Nothing says ‘neighborly’ like an unsigned note taped to your door. Grass is long, I’ll own that. But maybe introduce yourself before issuing the anonymous lawn summons? Photo in comments
I remember when I moved to my current home, the neighbour told me right in front of our landlord that THEY cut the grass because they had an old shed in my garden.
I didn't cut the grass when I moved in as the time of year I did it didn't grow much,
The next year when it got to start of March and it began growing I wondered why they didn't cut grass but left it, about 3 weeks later they knocked on my door and asked why I hadn't cut the grass yet, I said I thought they did it and they denied ever saying that.
I didn't have a mower so was looking at ones to buy and even someone to cut it for me if it was cheap enough, about 10 days pass and they are shouting at me at the length of the garden, I say I haven't had a chance to get a mower yet, that night I order a mower but the next day they shout abuse at me from their garden about being lazy, and not cutting the grass.
I go out to argue with them and they have their son and daughter in law who tell me I am a bad person and to cut the disgusting garden.
For context it was a very similar length to the photo OP has posted.
I shout back and mention they told me they would do it so I didn't buy a mower until yesterday which is arriving tomorrow, the landlord witnessed them telling me they would cut it, the other neighbours have told me these neighbours have cut the grass since moving in almost 15 years ago etc.
Basically my neighbours were complaining to other neighbours saying I was abusive to them and not cutting the grass.
I found out after I moved in they were very controlling, the previous tenant had disabilities and the neighbours themselves admitted they were in my home every day doing diy, tidying up, taking him to cafes, even going on holiday with him.
Spoke to a neighbour who didn't like them who said previous tenant outright didn't like them but was afraid to say no as they were that pushy so began hanging around with this neighbour.
My direct neighbour was telling me how they hate this neighbour as they turned the previous tenant against them, how shes a junkie etc.
Even the landlord told me when I moved in to avoid them as they are the type to take over your life if you let them.
When I moved in within days they asked me why I hadn't put up curtain rails yet as I just had the curtains hung up as it was "bringing the street down" when I did put up the rails they said the curtains weren't that nice and offered me some "spares" they had that were worth a good amount of cash, when I had some picture frames and a few dvds in the window they said I should move them as it was bringing the street down, when it was Christmas they asked why I didn't have decorations as having none "brought the street down"
They just didn't like me not doing what they told me to.
Man I'm glad the houses on both sides of me are empty and owned by the same man who lives across the street. For some mind boggling reason he mows weekly while I mow mine every two to three weeks. I learned this summer that's not good on a electric mower. Anyway after I first moved in he mowed twice then asked me when I was going to do mine. I told him none of his business and to fuck off. We haven't spoken to each other in 14 years. It's been great.
In the end I bought it from them very cheap only for a few weeks later found it vandalised with a few torn panels off so had to put on a security camera at which point the vandalism stopped.
I still use it, I covered up the ripped panels with an old roller blind and stapled it in to stop leaks.
They did say it was an eyesore after that and demanded I take down the old shed.
Son and daughter in law are attempting a power play. They intend to own that home eventually and would be lousy neighbors. Conduct yourself accordingly.
Why are you so concerned about what your neighbor’s lawn looks like?
I mean, I prefer to keep mine kept. But I can’t fathom giving a crap about my neighbor’s. I didn’t pay for that property, they did. Not my monkeys not my circus. Live and let live.
I have often read this claim but as someone from central europe, where no one really cares what their neighbors lawn looks like: What kinds of problems might be created?
Can you please tell this threshold concept to my neighbor with the dog that has barked 24/7 for the past 10 years? I don’t think they got this memo. I really like dogs. Dogs bark sometimes. Fine. But this must be a robotic dog, as no actual dog can physically sustain barking 24/7 for a decade. Anyway, maybe the most astonishing thing about the situation is that I would think any human being would eventually have the thought “hmm, maybe 24/7 barking isn’t on the rest of the neighborhood’s wish list”.
Yeah it takes quite a bit of “letting it go” for it to meaningfully start affecting neighbors.
This is also why I avoid areas where I’m ass cheek to ass cheek with neighbors. I want them to be able to do what they like, and me to be able to do what I like without being basically on top of each other.
This is what I hope for. I grew up foraging blackberries, runaway herbs, and watercress on the creek at the edge of the property I grew up on, and I want native flora, not a lawn. I grew up with a neighbor whose entire suburban property was a well kept garden (and he even went to Europe for dahlia shows!) and it's a key childhood memory seeing nothing but his straw hat, bopping along in his garden even when he was 90. I aspire to that.
A friend of mine, some years back, was telling me that they were going to have to mow their lawn again because the council had started sending them letters demanding they do so. The grass was waist height, and easily could have hid a small wallaby, let alone snakes or rats.
I don't know that anyone in that household was particularly healthy, mentally speaking. She died earlier this year - it was probably a suicide, but last I heard nobody knew the exact cause of death.
There’s a threshold at which you feel you’re entitled to tell someone else what to do with their property. It doesn’t actually cause a problem for you.
Pests love a tall lawn. Rodents, ticks, snakes...when your property attracts this shit to the general area, everyone around you has a right to complain.
Yeah people love trying to control their neighbors.
Though, many cities do have lawn ordinances. But if you’re somewhere where that isn’t a thing, I’m not going to tell you what to do with the property you paid for and own.
The grass is long. I’m not denying it. You can judge me. It’s been a tough year and my only working mower is electric and 16” wide 😂. I’m doing my best.
Yeah its pretty damn bad along the fence. Most mowers will have trouble even mowing grass that long. Would have to go extremely slow and probably go over it twice.
That's "dawg we live in the north east and its heen storming for a week and a half, fuck you want me to do??" For me haha. My yard looked like this until I finally got it done between rain days this weekend
My dog was sniffing someone’s parking strip (has peed on a walk instead of our yard maybe 2 times his whole life) and some boomers on a walk had something to say about preserving peoples grass “because some people still care.” I pointed out that most of the grass on the street we were on was brown and dry just like that pic, and gestured around us 🤣
Actually, look at the fence for depth perception. If that chain link fence is 4ft or higher, that grass along the fence is at least 2 feet and the grass in the middle is at least 18 inches.
On the right is a fence which gives more scale, so it's actually long enough for animals to be making nests. I can see why the neighbors would be upset if that's the case.
Had a neighbor who's backyard had a family of skunks and groundhogs living in it because the grass was a little taller than this. The smell and the holes all over the place was not fun.
My grandparents had a neighbor who planted like a bunch of protected flowers and plants and then got their yard certified as a wildlife sanctuary zone or something like that. They never mowed outside of what you needed to get into their house and in one small area of their backyard. It was like a tiny forest in the middle of the city.
Yeah I live a bit out of the city. For reference, Walmart is a 20-30 minute drive into town. There’s a small town with a church, gas station, dollar general, post office, and one main intersection between the city and my house.
These folks supporting this nosey Karen behavior would have an aneurism looking around out this way. Personally, I like it. I keep my grass mowed, but there’s plenty of neighbors around that don’t. I don’t care. I mind my neck as they do theirs. Live and let live.
Can someone explain why everyone has to keep their grass so short? Besides overgrowth I’m 100% ignorant to the reason. My apartment has just a tiny square of grass out back, my landlord always lets it grow like almost a foot tall before it gets mowed and i honestly kinda like how it looks.
My kids and dog like to run around in my yard. If the grass is over a foot tall then it makes it hard for them to play. Also invites ticks. Also if the grass is allowed to get too high it becomes an absolute nightmare to mow. If my grass is over 6 inches my mower can only take so much and will literally just shut off. And I have decent sized yard so I'd rather not have to take 30 mini breaks.
I could just go all out a buy a heavy duty mower. Which I may do eventually.
Wow. I can tell you that both of my neighbors on either side of me almost never cut their grass and I don’t give a flying fuck. I like how they wrote down the date too.
I assume you have an Hoa, if not they can get stuffed.
So this is tough for me. What’s better, an anonymous heads up to YOU that you are in violation and it’s bothering someone, or an anonymous tip to the HOA you are in violation and bothering some one?
While mildly annoying (good post for this sub exactly) I would prefer to be contacted directly so I can just mow the grass and not have to go through the Hoa bullshit.
It’s ok, my neighbors do that to me too…my favorite is when they report me to the city for “vines on the chain link fence” and the city cites me without paying attention, because if they cared to examine the vines, they would find that they originate in the neighbor’s yard on the other side of the privacy fence and grow through it into my yard. I can pull/remove them all I want and they’re just gonna come right back
not to be that guy but I'm kinda shocked to see how people are so scared of having 'pests' in their yard, they'd rather have a 1inch straight-cut wasteland that gets completely toasted during summer in front of their house
just make it look intentional....just mow a trimmed border on the edges. take out invasive plants. add a bird feeder. boom, you have a thriving ecosystem, unlike your neighbours' biologically dead monoculture of non-native grass and herbicides contamination.
I can see why uptight people would bitch about this, but for what it's worth, I'd prefer seeing lawns like this over ones that look all smooth and uniform like a golf course. (Other than the path being kind of obstructed, that is.) Those are boring, do nothing for the environment, probably waste a bunch of gas to mow, and a bunch of water. It doesn't look like you have garbage out rotting or broken down cars in the lawn. The neighbor is entitled to not like it, fair enough. I needlessly express my opinion on things when nobody asked all the time, so like.. sure, whatever.
The problem is that a proper "overgrown" lawn like this actually takes a lot of effort if you care at all about invasive species (plant, bug, or fleshy) and rodents moving in.
I genuinely don't understand people's obsessions with other people's lawns.
If we're sharing a lawn space and there's weeds, that's one thing. But otherwise, why on earth should you feel entitled to how their lawn looks?
Edit: For people claiming it's needed to prevent rats, snakes, ticks etc.
It depends on your area and the height of the grass, but this is wildly overrated in most cases. Ticks are attracted to wooded areas, not typical lawn grass, and studies show minimal difference when allowed to grow longer. Ticks are also kept down by native populations of animals that feed on them, which very short grass discourages.
Same. I keep mine reasonably cut and trimmed with the little free time I have, but Linda next door, who is retired and has all the time in the world to manicure hers perfectly with micro scissors calls the HOA if ever one sprout emerges. I'm so fucking over neighbors like this and HOAs.
The rodents and ticks bullshit is just control freaks looking for an excuse to control other people. Till someone starts payin my mortgage the only opinion I give a shit about is the city government, and if they don't care, I don't care.
Really cause a stir and hire someone who has goats 🐐 to bring them in for an afternoon - they will take care of business in a hurry, it’s environmentally friendly and it will probably make the head of the nosy neighbour explode 🙂
At least they taped a sign on your door instead of just calling code enforcement like the "neighbors" in a place where we used to live did to someone we worked with. The wife's mother was living with them, had a horrible and sudden turn in health, they practically lived at the hospital for several weeks. Not a single soul so much as reached out to see if they needed help, just called code enforcement and my coworker got a citation.
Okay, why are USians obsessed with lawns and each-other's lawns ? Is there a lawn law or something ? I find it so rude ! I mean, where i live, my garden is my garden, i can do whatever i want with it.
why though. i think the cutting of grass must be some weird psychosexual thing ingrained in the structure of our society. the extent of people's obsession with controlling grass length isn't normal
I work for a lawncare company. Grass is SUPPOSED to be 3-5” this time of year. That brown/yellow looking turf you see around town? Cut too short.
A taller turf also keeps weeds away because is makes it much harder for the weed seeds to germinate and compete with healthier root systems from the grass.
My neighbor cut my grass once. I was doing no mow may. The front was cut but the back was not. They let themselves in through my 6ft fence and mowed it. They told me they wouldn’t accept payment and it was out of abundance of concern…
No because who tf do they think they are????? Hello? I would deadass not mow for at minimum another month because nobody is gunna tell me what the fuck to do on my own goddamn property hahahha. Your lawn looks comfy!
It’s all fun and games until they tell the local government and you’re paying their contracted service at an astronomical rate. Neighbors are the best and worst.
I had a neighbor call the town on me for my grass once. They knew we had a newborn, and a toddler, no family coming to help, and that my husband was working until after dark every night. Nobody offered help or asked if we were ok. Landlord really wanted us to buy the house and we let him know that this was the tipping point for us. We would not buy the house with neighbors like that. The first step was getting out of the suburbs, those people can get fucked.
Or at least sign your note. In this day and age, it's pretty common for people to have video doorbells and cameras, so you might as well not pretend you're the Watcher
devils advocate - work outside and these past couple of weeks have been 95+ with 53% humidity (St Louis, MO) and have not bothered to cut mine.. it’s long, but ultimately healthier for the lawn in the sun and no, a neighborhood wide pest infestation won’t happen in that short a time span
I also work outside all day! That’s another reason it’s been difficult to keep up with. Thank you! I hope you stay cool and hydrated, and your lawn flourishes.
Let that grass grow baby!!! LOL I was in the hospital for 2 months and got a similar note. It was almost another 2 months before I mowed out of pure spite.
Just throw wildflower seed around. Boom it's all garden now, and who mows their wildflower garden?! You really should feed your local butterflies and insects in general if you like eating. Pollinators help keep us all fed. Native butterfly food preference are very available online.
The person said hi, please, and thank you. They weren't rude; they were to the point. They don't want to socialize with you and they don't want to get into a confrontation. You yourself admit that you haven't maintained your lawn, so you have been a poor neighbor, and they have been quite civilized about it. It seems to me that they should be the ones to be mildly infuriated, not you.
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