Good fences make good neighbors.

Good fences make good neighbors.

proverb Neighbors are best able to maintain positive relationships when they don't intrude upon or harm each other's land. Fences, for instance, would contain one's livestock to one's own land. The proverb was popularized by Robert Frost's 1914 poem, "Mending Wall." A: "I don't love the idea of having a fence between our properties." B: "Yeah, but you know what they say—good fences make good neighbors."
See also: fence, good, make
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

Good fences make good neighbors.

Prov. It is easier to be friendly with your neighbor if neither of you trespasses upon the other's property or privacy. Jane: The guy next door is letting his party guests wander across our lawn again. Alan: I guess we'll have to build a fence there. Good fences make good neighbors, like they say.
See also: fence, good, make, neighbor
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • teach a man to fish
  • it takes a village
  • village
  • best-laid plans go astray, the
  • the best-laid plans
  • the best-laid plans go astray
  • the best-laid plans of mice and men
  • for want of a nail
  • For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse ...
  • a reed before the wind lives on(, while mighty oaks do fall)
References in periodicals archive
COUNTRYSIDE: Regarding "Good fences make good neighbors." Some states discourage "Devil's Alleys" (a fence set back a head and neck from the property line).
It has been said that good fences make good neighbors. [34] Yet, when sex offenders move into the neighborhood, residents may need more.
"Good fences make good neighbors." Mending Wall by Robert Frost
"Good fences make good neighbors..." wrote Robert Frost in his famous poem Mending Wall, and this stanza has become the motto of the commercial fencing industry.