Neighbor trespassing to pick dandelions - would you be annoyed?

[Anonymous]

I don't know whether to say something or let it go. Background: we live in the suburbs where most houses have quarter-acre lots, so houses are fairly close together. We keep up our lawn well, have a weekly mowing/edging service, and keep the yard nicely landscaped. However, we don't use herbicide on the lawn, so there are some dandelions and clover. We deal with the dandelions by manually pulling them, which keeps them under control.

A few weeks ago, we came home from a week-long trip to find a note from our elderly neighbor complaining that she spent an hour pulling "literally hundreds" of dandelions from our lawn, and telling us we needed to put weed killer on our lawn. To be fair, a number of dandelions had sprung up while we were gone due to rain, but certainly not hundreds. When I went out to weed, I found she hadn't pulled them, just picked the flowers off and dropped them on the lawn. Anyway, we ignored the note and continued our regimen of weekly weeding to remove the dandelions.

Yesterday when I left for work I noticed a couple dandelions (literally, two flowers) had popped up and made a mental note to pull them when I got home. But when I got home, they were gone. I looked and the flowers had been pulled off and dropped on the lawn. I feel so annoyed that she's coming onto my property to pick the flowers (especially since we make a concerted effort to address them promptly) and trying to dictate how we should care for our lawn, but at the same time I know this is such a minor problem in the grand scheme of things. Would you say something or just ignore it?

[Anonymous]

When someone else is pulling my weeds, I ignore it!

Your neighbors issue is probably that the dandelions seed really fast and will soon be coming into her yard. Dandelions are some of the hardest weeds to kill, you need to get the tube root out or the weed comes back. I have a special little shovel with a forked tip that helps.

[Anonymous]

Elderly neighbor? I would just suck it up. I don't think it's worth the battle. Maybe try a peace offering, pick up some banana bread from the farmers market and take it over saying thanks for picking a few of the weeds while you're at work. You can slip in it's not possible, you'll get them when you get home from work.

[Anonymous]

get yourself a tortoise

[Anonymous]

I'd be happy if someone was picking my dandelions. It's easier to clean up the the ones left on the ground than pick it yourself. Is it the front yard? I would let it go. My kids pick dandelions when we go on walks in front of people's lawns along the sidewalk. I didn't think most people cared.

[Anonymous]

I would be annoyed, too. But I would probably let it go.

[Anonymous]

Just write a note back saying you usually take care of the dandelions and were out of town, which was when they got away from you. And you'll take care of it now that you're back.

OP, I think part of your irritation is that the neighbor is implying that you are not a diligent homeowner/good neighbor. This note addresses and corrects that perception. And, the last line is the polite way to say, "And get off my lawn!" which may or may not be heeded--but if the neighbor gets corrected on the first issue and sees that you ARE trying, they may not be as quick to come over and pull up the dandelions.

The good news is that unlike where I used to live (Southern California), you have seasons, that help naturally bring to close or give a breather to little bubbling wars like this. The worst is the constant escalation that comes with a never-ending growing cycle.

As an aside, I hope you don't put weed killer on the dandelions.

[Anonymous]

I really like what 8:46 said.

[Anonymous]

She is completely out of line. I would tell her not to come onto your land again. It is not illegal or dangerous to have dandelions for goodness sakes. I'd rather have you and your dandelions than an herbicid-ed lawn or a trespassing, interfering neighbor.

[Anonymous]

Just use weed killer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just write a note back saying you usually take care of the dandelions and were out of town, which was when they got away from you. And you'll take care of it now that you're back.

OP, I think part of your irritation is that the neighbor is implying that you are not a diligent homeowner/good neighbor. This note addresses and corrects that perception. And, the last line is the polite way to say, "And get off my lawn!" which may or may not be heeded--but if the neighbor gets corrected on the first issue and sees that you ARE trying, they may not be as quick to come over and pull up the dandelions.

The good news is that unlike where I used to live (Southern California), you have seasons, that help naturally bring to close or give a breather to little bubbling wars like this. The worst is the constant escalation that comes with a never-ending growing cycle.

As an aside, I hope you don't put weed killer on the dandelions.

OP here, I think you're right about why I'm irritated. Thanks for your suggestions. We really do try to keep up the house/yard well and maintain good curb appeal, and we try to be good neighbors by doing things like shoveling her driveway/sidewalk when it snows, and so to get that note after all our other efforts just really rubbed me the wrong way. We're not willing to use weed killer due to its negative effects on the environment (and potential health effects on humans; we have small children who play on the lawn) while she's someone who has the lawn chemical truck there every month. I have the forked weed-remover tool that I use to remove the entire plant, including taproot, so it's extra irritating to have to hunt around for the plant plus the flower head she's picked. Maybe I will look into that tortoise

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just write a note back saying you usually take care of the dandelions and were out of town, which was when they got away from you. And you'll take care of it now that you're back.

OP, I think part of your irritation is that the neighbor is implying that you are not a diligent homeowner/good neighbor. This note addresses and corrects that perception. And, the last line is the polite way to say, "And get off my lawn!" which may or may not be heeded--but if the neighbor gets corrected on the first issue and sees that you ARE trying, they may not be as quick to come over and pull up the dandelions.

The good news is that unlike where I used to live (Southern California), you have seasons, that help naturally bring to close or give a breather to little bubbling wars like this. The worst is the constant escalation that comes with a never-ending growing cycle.

As an aside, I hope you don't put weed killer on the dandelions.

OP here, I think you're right about why I'm irritated. Thanks for your suggestions. We really do try to keep up the house/yard well and maintain good curb appeal, and we try to be good neighbors by doing things like shoveling her driveway/sidewalk when it snows, and so to get that note after all our other efforts just really rubbed me the wrong way. We're not willing to use weed killer due to its negative effects on the environment (and potential health effects on humans; we have small children who play on the lawn) while she's someone who has the lawn chemical truck there every month. I have the forked weed-remover tool that I use to remove the entire plant, including taproot, so it's extra irritating to have to hunt around for the plant plus the flower head she's picked. Maybe I will look into that tortoise

Just another suggestion too if you plan to go away. Let her know in advance you've made arrangements to have the dandelions take care of (pay a neighbor kids $5?)

[Anonymous]

Neither stuff...ugh! It would bother me, but I would kill her with kindness.

[Anonymous]

Take care of your lawn!

[Anonymous]

* neighbor stuff ..... Darn autocorrect