Tyrannical gardening-obsessed shaming neighbors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Certain types of trees constantly drop branches into the yard. They become a bit of a nuisance. I think people would call them “junk trees.”

Which ones, exactly? I know of none, except sick trees.

NP- my neighbor let a Tree of Heaven grow in her yard. 100% a junk tree and it's banned by the county. Doesn't drop branches but it does have roots that go into foundations and rip up streets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is your yard really bad, OP? And do your “junk trees” drop on her lawn/garden?

.

I knew someone would ask this. I should have put in my original post that we have a lawn service that comes once a week.

I really don’t understand her definition of junk trees. She HATES fruit trees and huckleberries.

I listed my daughters’ ages because I have zero free time.

Ignore the nasty posters. Your neighbor is incredibly rude. I would not invite her to weed, and I would not invite her to step onto your property, because if she's really that crazy, she might take out some plants or damage something.

Fruit trees that attract birds also attract rodents and leave huge bird droppings in season. We have a mulberry tree that attracts all the wildlife in our neighborhood, and our cars take a beating. We prune it back, but will not cut it down, since we appreciate that it feeds the birds. We love our natural lawn with dandelions and clover, we generally have a lush and profuse kind of garden - we pick the plants we like, be they humble weeds or rare and valuable roses that we've sourced and shipped with care. Your garden is your own domain. Push back firmly against the neighbor, and tell her that the concept of "weed" belongs in the 20th century, and that you like your garden just as it is.

A note on landscaping companies around here: most of them don't know what the heck they're doing. They use mulch, which is completely useless in 99% of applications, instead of filling the space with appropriate plants and create busywork so you'll need them regularly.

Who is being nasty?! Can’t people ask questions on this site anymore?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is your yard really bad, OP? And do your “junk trees” drop on her lawn/garden?

.

I knew someone would ask this. I should have put in my original post that we have a lawn service that comes once a week.

I really don’t understand her definition of junk trees. She HATES fruit trees and huckleberries.

I listed my daughters’ ages because I have zero free time.

And if you had a lot of free,time, how would that change how you respond to your neighbor?

Be civil when you run into her and otherwise ignore. What else would you do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is your yard really bad, OP? And do your “junk trees” drop on her lawn/garden?

.

I knew someone would ask this. I should have put in my original post that we have a lawn service that comes once a week.

I really don’t understand her definition of junk trees. She HATES fruit trees and huckleberries.

I listed my daughters’ ages because I have zero free time.

Ignore the nasty posters. Your neighbor is incredibly rude. I would not invite her to weed, and I would not invite her to step onto your property, because if she's really that crazy, she might take out some plants or damage something.

Fruit trees that attract birds also attract rodents and leave huge bird droppings in season. We have a mulberry tree that attracts all the wildlife in our neighborhood, and our cars take a beating. We prune it back, but will not cut it down, since we appreciate that it feeds the birds. We love our natural lawn with dandelions and clover, we generally have a lush and profuse kind of garden - we pick the plants we like, be they humble weeds or rare and valuable roses that we've sourced and shipped with care. Your garden is your own domain. Push back firmly against the neighbor, and tell her that the concept of "weed" belongs in the 20th century, and that you like your garden just as it is.

A note on landscaping companies around here: most of them don't know what the heck they're doing. They use mulch, which is completely useless in 99% of applications, instead of filling the space with appropriate plants and create busywork so you'll need them regularly.

Who is being nasty?! Can’t people ask questions on this site anymore?

+1 wtf

[Anonymous]

Some trees like mulberry attract rodents. Hard to get rid of the pests once you have them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is your yard really bad, OP? And do your “junk trees” drop on her lawn/garden?

.

I knew someone would ask this. I should have put in my original post that we have a lawn service that comes once a week.

I really don’t understand her definition of junk trees. She HATES fruit trees and huckleberries.

I listed my daughters’ ages because I have zero free time.

Your free time constraints are neither here nor there, OP. But it sounds like you have a clean lawn and pose no issues for a next door neighbor.

Ask her to please stop. Your lawn and property are what they are and you’ll do nothing differently.

[Anonymous]

OP here. A classic phone conversation with her went like this: (I swear to god I’m not making this up)

Obsessed neighbor: I’m just calling to discuss your grass experience with you.
Me: (desperately wondering whether she’s for real) What is it you would like to know, Margaret?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Certain types of trees constantly drop branches into the yard. They become a bit of a nuisance. I think people would call them “junk trees.”

Which ones, exactly? I know of none, except sick trees.

NP- my neighbor let a Tree of Heaven grow in her yard. 100% a junk tree and it's banned by the county. Doesn't drop branches but it does have roots that go into foundations and rip up streets.

Tree of heaven is also a host of the invasive spotted lantern fly. These are dangerous invasives.

Op, do you know which types of trees she is objecting to? For someone who cares about the environment and the local economy, there are actually some plants whose harms extend beyond the property line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. A classic phone conversation with her went like this: (I swear to god I’m not making this up)

Obsessed neighbor: I’m just calling to discuss your grass experience with you.
Me: (desperately wondering whether she’s for real) What is it you would like to know, Margaret?

Now I'm a little confused. Is she asking you to make changes to your lawn or just trying to make conversation about gardening as relates to her own lawn? Is she tyrannical or just awkward with an obsessive hobby?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is your yard really bad, OP? And do your “junk trees” drop on her lawn/garden?

.

I knew someone would ask this. I should have put in my original post that we have a lawn service that comes once a week.

I really don’t understand her definition of junk trees. She HATES fruit trees and huckleberries.

I listed my daughters’ ages because I have zero free time.

Your zero free time implies that your acknowledge that your yard is a mess and this is why it bothers neighbor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. A classic phone conversation with her went like this: (I swear to god I’m not making this up)

Obsessed neighbor: I’m just calling to discuss your grass experience with you.
Me: (desperately wondering whether she’s for real) What is it you would like to know, Margaret?

And why are you answering her call?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is your yard really bad, OP? And do your “junk trees” drop on her lawn/garden?

.

I knew someone would ask this. I should have put in my original post that we have a lawn service that comes once a week.

I really don’t understand her definition of junk trees. She HATES fruit trees and huckleberries.

I listed my daughters’ ages because I have zero free time.

Your free time constraints are neither here nor there, OP. But it sounds like you have a clean lawn and pose no issues for a next door neighbor.

Ask her to please stop. Your lawn and property are what they are and you’ll do nothing differently.

Where do you come up with the idea that OP has a “clean yard?” Just curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. A classic phone conversation with her went like this: (I swear to god I’m not making this up)

Obsessed neighbor: I’m just calling to discuss your grass experience with you.
Me: (desperately wondering whether she’s for real) What is it you would like to know, Margaret?

😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Certain types of trees constantly drop branches into the yard. They become a bit of a nuisance. I think people would call them “junk trees.”

Which ones, exactly? I know of none, except sick trees.

For example, wild cherry trees, which seem common in the DMV area, will drop a ton of berries and make a mess. The birds love them, though, and need them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. A classic phone conversation with her went like this: (I swear to god I’m not making this up)

Obsessed neighbor: I’m just calling to discuss your grass experience with you.
Me: (desperately wondering whether she’s for real) What is it you would like to know, Margaret?

Now I'm a little confused. Is she asking you to make changes to your lawn or just trying to make conversation about gardening as relates to her own lawn? Is she tyrannical or just awkward with an obsessive hobby?

She was calling to ask, as always, that we cut down a tree she hates and that we weed along the back fence. Our lawn service does weed but she doesn’t like or appreciate any weeding that doesn’t tunnel down into the micro layers of the earth’s crust and eliminate any genetic vestiges of plant life. And I’m not doing that.