal fence, in this village. Not many will accommodate a pool like our lot. We can have a pool design at Design Team meeting, or do pool after market. If developers aren’t concerned about the multitude of lots why would we

If possible put down rock or mulch that doesn’t require any watering. That way you don’t have to risk reclaimed irrigation water getting into your pool.

Thanks didn’t even think about reclaimed water, going in the pool. Not our first pool, but first one in TV. Best useful info on my post. Design meeting in 2 weeks trying to get as many ducks in a row prior to week long meetings

Our lot is a bit like yours but without the large drop off. We went with a stacked block planter. Filled with nice rock and durable low maintenance plants. One other thing to consider is where they place the pool overflow outlet. Make sure if it’s in a planter you install salt resistant plants. Podacarpus <sp > seem to be doing good.

Good idea, but we can’t build anything in the easement, never thought about the overflow outlet, so on my list for meeting. Thanks

I've seen several aftermarket pools in our neighborhood that didn't have overflows or autofills installed. In my opinion an overflow is an absolute must. Unless of course you want to have to bail out water to adjust your pool level. Not to mention flooding your pool deck and possibly your lanai.

An auto fill is a matter of convenience. I keep mine turned off. If you leave your autofill on and have a leak in your pool or related plumbing you won't know it until you get your water bill. By leaving the auto fill off I can monitor the pool level for any problems.

Thanks for the info, we are still on the fence of pool install at build. This is our 4th home, but first pool in TV. We lived colder climates, so pool use was 3 months at best.
However thinking we want to live in house for awhile before we decide. Neighborhood pool is half block away, and family pool is around the corner. While I know T& D is the go to. Will evaluate their design to after market.

Pool Design team meeting. Perfect people to ask. They deal with it all the time.

Actually my post was about, did you leave grass in your easement, or use mulch, or rock, behind your pool. We already know we can go with any of the three.

The post you responded to was a person who wanted to know why we bought a problematic lot, guessing they have no idea there are retaining walls along prairie, and lake property.

Pool design and the retaining wall is not the issue, but at least the gators won’t climb the wall to get to our house:pepper2:

I would go to ARC and find the specifics of what would be allowed in the right of way. We also have a 20 foot right of way at the back of our house, left it in grass. I at the time we built I asked about hedges to match some that were nearby, and was told NO. Remember this is a right of way, so some time in the future you may find construction equipment and workers in this area. Personally, I would leave a grass, and then have a low wall OFF the right of way close to the pool to block grass clippings and irrigation water from getting into the pool.
On a side note, you state the wall etc were not a concern. IMHO, I would double check to see if this area is fill, if so I would be very concerned about a pool located in an area that was "fill", settlement could pose a lot of problems from minor leaks to major cracks. While doing the pool later will probably have a year to 18 months lead time, it would give you time to see if there are any problems in this area.
I wish you a lot of luck on your plans.

Maybe look at using ground cover plants in lieu of grass.

I tend to pay attention to what the Villages uses for low maintenance areas along roadways and paths.

That is the perfect setup for stair step block cracking and foundation cracking showing up all over your home once it is built. The soil is sand. 8' of fill sand AND a pool AND a retaining wall? Crack, Crack, Crack. Consider another LOT asap before it is too late.

I am guessing you have not travel anywhere near Evans Prairie, or any lake. There are hundreds of million dollar homes with same retaining wall. You might want to add the mine blasts, turnpike vibration, for a better effect to scare people.
Since you are a Newer 2020 poster, it seems one wants to create fear. Many scare posts come from agents that can’t sell new houses. There are 150 homes with the same retaining wall, in Richmond. Guess you don’t know the process of building a home in TV. Deposit is non refundable, on the lot you choose. There are no other lots available to purchase, all were sold in minutes.
Thanks for playing, but we have been in TV since 07, not a clueless wannabe.

Have you noticed all the high piles of dirt and prep work they do on land starting two years before development?

This starts with geological drilling to understand the subsurface. These are the white spots you see on old Google maps.

Organic areas are removed and replaced with compactable fill.

Huge piles of of dirt are placed where needed and left up to a year to compact the soil and ensure it is stable.

Then it is all removed and the subsurface infrastructure is put in from the bottom up prior to construction.

Never put mulch near a pool. It is always washing in and do not use any shedding landscape more cleaning, my experience from being a pool owner

7’ dilemma
 

I would do rock and keep a bottle of ground clear because weeds here grow in concrete. Lol QUOTE=asianthree;2127336]The lot as is the hundreds of million dollar homesbuilt around TV on prairie, or lakes is not problematic. Post is about, did you leave grass or mulch, or rock, behind your pool in the easement. There are over 100 homes being built with the same brick retaining wall, with a short metal fence, in this village. Not many will accommodate a pool like our lot. We can have a pool design at Design Team meeting, or do pool after market. If developers aren’t concerned about the multitude of lots why would we[/QUOTE]

Our pool construction starts in February. Our 7’ easement in the back will be filled with mulch (don’t like the Arizona rock look) and be a large planting bed. We will use low growing plants so they don’t hide our view. It’s my understanding from the zoning laws that nothing “permanent “ is to be built in that easement, and plants don’t fall under the permanent category. However, I bet trees would be considered permanent. You will find out when your landscaper puts the plans through ARC.

We did have a conversation about any of the 150 lots on the same retaining wall. Apparently the wall was added instead of have a severe slope to the wet lands, so no fill. There isn’t any water or wet land at our end, just lots of vegetation, and trees.
The top of the wall is almost even with the back of our lot, the decorative fence on the top of wall, that I am guessing could be a deterrent from going in the prairie. Design team has already sent potential pool designs, by T&D at build. There will be about 30 feet to the easement from back of our house. We are just on the fence of adding a pool, since the neighborhood pool is just a block away, along with the dog park.

So, these days the swamp is called the praire 😂😂😂

Up north it’s a swamp, anywhere in Florida as you drive by “wetlands” the sign says prairie.

Maybe a prairie is protected. Not sure of definition, maybe some areas have standing water, and some are just vegetation. Driving up to Gainesville there are 3 named prairie’s, one looks dry, one with some water, and the other looks like a lake. :popcorn:

The glorified swamp behind our Villages home is referred to as a wildlife preserve. Right now it’s almost dry, after Hurricane Irma it was a lake, typically it’s a swamp. The diverse wildlife living in the swamp is spectacular and the privacy and sunsets it provides us is priceless.

According to Google, the word prairie comes from the French word for meadow. Prairies are generally free of trees and are filled with low bushes etc. In Florida there are dry prairies and wet prairies and are protected. Google also provides definition of wetlands such as swamps and marshes. Swamps are predominantly forested (e.g. Hogeye). Marshes/prairies have few if any trees but are home to grasses and herbaceous plants. I am not sure what your location looks like but prairie sounds more inviting than swamp when you are selling land.

One of your notes states that there is no fill. I believe that there is fill. I believe that the wall is built on the edge of the land defined as wetlands. The wall is constructed to allow the uplands section to be filled to gain more flat land for development. If you can find old topographic maps online pre development you can check it out. The metal fence has been used extensively in TV to demarcate the edge of wetlands or keep out areas.
If fill was used it is very likely that sand was used. Sand is a good fill since it compacts quickly. As long as the wall stays in place you should be fine based on Soils Engineering 1966.
You certainly have done a lot of work to get your lot and house plans together. Good Luck!

I would "step" plant from the screen enclosure back, leaving the last 6-7 feet mulched. Colorful and low first layer (drift roses?) followed by a grass layer, then using the preserve trees as your backdrop. I think you still need to be 10' off the rear property line (in addition to the easement) so you have almost 18' from the screen to the fence. I wouldn't try to mow between the screen and fence, and I would want more color/structure then the scrubby preserve plants. Just an opinion

Nothing permanent in easement area, so bushes are out. That’s why they suggested mulch, or grass. We can build right up to the 7.5’ easement, they sent us couple of rough sketches, with birdcage within 6 inches of easement. Anything we plant could be dug up and destroyed if needed, so rock may not be the best option. Bushes are considered permanent and not allowed. Plus we would not want to block the view, trimming would be worse than mowing grass.

Couple of posters have PM pics of their easement, with their design so Big thanks to all who sent them

There's been shrubbery in our easement area for 11 years; nobody has seen a need to dig in the easement so far...

You should really have pool built with the house. No tear out of irrigation. Landscaping. Screens. No mess either.

Retaining walls should have anchors into the material they are retaining so the wall doesn't topple over. Some can be quite long depending upon soil types and weight loads. Be sure a pool wall will hit one.