We turned in the neighbour....

[greeneyedgirl]

We had to do it.
We turned in the neighbour to the city for not taking care of his yard.
I think he last mowed it in June
The grass is more than 12 inches high, lots of places its just laid down from all the rabbits and other vermin nesting in it.
When I called the city, they informed me that I'm not the first to call on him. Turns out that the former owner of our house, Mr GGs grandfather, had to make many calls on him over the last 40 years.

We live in an area where most people take very good care of their lawns. We are two streets over from a country club. We actually spend a good deal of time and money to make sure our own yard is well taken care of. So it really aggrivates me to see the guy next-door take no care at all.
Also, many homes on our street are for sale now. I'm sure it would be a huge turn off to think that one would have to wake up to his yard every morning, not to mention the worry that his little jungle is harboring pests as well as weeds just waiting to crawl over into other yards. Not a good selling point.

And its not that he is unable to do it.
He has a sit-down mower and 4 son-in-laws, not to mention oodles of grandkids, that could help him since they are all over there 2-3 times a wk (Gotta love the 'Family Night')
He has informed me that he "just doesn't enjoy yard work"

Now, the back yard is a whole other story. Its a combo of wild onions, crab grass, creeping charlie, and .........yep, thats about it, patched around a worn down laundry line, a few rusted out bicycles, a small metal shed with the roof caving in (with stuff growning in the sag) and too many small trees that I believe to be weeds that just grew too tall.
The fact that the weeds growing along and into the fence that seperates our backyard is a much welcome barrier of the mold and mildew stench that seems to float from their home, is the only thing that allows me to enjoy my own backyard.

We have mentioned putting up a new fence, but he has some sort of sentimental attachment to the current one ( a 4 ft high bent and twisted, rusted out stretch of worn-out chicken wire, more than a fence) and he doesn't like the idea of losing some of his 'trees'

Hopefully, the city will hand deliver a note to him today and perhaps he can take care of his yard before the next wknd.
I know of a few of the homes for sale on our street have scheduled "Open Houses" for the wknd.

PS........Ironically, their last name is 'Woods'.

 

[tiny dancer]

My house is in a nice area too. I would of done the same.

 

[Mr. BAW]

There are a number of local jurisdictions that maintain a Weed Abatement program for situations such as this...the city hires a contractor to clean the property and then bills the proprty owner directly; if the bill is not paid, the city places a lien on the land until such time that the property is sold or otherwise disposed of...good luck.

 

[BonosBaby12]

Good for you I would have turned him in also. There is no excuse for him or a relative not taking care of the lawn High grass can be a breeding ground for snakes too Hope he finally cleans it all up!

 

[Liesje]

Good for you! I wish people had called on us at our previous house. Part of our lease agreement was that the landlord was responsible for all lawn maintenence. She would mow (or have her 12 year old kid mow) once every few months. The only time in 2+ years she ever had the bushes trimmed, the guy just buzzed it down and left all the leaves and sticks to rot. I'd always done it myself with a manual clippers since then. Our elderly neighbors, who took great pride in the condition of their yard and gardens, referred to our landlords as "The Jerk" and "That Woman".

You had every right to at least call and complain. Weeds are not only gross aesthetically, but then they pollinate and drift into other yards and gardens, and encourage rabbits and skunks. If he can't afford professional landscaping, edging, etc, fine, but it's not too much to ask that he simply mow the lawn.

 

[greeneyedgirl]

I just spent another $39 for another visit and application from Chemlawn just the very morning Just for the crab grass!

 

[u2bonogirl]

That would never happen in our neighborhood. You would get assaulted by the HOA before the grass got past 6 inches

Our lawn is probably the bane of the neighborhood's existence, but not for the same reason as your neighbor. We have more of a lack of ground cover. Pipes burst under it and they dug the lawn out, wiping out the lawn (if you can call a matchbook sized patch of grass in front of the townhouse a lawn!). I tried aerating it and it's impossible in this stupid Virginia clay soil Guess it will have to wait until we can afford to call somebody in on it.

In the meantime I hacked out a makeshift garden with the claws of a hammer to make it look nicer

Good luck. I hope the guy gets talked into doing something about his health hazard of a lawn. It sucks for the poor people with open houses that have to sell the area as well as the house.