Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in a neighborhood where homes go for 2-5M. Our yard is a glorious mess: as in, my husband and I coddle our handpicked prize roses, jasmine, mock-orange, lilac, Japanese maples, etc, but leave empty plant containers and potting soil bags lying around. Debris come from the busy street into our front yard and we don't immediately pick them up. And my husband, responsible for cutting grass, lets it go to seed at least once per growing season. We don't rake diligently and when we do, we use leaf debris for mulch, as nature intended - no buying mulch ever.

The driveway is damaged because lots of people are surprised by the one-way sign and turn around in our driveway - I am not fixing that, it's going to get damaged all over again.

People probably excuse us because we have the smallest house in the neighborhood, and they think we're poor. Not at all! We'd the same on a large property with a large house. We love plants but we don't care about your ridiculous standards for lawn and whatnot.

So gripe away, OP! You make me laugh.

Empty plant containers, potting soil bags, debris, damaged driveway.
Your yard looks like s***.
For the love of God, tidy up a little.

You tell 'em.
I've also observed on our local Facebook that the same people with these messes in their yards are the first to denounce others for not using "sustainable modes of transportation", using too much water on their grass, and on and on "for the greater good." And they're ALSO the ones who come back from their trip to Japan or Europe complaining that Americans should be more like that (I.e. clean, tidy, respectful of others.) But when it comes to their own front yard that everyone can see they want the "freedom" to leave it looking like a sty.

Not that fancy neighborhood poster, but it's not about freedom and there is no contradiction here, it's just a different approach to landscaping and more ecologically friendly. Fwiw many euro countries use NO pesticides in public area landscaping, and so it looks like weeds everywhere on the side of the road and "untidy" to American eyes. But it's so much better environmentally. That's going to be the case for most lawns that look less well-kept as well due to trying to conserve water and not using pesticides.

A weedy lawn can look fine if it is mowed to a reasonable height. My hoa isn't picky about weeds. Pesticides and herbicides are not required for a lawn to look neat.

It's the house with trash bags tossed outside, random stuff left out on the lawn outside for months or trash that is never picked up that sucks to live near. The worst I see in my neighborhood could be cleaned up in less that 30 minutes. The houses with tall weeds in the plant beds probably need an hour once a month.

This is correct, in fact for the first 10 years of our homeownership we had exactly that (edged, always-mown lawn that was also full of weeds.) But they don't even cut the weeds down because they say they provide insect habitats and so on. And always paired with plastic buckets, broken toys etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in a neighborhood where homes go for 2-5M. Our yard is a glorious mess: as in, my husband and I coddle our handpicked prize roses, jasmine, mock-orange, lilac, Japanese maples, etc, but leave empty plant containers and potting soil bags lying around. Debris come from the busy street into our front yard and we don't immediately pick them up. And my husband, responsible for cutting grass, lets it go to seed at least once per growing season. We don't rake diligently and when we do, we use leaf debris for mulch, as nature intended - no buying mulch ever.

The driveway is damaged because lots of people are surprised by the one-way sign and turn around in our driveway - I am not fixing that, it's going to get damaged all over again.

People probably excuse us because we have the smallest house in the neighborhood, and they think we're poor. Not at all! We'd the same on a large property with a large house. We love plants but we don't care about your ridiculous standards for lawn and whatnot.

So gripe away, OP! You make me laugh.

Empty plant containers, potting soil bags, debris, damaged driveway.
Your yard looks like s***.
For the love of God, tidy up a little.

You tell 'em.
I've also observed on our local Facebook that the same people with these messes in their yards are the first to denounce others for not using "sustainable modes of transportation", using too much water on their grass, and on and on "for the greater good." And they're ALSO the ones who come back from their trip to Japan or Europe complaining that Americans should be more like that (I.e. clean, tidy, respectful of others.) But when it comes to their own front yard that everyone can see they want the "freedom" to leave it looking like a sty.

Not that fancy neighborhood poster, but it's not about freedom and there is no contradiction here, it's just a different approach to landscaping and more ecologically friendly. Fwiw many euro countries use NO pesticides in public area landscaping, and so it looks like weeds everywhere on the side of the road and "untidy" to American eyes. But it's so much better environmentally. That's going to be the case for most lawns that look less well-kept as well due to trying to conserve water and not using pesticides.

A weedy lawn can look fine if it is mowed to a reasonable height. My hoa isn't picky about weeds. Pesticides and herbicides are not required for a lawn to look neat.

It's the house with trash bags tossed outside, random stuff left out on the lawn outside for months or trash that is never picked up that sucks to live near. The worst I see in my neighborhood could be cleaned up in less that 30 minutes. The houses with tall weeds in the plant beds probably need an hour once a month.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in a neighborhood where homes go for 2-5M. Our yard is a glorious mess: as in, my husband and I coddle our handpicked prize roses, jasmine, mock-orange, lilac, Japanese maples, etc, but leave empty plant containers and potting soil bags lying around. Debris come from the busy street into our front yard and we don't immediately pick them up. And my husband, responsible for cutting grass, lets it go to seed at least once per growing season. We don't rake diligently and when we do, we use leaf debris for mulch, as nature intended - no buying mulch ever.

The driveway is damaged because lots of people are surprised by the one-way sign and turn around in our driveway - I am not fixing that, it's going to get damaged all over again.

People probably excuse us because we have the smallest house in the neighborhood, and they think we're poor. Not at all! We'd the same on a large property with a large house. We love plants but we don't care about your ridiculous standards for lawn and whatnot.

So gripe away, OP! You make me laugh.

This is not the flex you think it is, I hate people like you, single handedly bringing down property values.

That doesn't bring down property values. But a recession certainly will! Sorry to hear it sounds like you put your eggs all in one basket *smiles*

Spouse and I put an offer in on a house in Va and walked away when we went got the HOA docs and saw they had no teeth. We noticed on visits to the neighborhood that houses had damage to garage doors etc that went unrepaired. We got the hoa docs and even went to an HOA meeting and dropped our offer after that.

Anonymous wrote:I am one of those people. My exdh wanted a certain kind of house with a certain kind of yard, so we bought one. He doesnt like yard maintenance so we paid a lawn service/handyman service for everything. Now that he no longer lives here, I had to cancel the lawn service as I cant afford it on my salary. It has taken a while for me to get the hang of everything that needs to be done.

I understand this. First time home buyers also often feel very uncomfortable and unsure when dealing with yard stuff at the beginning. If you're lucky you'll have a nice neighbor who can give helpful advice and you'll slowly begin to feel more confident about it. Spouse and I were the young couple who bought a house in a nice neighborhood where everyone was at least 10-15 years older and they were nuts about lawn maintenance. One of the neighbors was nice and gave us a nice overview of what to do when and we learned to do it ourselves. It takes a little time to learn the simple things, like in the spring if it rains much your grass will seem to grow a foot in a day. Also you have to learn to manage the weeds in any plant beds you have. That can be intimidating.

Good luck pp. I hope things get easier for you.

Anonymous wrote:I live in a neighborhood where homes go for 2-5M. Our yard is a glorious mess: as in, my husband and I coddle our handpicked prize roses, jasmine, mock-orange, lilac, Japanese maples, etc, but leave empty plant containers and potting soil bags lying around. Debris come from the busy street into our front yard and we don't immediately pick them up. And my husband, responsible for cutting grass, lets it go to seed at least once per growing season. We don't rake diligently and when we do, we use leaf debris for mulch, as nature intended - no buying mulch ever.

The driveway is damaged because lots of people are surprised by the one-way sign and turn around in our driveway - I am not fixing that, it's going to get damaged all over again.

People probably excuse us because we have the smallest house in the neighborhood, and they think we're poor. Not at all! We'd the same on a large property with a large house. We love plants but we don't care about your ridiculous standards for lawn and whatnot.

So gripe away, OP! You make me laugh.

There are two things that really bother me about your post. The first is that the empty pots and bags of potting soil can so easily be moved to the back or even side of your house so that it is less of an eyesore. It's a bit obnoxious that you don't just move them. If the pots are small and not very noticeable, ok but otherwise, what are you thinking? I love the fact that you love your garden and plants and I love neighbors who go crazy with gardens. Why do you crap it up when it sounds so lovely?

The worst thing is that you blame others for the condition of your driveway and refuse to fix it. That would truly impact the ability of a neighbor to sell their house. The housing market is changing and you could really hurt your neighbors. Do not blame people turning around in your driveway for the damage. Unless there are 2 ton trucks coming through every day, passenger cars coming up part of it here and there are not going to damage it.

I wouldn't care if your yard has leaf litter. I'm all for leaving the leaves be. I also don't have a problem with people who occassionally let their grass get high as long as it's under a foot and it's not constant. Any higher and you know, you're being a jerk.

It sounds like your yard could be a joy and yet you sabotage it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They could have run out of money.
They could be from a culture that doesn't do home maintenance.

They could be me and doing this to not look "rich." Haven't had a single thing stolen since we decided to let the outside of the house go down a little.

"When in Rome..."
If you are "from a culture that doesn't do home maintenance" and move to a culture that does, you need to start doing it to.

Agree. I come from a culture like that. When we moved here to the US we realized how important a nice yard is to Americans, so we put in the time, money and effort to keep the yard nice.

Growing up in the land of corn we had a neighbor couple from India. Great people except they didn’t mow their lawn. So, my dad just mowed it for them. Should he have had to? No. But they weren’t going to do it and my dad wasn’t going to sit around hating good people because of a lawn.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in a neighborhood where homes go for 2-5M. Our yard is a glorious mess: as in, my husband and I coddle our handpicked prize roses, jasmine, mock-orange, lilac, Japanese maples, etc, but leave empty plant containers and potting soil bags lying around. Debris come from the busy street into our front yard and we don't immediately pick them up. And my husband, responsible for cutting grass, lets it go to seed at least once per growing season. We don't rake diligently and when we do, we use leaf debris for mulch, as nature intended - no buying mulch ever.

The driveway is damaged because lots of people are surprised by the one-way sign and turn around in our driveway - I am not fixing that, it's going to get damaged all over again.

People probably excuse us because we have the smallest house in the neighborhood, and they think we're poor. Not at all! We'd the same on a large property with a large house. We love plants but we don't care about your ridiculous standards for lawn and whatnot.

So gripe away, OP! You make me laugh.

Empty plant containers, potting soil bags, debris, damaged driveway.
Your yard looks like s***.
For the love of God, tidy up a little.

You tell 'em.
I've also observed on our local Facebook that the same people with these messes in their yards are the first to denounce others for not using "sustainable modes of transportation", using too much water on their grass, and on and on "for the greater good." And they're ALSO the ones who come back from their trip to Japan or Europe complaining that Americans should be more like that (I.e. clean, tidy, respectful of others.) But when it comes to their own front yard that everyone can see they want the "freedom" to leave it looking like a sty.

Not that fancy neighborhood poster, but it's not about freedom and there is no contradiction here, it's just a different approach to landscaping and more ecologically friendly. Fwiw many euro countries use NO pesticides in public area landscaping, and so it looks like weeds everywhere on the side of the road and "untidy" to American eyes. But it's so much better environmentally. That's going to be the case for most lawns that look less well-kept as well due to trying to conserve water and not using pesticides.

does not explain visible junk, rotting wood and missing shutters

Stop staring, creep.

Anonymous wrote:We don't mow our meadow and don't rake the leaves to gather. We have planted a flower meadow that ist cut twice a year. Our garden should be attractive for birds, bees and butterflies. I don't care if you hate our garden. I hate your poisened green desert.

How much tree cover do you have? If you have mature trees then the leaves turn the meadow to mud-dow.

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Anonymous wrote:No time! I commute and work long hours to afford this house. I barely have energy to sleep let along caring for a house.

This is the part that I don’t understand. Wouldn’t it be better to sell the large house that is holding you prisoner and buy something smaller closer to your office? You are in a race to nowhere.

Exactly. And if you can afford a large expensive house, you can better afford a medium sized less expensive house that you can afford lawn care and maintenance for. Money and laziness are no excuse.

No worries, I am not doing law care in a small house either. It’s a waste of brain cells. No one is getting out of a historical low mortgage rate to please their average wit neighbors who have no hobbies other than criticizing some grass 😬

So a fancy way of admitting your laziness.

I can't speak for the PP, but the idea that you're lazy if you don't keep your lawn immaculate is dumb. You don't know what's going on in their life. If they've got some kids, a dying parent, a full time job, and sit on the board of several organizations, that's not lazy. Something's got to give, and lawn maintenance is easily the least important of these. Stay mad.

I’m not one of the PP’s who is mad or thinks it affects neighborhood home values. I just find it fascinating from a behavioral perspective. If that happened to me I would downsize/move to something low maintenance.

But my lawn service is $80/month, plus twice a year yard cleanups at $500 each. It’s just not that expensive at all. Under $2k a year. People who are down to their last $2k are too financially stretched to live in a big expensive house. It doesn’t “make me mad” - it’s just really bad financial decision making.

The point is it’s not even on their mind. It’s not necessarily a financial thing at all.

Correct. It's like the mom who shows up to pickup in sausage-casing leggings, topknot and ratty sweatshirt. It's not that she thinks she looks good, it's that the opinions of others are the last thing on her mind.

Yeah but a bonus when we learn how we live in their heads rent-free and they are dying of envy of our happiness.

I made my lawn gorgeous and then the city tore it up to do utility work and didn't repair it. So I'm done.

We like the schools here and we like nature. We're taking back the suburbs from you lawn-obsesed wanna-be-British-aristocracy.

Sorry, not sorry.

We don't mow our meadow and don't rake the leaves to gather. We have planted a flower meadow that ist cut twice a year. Our garden should be attractive for birds, bees and butterflies. I don't care if you hate our garden. I hate your poisened green desert.

Probably money and/or they work long hours to afford the house and can’t find time to maintain it or even call around to outsource it.

Anonymous wrote:They might be Asians.
My Asian mother moved into a nice neighborhood and has been ruining it for her neighbors. Asians don't have a history of a big lawn on their property and didn't ache to imitate the English estates via the big lawn. Look at any Asian home with the laundry strung out on the balcony and AC condenser perched wherever is most convenient. All sorts of knick knacks will be set out on the stoop to dry. My mother sometimes hung salted fish in the backyard.
My real estate agent Asian uncle looked at her house and side whispered to me that he could tell by appearances if a Chinese person owned the property.

I said "cultural" in a previous post and yes this is what I meant. They're either Asians or American neo-hippies.

Anonymous wrote:And don't forget: lawn crews are probably going to be ICE magnets this summer Please take care of the people who take care of you.

If this happens and you see it, please document and report it to the immigrant solidarity network. https://waisn.org/bystander-and-observer-guidelines/