Current Events > Our neighbours complained about the state of our lawn (eco-warrior rant)

(+) Yeah! (+)

So we bought a new house and it had a big hedge we were going to get rid of, because nothing lives in it.

First these neighbours complained (to the council) about the hedge because it was overgrowing. Had they been neighbourly and asked us they'd have known that we already had someone booked to cut it all down.

The council said we had to trim it because it was violating road safety laws (the nearest road in 5 metres away from the hedge). It turns out the real reason is the neighbours complained because it was blocking their view. Their view...of our house?

Anyway, we got it cut down. Then they later complained (to other neighbours) that they liked the hedge and wished we kept it.

Then they complained about our overgrown grass. We told them we were letting it grow so that it could complete its life cycle and give moths and butterflies a better chance of somewhere to live.

Said neighbours asked our hedge-cutter guy if he too was "one of those bleeding eco-warriors".

There's no forum that I can bring up to complain about my neighbours routing out all of their plants and replacing them with stones and concrete and toxic weed killer. But they can complain about our grass being too long.

In summary. We're living in an era of unprecedented bio-diversity collapse with entire ecological systems evaporating all over the globe, but rather than trying to give any wildlife a chance your neighbours and local council are far more worried about your lawn being perfectly symmetrical.

HOA? Or just bitchy

MatzoTov posted...

HOA? Or just bitchy

There's no HOA in the UK (as far as I'm aware), but people can entirely weaponise local councils and bully them into writing letters to people because the council are completely gutless and directionless when it comes to stuff like this. Anything to shift that complaint off their desk.

pinky0926 posted...

There's no HOA in the UK (as far as I'm aware), but people can entirely weaponise local councils and bully them into writing letters to people because the council are completely gutless and directionless when it comes to stuff like this. Anything to shift that complaint off their desk.

Send a complaint back to cancel everything out.

Can you do it back to them?

Letting grass grow to complete its life cycle and give moths a place to live. You can't fix stupid.

i love complaining as much as the next guy, but holy shit people need to mind their own business

heaven forbid someone's "ideal" isnt your own

(regarding the complainer, not u tc)

Go full clover lawn. No mowing.

Also, unless you signed something that gives them any form of actual legal power (some HOAs may trick you into this as part of a move-in, so check to be sure), tell them to knock it off and look up r/treelaw stuff because you may be able to mess THEM up legally if they cut your stuff.

chitown82 posted...

Letting grass grow to complete its life cycle and give moths a place to live. You can't fix stupid.

https://butterfly-conservation.org/news-and-blog/dig-it-may-tips-from-the-secret-gardener-2

It's a thing.

chitown82 posted...

Letting grass grow to complete its life cycle and give moths a place to live. You can't fix stupid.

What do you think is stupid? TC is right about the benefits of letting the grass grow. It helps out bees too.

I don't think neighbours can do anything but moan about that.

Clover / moss gardens aren't always practical. Really the best lawns are those that use natural wildlife for your area. There should be plenty of gardening clubs on and offline with resources to do that.

pinky0926 posted...

There's no HOA in the UK (as far as I'm aware), but people can entirely weaponise local councils and bully them into writing letters to people because the council are completely gutless and directionless when it comes to stuff like this. Anything to shift that complaint off their desk.

I would love to sit behind the desk just to tell people to shut the fuck up. I can't think of many things I care less about than the state of another person's lawn.

pinky0926 posted...

There's no HOA in the UK (as far as I'm aware), but people can entirely weaponise local councils and bully them into writing letters to people because the council are completely gutless and directionless when it comes to stuff like this. Anything to shift that complaint off their desk.

If they can't fine you or penalize you in any other way then tell them to fuck off or just don't respond. At least until the neighbors come talk to you like adults.

Ill never understand people who give so much of a shit about what other people do with their own property. Its one thing if its genuinely affecting your own property, but otherwise, stfu.

Fuckin boomers, man.

MatzoTov posted...

If they can't fine you or penalize you in any other way then tell them to fuck off or just don't respond. At least until the neighbors come talk to you like adults.

The council is governed by the law and has significantly more power over you than a HOA as far as I acn make out, but it's just a matter of whether anybody could be bothered to action it.

With this particular incident, what I suspect happened is this:

1. Neighbour disliked our hedge maintenance as a matter of preference
2. They knew that this is a shit argument so they complained about it being a safety risk
3. Council didn't bother to investigate and just sent a strongly worded letter telling us it was a safety risk

We are currently writing back to the council to inform them of what really happened, because the distance between the hedge and the road was over 3 metres.

rexcrk posted...

Ill never understand people who give so much of a shit about what other people do with their own property. Its one thing if its genuinely affecting your own property, but otherwise, stfu.

Fuckin boomers, man.

Becoming a homeowner changes people in bad ways. They start thinking their property extends past their actual home.
"Oh no, you can't build that, it'll block my view. I paid for this view!"
"No, you can't build that, it will increase traffic!"
Etc.etc.

And it is not just boomers

tag

Boomers means more than the generation, it is a state of mind

MatzoTov posted...

HOA? Or just bitchy

They sound like the type of people that created HOAs.

Fuck HOAs. It's a legit major problem how fast they're growing and government does nothing to stop it. In fact, they encourage it (homeowners pay the same in taxes, but now their HOA fees cover road and other maintenance that those tax dollars used to cover, which means more nebulous 'general fund' funny money for the politicians! Yay!)

I think it's pathetic when people care about other people's lawns, or w/e overgrowth.
You got to have a pretty damn good life to waste your thoughts on that shit.

Also, lol at people who don't like Oxygen.