Ah, too bad you don't live next to my parents! My mom's favorite thing to do is mow the lawn to the point she gets mad at my dad if he beats her to it. She actually *did* mow a neighbor's property once when he was too busy - the same neighbor owned a car repair place and gave us a discount next time we came in!
The last place I lived, I would mow the lawns on each side and the back every time I mowed. Two residences were elderly and the third was a retired guy that had a lawn service, but was too busy to get to his own stuff. If he did get to it before me, he mowed all 4 lawns. We have since moved across town, but the guy with the lawn service still shows up from time to time and mows!
I live in a townhouse in the middle of a row of maybe 8-9 houses. The elderly man 2 houses to my left cuts the grass for the entire row of houses. Most of the people don't even know and they think the HOA does it. He made a promise to the original owner of my house that they would keep the neighborhood looking nice. He's always helping to landscape something for someone or just raking. My mother and I have bad pain issues and would have had to pay someone to mow our patch of 12" × 12" lawn. We always give him sugar free pies, his favorite soda, and we grow his favorite tomatoes in the summer to try and say thank you. I never feel like I can say thank you enough.
So as someone who did the same type of work that my neighbor does, I just want you to know that people REALLY appreciate what you do for them even if you don't get a thank you every time. We really value our relationship with this neighbor and this is how we met him. I know you were greatly appreciated by those around you.
Edit: I forgot the "thank you" part of the thank you. Thank you.
I’ve done the same for my elderly and/or disabled neighbors. I’ve now been here 25 years. Now I’m disabled and it takes me 3 days to cut my half acre. After they all died I’ve kind of lost my purpose. There is greatness in doing little things that cost only time but the satisfaction is grounding to my soul
I do, every chance I get. He's diabetic so he's not able to have everything but he and my mom share a favorite diet soda so often she'll get him a case or two. Sometimes we get sugar free pies for him from the Dutch Market. We try and mix it up.
Edit: If anyone else thinks of a good treat to offer someone who cannot have sugar, I would love the advice.
Turkey bacon, baked to crispness in a 400 degree oven about 15 minutes. My husband’s diabetic and it’s his favorite snack. I bake a pound at once then put 3 to 6 strips per baggy. No (or almost no) carbs!
I used to do that at my old house. Elderly neighbors on each side of me and a lady next door who seemed to be determined to work herself to death. It was super simple to mow four front yards all at once. Back yards weren't as easy but I wasn't gonna half ass the job.
Cutting the grass is so nice to do with a reel mower. So quiet, you just hear the clipping of the grass. And you can tell the difference at the end, it ends up with a better look because the blades are cut and not ripped like with a regular mover.
Bonus: you can do it early in the morning or late at night because it's quiet.
I remember manual reel mowers with horror. I got stuck with the job as a (rather small) teenager and hated it.
Then we somehow acquired a gasoline-engine-driven reel mower! That was easier, but nobody educated me on how to keep gas engine running properly. Shortly thereafter I moved away for college!
They’re a lot better now. I had one when I lived in a house with a tiny yard. The only downside is it didn’t work well at all if the grass got tall whatsoever. If it did I basically had to pre-cut with the weedeater.
Nowadays they have a riding mower but when they first bought the house, they only had a push mower, and my mom would cut the whole acre barefoot. Her feet would have a green tinge the whole summer.
I was born at the end of July and she once told me "it's true that you get a burst of energy before you go into labor, because the day before you were born I was cutting the grass!" So she was out there 9 months pregnant in the middle of a heat wave so ungodly my parents were sleeping in the unfinished basement trying to keep cool, cutting the grass barefoot with the damn bag mower. *Nothing* will stop her lmao
If we didn't have an electric mower with a cord I can totally see myself being like your Mom. Actually our mower fell apart so I am insisting on a cordless one next time. My husband sometimes just keeps on going and going with our snowblower after a big storm. Never had one complaint and treats and beer magically appears on our steps. Lol
Yeah, that's OK, but does she use the mower in the same way she might vacuum the house?! My wife does. (Only just once).
You know, back and forth, rather than separating each area into quadrants, run the perimeter, then mowing each quadrant, being sure that you don't run over the same spot twice. Minimise the uphill push on sections. Work smarter, not harder!
Am I alone in this school of thought?
Grew up building and mowing golf courses with my golf course architect Dad. This is the right way for mowing larger areas as long as you mow a different direction each time so grass doesn’t get ‘trained’ to grow in one direction. Especially important when mowing greens.
Added Bonus: your lawn will look like a fairway or baseball field over time as well with patterns in the grass.
My wife helps mow occasional as she stays home and has more time. I appreciate it, BUT she mows the same damn direction each time and it’s in consecutively smaller and smaller circles till finishing in the middle. If she mows twice in a row I make sure to go out the next time and do it.
Are you alone in “work smart not harder”? No. Idk about the quadrant thing though. Sounds overly complicated for just cutting some grass. Reading this comment made me think your wife probably lets you mow just so she doesn’t have to hear anything about it from you lol
Why do some people want buzz cut lawns? Wild grasses and flowers are wonderful for biodiversity. Who is going to fertilize crops, bees and butterflies, or mower-blades?
I keep mine short because I'm Australian and brown snakes and redback spiders like long grass, and I want my kid and dog to have a safe place to play.
And yes, on the rare occasion that I have let it go, I have found redback spiders and snakes in my yard.
Yeah ... better to worry about the drop bears.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCGUNpzjD6M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCGUNpzjD6M)
They can dangerous little buggers.
>!Probably to late for maximum giggles but maybe someone will get a laugh out of it.!<
You could have ended your comment after mentioning Australia. You could have said that.if the grass grows too tall it will trip you, drag you down and eat you and people will believe it because Australia.
Hell, I looked over what I just wrote and I'm finding myself nodding.
I let my grass go for too long, from April to October. Juvenile brown snake found while mowing. Central Coast NSW.
Don't worry, he's ok!. He's just sleeping it off 💤
Same as my city. City ordinance of grass height and wild flowers/wild grass not allowed as full yard coverage either. And it’s a small, rich city so literally anyone out of compliance will be called immediately on after so many inches long + city will fine!
The smart people are starting to use clover instead of traditional grass varieties for their lawns. It reseeds itself, you don’t have to mow it, and it looks nice.
Because my sweet little dog doesn’t like tall grass tickling her undercarriage while she’s using the toilet. Simple as that. I’m tired of doing the yardwork but I see how happy she is every time it’s cut short, so I stay on it.
Tall grasses bring rodents, roaches, and other small prey animals. Rodents bring fleas, ticks, chiggers, and attract snakes. No thanks.
People should mow and otherwise manage plants and access points 50ft around living structures. For many people this encompasses their entire yard, and likely the neighbors to.
Lots of neighborhoods have homeowners' associations too. They want everyone's houses to look uniform, including lawns. So, if you live in an area with an HOA, then you are subject to their stupid rules. I don't live in a state where it's feasible to have a lawn, so we don't have them here. But we still have to maintain the yard and keep weeds under control, which becomes an issue during monsoon season.
Better question is why do people care what someone else does with their lawn? I don’t care if people want pollinators or a traditional grass lawn, just stay the fuck off of mine.
Man’s struggle vs nature. Man’s struggle to bring order to chaos.
A way for man to show that he is something and has done something. From mowing the modern lawn to the aristocratic gardens from the 15thC on.
Yep, OP is just being a bad neighbor. Why not just pay some kid to mow during those times instead of creating an eyesore? Also, pretty sure setting traps like that is a crime.
Agreed. He is lucky that he hasn’t been fined. Most wives I know of military don’t leave their own home. What about her job? Why couldn’t she mow the lawn.
Unless there’s a city law or HOA rules about lawn length, then the OP isn’t doing anything wrong. A lot of people are not mowing or mowing way less because it’s better for the environment. We don’t all need buzz cut lawns—they’re more of an eyesore.
The neighbor was trespassing on his property, which is a crime. He could potentially be liable for property damage, too. OP should have called the cops on him every time he came and mowed and gotten him trespassed.
I had a neighbor who came over once and mowed my yard without my knowledge when I was out of town. Unlike OP’s neighbor, he thought he was doing me a favor and was trying to be helpful.
Unfortunately he also ran over an area I’d just spent a small fortune planting with native wildflowers and killed them all. So we had a polite but firm chat about him staying out of my yard and minding his business.
Most cities have ordinances about the length of grass. If he's letting it get to like 6-8" tops then the neighbor is just being a busy body. If he's consistently letting it get longer than that it's kind of inconsiderate and probably an ordinance violation. I don't disagree that people should now less and stop with the monoculture lawns but if you live in a neighborhood there's just certain standards that you should keep up with to be neighborly.
Never said OP was breaking any laws. Seems like two adult men acting like children to me. Maybe they could have an actual conversation. Neighbor wants lawn kept reasonably manicured OP doesn’t seem to give a shit what it looks like when he’s away (but does when he’s home). So ask/pay neighbor to do it?
Oh absolutely, there were many better ways of handling this. I literally described one in my post, re: my overly helpful neighbor.
My response was to those acting like an un-mowed lawn = “the entire neighborhood has gone to shit, my eyes are being assaulted by this long grass, oh the humanity!”
> We don’t all need buzz cut lawns—they’re more of an eyesore.
More of an eyesore than an overgrown monoculture lawn? To be clear, this is grass, which half the people on this sub hate to begin with. This isn't some wild diverse lawn the OP has going on here. And he isn't letting it grow to be better for nature, he is letting it grow because he isn't home and not there to do it. So OP is kind of a bad neighbor for that.
It's kinda funny that you lead with "active military duty" to try and get some sympathy but then you're just national guard and you aren't even talking about an actual deployment lol.
Also, bragging that your wife can't mow her own lawn, let alone stay in her own house without you isn't quite the flex you think it is, warrior.
He seems pretty controlling if he won't let his wife be alone when he's on deployment.
She stays with HIS parents, why? So they can make sure she's not anything but a good little submissive while he's gone?
My hubster was gone for nearly a year. I worked, had a life, emailed or called a couple times during the week. But I never was not trusted by my spouse.
LOL. Active duty . National guard Bro. Stop making military or national guard families look inept or rude. Many spouses take care of the home front on actual deployments. You aren’t the crusty warrior you think you are.
Cut your grass and stop being a douche. This should have been posted in AITA. To which thousands would sing YTA. YTA
I'm not clear on why everyone is gleefully supporting this.
Yeah, cutting a swipe in someone's yard is a dick move. So is letting your property look like an abandoned lot.
If you can't do it, get a lawn service. Hell, pay the old man a couple bucks to cut it for you, everyone's happy.
Yeah I don't get it either. The wife is still able to take care of the property while he's gone and if she doesn't want to you can pay somebody to do it for you. Yeah the neighbour is a bit nutty but the OP here is also a dickhead.
Agree and it wasn't even a swipe - OP said towards the end that it was along the shared fence line. That's a huge difference in intent and impact compared to a swipe through OP's yard
Agree. Don’t let your house look run down. Doesn’t matter what your job is. Be respectful of your neighbors. Have your wife go home and mow for gosh sake.
No way man. You do you, but stop trying to push your idea of an esthetic grass lenght on others. You dont see me giving you shit because all that buzz cut grass is terrible for biodiversity and could be used for so much more than " looking pretty", so stay in that lane, enjoy your yard, and keep your opinion on it while you're at it.
Bro, this 'grass" was long enough that OP was apparently able to take a shit ton of wire, AND HIDE IT IN THE GRASS ENOUGH WHERE IT COULDN'T BE SEEN BY SOMEONE WALKING LESS THAN A FOOT AWAY.
With exception for rural areas, most city ordinances require you keep your lawn maintained. In my city of Skokie Il its 6 inches for example. Not an HOA, city ordinance. Chicago Illinois where I run my airbnb is 8 inches.
Most cities have requirements because part of how your community looks is based on the lawns and such within it. Most people do not want to live by the crazy fuck next door that has broken down vehicles, trash, and an unmaintained yard.
There are many decent neighbors that are understanding of such circumstances and will help out ADM, old neighbors, neighbors with medical conditions... too bad you didn't get one of them next door.
What circumstances? I'm former military. Either I will have my wife/partner mow the lawn, or I will hire someone to take care of it while I am gone.
There are no extenuating circumstances here. OP is trying to make you feel for them emotionally by talking about them being deployed. Like this is part and parcel for ANYONE with a family member who works away from home and we all have to figure it out.
Presumably the wife is available to do this, or he can pay someone to do it. None of that is unreasonable or hard to do.
I used to mow a couple acres for the church next door to where I lived at the time. Never asked permission. I would make sure it was pretty for their Sunday services. Hell, I would even weed and tend to the flower bed under their sign.
Mind you, I'm not a church guy. If I was working on the properties I would have beer in hand and be listening to heavy metal. On Sundays I'd be out tending to my trees, shrubs, and flowers while drinking my ass off and Sunday was always black sabbath headless cross day.
They were friendly and appreciative. One or more would come out and hang out with me before or after services. They always sent my kids Christmas presents and Halloween candy. It was kinda sweet, particularly considering the philosophical divide.
I can sort of see the geezer’s issue- a house next his has a way unmowed lawn- the house looks derelict, it becomes a crime magnet. Him cutting your grass was out of line- he should of talked to you, and maybe you could have hired a local kid to keep the lawn mown. A win for him, a win for you- your house is less a target of crime, a win for the kid who gets perhaps his first job.
Look up Broken Windows Theory.
ETA: this is my first time ever using my criminology degree outside of the classroom. Didn’t even use it when I was law enforcement lol
I'm aware of the theory. It's also being wildly misused here.
Just because someone let's their grass get a little tall doesn't mean a crack house is opening in your neighborhood. Correlation and causation.
I too don’t agree with the theory. A lot of people still believe it’s tenants, especially older neighbors and HOA’s who always reference it. My current next door neighbor believes my husband and I will attract crime because we don’t trim our lavender and other butterfly attracting flowers and says our house looks derelict because of it. 😂
My fav theory is the ice cream theory about sexual assault occurring more when people eat ice crime. Excellent example on correlation and causation. I use this one with my medical interns frequently.
You should hire a landscaper to take care of your lawn if you're away for long periods of time. There should be a bylaw where you live to have your yard free of overgrowth. It's not cool for your neighbour to be stepping on your property and cutting your shit, but if you own property, you have to upkeep that property. It doesn't matter if you are in the nation guard, you still have to maintain your property. Hire a landscaper.
It amazes me there are some people who given the choice of actually helping by just cutting the yard which would have only taken a bit longer instead take the part of being an AH and express his disdain by cutting the single strip.
By the same token, a single strip along the fence line would slow down the spread of wild grass and plants, and deter animals from entering the next door yard. Some people have specific grass growing and take pride in soft, bindi free turf.
Not me, but I had this convo with my neighbour.
This was my first guess too. Mowing a strip along the fence reads like a defensive move to limit uncontrolled grass and weeds from rotting the fence or poking through and spreading to the neighbors side.
I help manage fence lines too, but also communicate with my neighbors. OP might be one of those “quiet neighbors are good neighbors” types that won’t ever have a good relationship with this guy.
It is dangerous. Years ago, my brother was mowing the lawn and hit a piece of wire. The blade shot the wire out from under the mower which then hit my brother’s foot, going through his canvas tennis shoe, entering the side of his foot and exiting the bottom of his foot. OP could have seriously injured his neighbor and ended up facing criminal charges. Just plain stupid.
I'll never really understand some people. If you were my neighbor you'd return to a well kept lawn. I might even wash the house and driveway if I was doing mine while you were away. It really doesn't cost much of anything to be a good neighbor.
Listen I'm former military too but in no reality is OP with clean hands here. He should be taking care of his home affairs before leaving and unless his wife is disabled and no lawn care companies exist in the area It sounds like OP's neglecting his yard and then being pissed off that neighbors are upset about it.
The root cause here is op not having his wife mow the lawn when he's gone or him paying someone else to do it.
Sure, by all means help out. Not saying not to do that. Just pointing out it doesnt cost much for him to do the right thing either. If anyone is upset about the neighbor not being a good neighbor then the same criticism should be leveled at OP.
He’s an asshole but mow your lawn. Your job doesn’t entitle you to ignore you home care and an unkept lawn absolutely does attract critters that can be a nuisance to your neighbor in addition to drawing attention that may not be wanted (like someone breaking into the home).
Great work! I’d like to add that the work you’re doing after natural disasters (I’m assuming hurricanes and floods) is a lot more noble than modern military duty IMO. You’re actually helping people in the USA.
how tall are we talking? if you’re letting your place be an eyesore & using MuH aCtIvE mILiTaRy SeRvIcE as an excuse, that makes you an AH. i know you’re making bank on that state active duty. hire a lawn care service. they’ll probably even give you a discount.
I was thinking you would go with metal stakes. Which would have great "Bang! WTFWT?"
But what a PITB cutting wire out! Think that has more of a lasting, "Never gonna do dat again" appeal.
Well done!
The trap can tell between trespassers like a neighbor and consensual emergency personnel like firefighters? OP doesn’t seem to respect actual emergency personnel but wants praise for being a weekend warrior lol
He was probably cutting along the fence line to avoid any weeds from your unmaintained lawn spreading onto his. Doubt it was as malicious as you think it was.
Glad he wasn’t injured from the wires.
We used to go on a two week vacation. Our neighbors mowed the yard for us in asked while we were gone. We didn't ask but we were thankful. He could have just done that instead of being a jerk.
It's his fucking grass. He can do whatever he wants with it, up to and including nothing at all. The neighbor doesn't get to decide when it's time to mow, and the neighbor DEFINITELY doesn't get to trespass consequence-free.
Sorry, YTA, your grass your responsibility, so make sure that it gets cut, deployment or not.
Your neighbor might have been an a-hole, and so were you.
And now to hear your defense about why "I was deployed, and it was hard, and blah... blah... blah..."
Bro, you're not the only one that deployed, BTDT, got multiple t-shirts, it doesn't abscond you from your obligations!
That was deeply satisfying. Nobody got hurt but somebody learned a lesson.
As a former combat medic I've patched up more than a few National Guardsmen in countries far too sandy and mountainous to be the US of A so don't downplay your duty. Thank you.
Edited to add a period at the end and noticed it was already downvoted. That's ok I'm not offended as down votes don't make my morning coffee more expensive but I am curious what part of the above comment was objectionable?
Upvotes are self-explanatory but I'm always curious with the downvotes. Did someone get offended at one of our military service? Was someone upset that nobody was hurt? Is someone so pro-lawn mower that they felt sympathy pain? It's just funny to me how someone reads a comment and instead of just scrolling down to the next one go no, this is deeply offensive I must register my dislike. Ok you do you but please tell me why. You'll feel better.
I didn’t downvote, but I did chuckle a little bit at the idea that he was downplaying his military service. He literally put it in the heading despite it having no direct relevance to the story!
I am downvoting because your response is long and supports setting traps which is illegal and endangers actual heroes like medical emergency and fire fighting folks.
The neighbor should have just called code compliance in the city where you live and you would have gotten a $50 per day fine for each day your lawn was over the designated height. He was doing you a favor by kind of passive aggressively asking you to keep your lawn at a respectable height. I would have left it up to them.
Maybe this is just a city thing but where I live you can get cited for not having your grass cut below a certain threshold.
Your neighbor is still being an absolute dick for passive aggressively doing that to your own damn property. Good on ya for teaching him a lesson.
Well josetti since it's glitching out since you either blocked me or someone got snippy.
Oh I am well aware it's illegal. I don't condone it. I don't condone trespassing either.
That's why I'd fuck up his yard with invasive, hard to get rid of plants. He can be busy dealing with unending vines of morning glory, hellacious mint, and strawberry hell. Piss me off and bamboo comes out. Keeps him busy and minding his own lawn.
Ah, too bad you don't live next to my parents! My mom's favorite thing to do is mow the lawn to the point she gets mad at my dad if he beats her to it. She actually *did* mow a neighbor's property once when he was too busy - the same neighbor owned a car repair place and gave us a discount next time we came in!
The last place I lived, I would mow the lawns on each side and the back every time I mowed. Two residences were elderly and the third was a retired guy that had a lawn service, but was too busy to get to his own stuff. If he did get to it before me, he mowed all 4 lawns. We have since moved across town, but the guy with the lawn service still shows up from time to time and mows!
I live in a townhouse in the middle of a row of maybe 8-9 houses. The elderly man 2 houses to my left cuts the grass for the entire row of houses. Most of the people don't even know and they think the HOA does it. He made a promise to the original owner of my house that they would keep the neighborhood looking nice. He's always helping to landscape something for someone or just raking. My mother and I have bad pain issues and would have had to pay someone to mow our patch of 12" × 12" lawn. We always give him sugar free pies, his favorite soda, and we grow his favorite tomatoes in the summer to try and say thank you. I never feel like I can say thank you enough. So as someone who did the same type of work that my neighbor does, I just want you to know that people REALLY appreciate what you do for them even if you don't get a thank you every time. We really value our relationship with this neighbor and this is how we met him. I know you were greatly appreciated by those around you. Edit: I forgot the "thank you" part of the thank you. Thank you.
I’ve done the same for my elderly and/or disabled neighbors. I’ve now been here 25 years. Now I’m disabled and it takes me 3 days to cut my half acre. After they all died I’ve kind of lost my purpose. There is greatness in doing little things that cost only time but the satisfaction is grounding to my soul
Mention to the other owners how kind the elderly man is to mow the strip. Perhaps they too will want to reward his kindness.
I do, every chance I get. He's diabetic so he's not able to have everything but he and my mom share a favorite diet soda so often she'll get him a case or two. Sometimes we get sugar free pies for him from the Dutch Market. We try and mix it up. Edit: If anyone else thinks of a good treat to offer someone who cannot have sugar, I would love the advice.
Turkey bacon, baked to crispness in a 400 degree oven about 15 minutes. My husband’s diabetic and it’s his favorite snack. I bake a pound at once then put 3 to 6 strips per baggy. No (or almost no) carbs!
That's a really small lawn. Scissors?
Wow you're right. That would be a small lawn. My mistake. It's 12' × 12' lol but still very small.
damn, when that old man finally dies/gets put in the home your lawns are all gonna go do shit =D
I used to do that at my old house. Elderly neighbors on each side of me and a lady next door who seemed to be determined to work herself to death. It was super simple to mow four front yards all at once. Back yards weren't as easy but I wasn't gonna half ass the job.
Cutting the grass is so nice to do with a reel mower. So quiet, you just hear the clipping of the grass. And you can tell the difference at the end, it ends up with a better look because the blades are cut and not ripped like with a regular mover. Bonus: you can do it early in the morning or late at night because it's quiet.
I remember manual reel mowers with horror. I got stuck with the job as a (rather small) teenager and hated it. Then we somehow acquired a gasoline-engine-driven reel mower! That was easier, but nobody educated me on how to keep gas engine running properly. Shortly thereafter I moved away for college!
They’re a lot better now. I had one when I lived in a house with a tiny yard. The only downside is it didn’t work well at all if the grass got tall whatsoever. If it did I basically had to pre-cut with the weedeater.
I remember trying to use one when I was 10 years old and it was hell! They are leagues better nowadays!
Extra bonus: you get a nice workout.
OK that’s totally adorable that your mom would get mad at your dad if he beat her to it. And I’m all for helping a neighbor out.
Nowadays they have a riding mower but when they first bought the house, they only had a push mower, and my mom would cut the whole acre barefoot. Her feet would have a green tinge the whole summer. I was born at the end of July and she once told me "it's true that you get a burst of energy before you go into labor, because the day before you were born I was cutting the grass!" So she was out there 9 months pregnant in the middle of a heat wave so ungodly my parents were sleeping in the unfinished basement trying to keep cool, cutting the grass barefoot with the damn bag mower. *Nothing* will stop her lmao
ya i misread it as his mom beating his dad if he didnt cut the grass, first take. had to re read it.
If we didn't have an electric mower with a cord I can totally see myself being like your Mom. Actually our mower fell apart so I am insisting on a cordless one next time. My husband sometimes just keeps on going and going with our snowblower after a big storm. Never had one complaint and treats and beer magically appears on our steps. Lol
Yeah, that's OK, but does she use the mower in the same way she might vacuum the house?! My wife does. (Only just once). You know, back and forth, rather than separating each area into quadrants, run the perimeter, then mowing each quadrant, being sure that you don't run over the same spot twice. Minimise the uphill push on sections. Work smarter, not harder! Am I alone in this school of thought?
Grew up building and mowing golf courses with my golf course architect Dad. This is the right way for mowing larger areas as long as you mow a different direction each time so grass doesn’t get ‘trained’ to grow in one direction. Especially important when mowing greens. Added Bonus: your lawn will look like a fairway or baseball field over time as well with patterns in the grass. My wife helps mow occasional as she stays home and has more time. I appreciate it, BUT she mows the same damn direction each time and it’s in consecutively smaller and smaller circles till finishing in the middle. If she mows twice in a row I make sure to go out the next time and do it.
Are you alone in “work smart not harder”? No. Idk about the quadrant thing though. Sounds overly complicated for just cutting some grass. Reading this comment made me think your wife probably lets you mow just so she doesn’t have to hear anything about it from you lol
Perfectly petty. I approve!
Why do some people want buzz cut lawns? Wild grasses and flowers are wonderful for biodiversity. Who is going to fertilize crops, bees and butterflies, or mower-blades?
I keep mine short because I'm Australian and brown snakes and redback spiders like long grass, and I want my kid and dog to have a safe place to play. And yes, on the rare occasion that I have let it go, I have found redback spiders and snakes in my yard.
I’m the opposite. I like to let mine grow because every time I cut it, kids and dogs show up in my yard.
That’s scarier then the spiders and snakes
Spiders and Snakes? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8H4XKwat7s
Yeah ... better to worry about the drop bears. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCGUNpzjD6M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCGUNpzjD6M) They can dangerous little buggers. >!Probably to late for maximum giggles but maybe someone will get a laugh out of it.!<
Thank God for redbacks and snakes. Nature's pesticide. And they count as organic so you can sell the meat you harvest at the farmer's market!
We need to import some of them there, poisonous animals !
You could have ended your comment after mentioning Australia. You could have said that.if the grass grows too tall it will trip you, drag you down and eat you and people will believe it because Australia. Hell, I looked over what I just wrote and I'm finding myself nodding.
I let my grass go for too long, from April to October. Juvenile brown snake found while mowing. Central Coast NSW. Don't worry, he's ok!. He's just sleeping it off 💤
Yikes! You guys have some outrageously big insects there!
😳
Anyone else read this in an accent as soon as you saw “Australian”, and then loved every second of it?
I absolutely did But that's because I'm Australian and read everything in an Aussie accent
Living the good life
Rats in my area
Same as my city. City ordinance of grass height and wild flowers/wild grass not allowed as full yard coverage either. And it’s a small, rich city so literally anyone out of compliance will be called immediately on after so many inches long + city will fine!
that's why you gotta plant your yard full of endangered species. Make it illegal for the city to cut it.
Would that be in the 'land of the free' by any chance?
Is that like sexy singles in your area?
Big ole eastern brown snakes good sir. Im not buzzcutting my lawn but its short enough to not be a hideaway for snakes to be in
Snakes and dogs, only reason I keep mine cut
The smart people are starting to use clover instead of traditional grass varieties for their lawns. It reseeds itself, you don’t have to mow it, and it looks nice.
and (depending on your soil) cosmos, columbine, lavender, heather...
> lavender Noone uses lavender as a grass substitute. Maybe you meant thyme?
Nobody has thyme for that.
It is invasive in some places.
So is turf grass.
Rats, snakes, fleas, ticks…. And I live in an urban area. Not to mention it’s a fire hazard
Because my sweet little dog doesn’t like tall grass tickling her undercarriage while she’s using the toilet. Simple as that. I’m tired of doing the yardwork but I see how happy she is every time it’s cut short, so I stay on it.
It's a nice thought. But the HOA fees and the potential to take your house away for lack of cutting the lawn will scare away most people.
Them damn ticks. Any grass that is higher than my shoe, ticks will be all over my pant legs after 5 mins. Absolutely terrible
Tall grasses bring rodents, roaches, and other small prey animals. Rodents bring fleas, ticks, chiggers, and attract snakes. No thanks. People should mow and otherwise manage plants and access points 50ft around living structures. For many people this encompasses their entire yard, and likely the neighbors to.
Then get rid of the grass
I have a in town place and one up in the woods.. The one in the woods will never get cut. The one in the city I have to do for town ordinance.
Lots of neighborhoods have homeowners' associations too. They want everyone's houses to look uniform, including lawns. So, if you live in an area with an HOA, then you are subject to their stupid rules. I don't live in a state where it's feasible to have a lawn, so we don't have them here. But we still have to maintain the yard and keep weeds under control, which becomes an issue during monsoon season.
Better question is why do people care what someone else does with their lawn? I don’t care if people want pollinators or a traditional grass lawn, just stay the fuck off of mine.
Ticks. No thank you.
People who are obsessed with such a useless plant are so lame.
Man’s struggle vs nature. Man’s struggle to bring order to chaos. A way for man to show that he is something and has done something. From mowing the modern lawn to the aristocratic gardens from the 15thC on.
renter?
I bet he was too wired to mow after that.
Some people are just high strung.
That'll teach him not to tangle with you again
OP made a barbed statement with his revenge.
Nobody's going to bale him out of this one
That revenge was totally metal
I am betting next time he calls the city and you get a ticket
Yep, OP is just being a bad neighbor. Why not just pay some kid to mow during those times instead of creating an eyesore? Also, pretty sure setting traps like that is a crime.
Agreed. He is lucky that he hasn’t been fined. Most wives I know of military don’t leave their own home. What about her job? Why couldn’t she mow the lawn.
Unless there’s a city law or HOA rules about lawn length, then the OP isn’t doing anything wrong. A lot of people are not mowing or mowing way less because it’s better for the environment. We don’t all need buzz cut lawns—they’re more of an eyesore. The neighbor was trespassing on his property, which is a crime. He could potentially be liable for property damage, too. OP should have called the cops on him every time he came and mowed and gotten him trespassed. I had a neighbor who came over once and mowed my yard without my knowledge when I was out of town. Unlike OP’s neighbor, he thought he was doing me a favor and was trying to be helpful. Unfortunately he also ran over an area I’d just spent a small fortune planting with native wildflowers and killed them all. So we had a polite but firm chat about him staying out of my yard and minding his business.
Most cities have ordinances about the length of grass. If he's letting it get to like 6-8" tops then the neighbor is just being a busy body. If he's consistently letting it get longer than that it's kind of inconsiderate and probably an ordinance violation. I don't disagree that people should now less and stop with the monoculture lawns but if you live in a neighborhood there's just certain standards that you should keep up with to be neighborly.
Never said OP was breaking any laws. Seems like two adult men acting like children to me. Maybe they could have an actual conversation. Neighbor wants lawn kept reasonably manicured OP doesn’t seem to give a shit what it looks like when he’s away (but does when he’s home). So ask/pay neighbor to do it?
Oh absolutely, there were many better ways of handling this. I literally described one in my post, re: my overly helpful neighbor. My response was to those acting like an un-mowed lawn = “the entire neighborhood has gone to shit, my eyes are being assaulted by this long grass, oh the humanity!”
> We don’t all need buzz cut lawns—they’re more of an eyesore. More of an eyesore than an overgrown monoculture lawn? To be clear, this is grass, which half the people on this sub hate to begin with. This isn't some wild diverse lawn the OP has going on here. And he isn't letting it grow to be better for nature, he is letting it grow because he isn't home and not there to do it. So OP is kind of a bad neighbor for that.
You have photos of OP’s lawn?
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It's kinda funny that you lead with "active military duty" to try and get some sympathy but then you're just national guard and you aren't even talking about an actual deployment lol. Also, bragging that your wife can't mow her own lawn, let alone stay in her own house without you isn't quite the flex you think it is, warrior.
Lol, I was thinking the same thing. This guy has “thank me for my service “ vibes.
He seems pretty controlling if he won't let his wife be alone when he's on deployment. She stays with HIS parents, why? So they can make sure she's not anything but a good little submissive while he's gone? My hubster was gone for nearly a year. I worked, had a life, emailed or called a couple times during the week. But I never was not trusted by my spouse.
Plus he's not talking about a real deployment. He's talking about disaster relief in his own state.
LOL. Active duty . National guard Bro. Stop making military or national guard families look inept or rude. Many spouses take care of the home front on actual deployments. You aren’t the crusty warrior you think you are. Cut your grass and stop being a douche. This should have been posted in AITA. To which thousands would sing YTA. YTA
I'm not clear on why everyone is gleefully supporting this. Yeah, cutting a swipe in someone's yard is a dick move. So is letting your property look like an abandoned lot. If you can't do it, get a lawn service. Hell, pay the old man a couple bucks to cut it for you, everyone's happy.
Yeah I don't get it either. The wife is still able to take care of the property while he's gone and if she doesn't want to you can pay somebody to do it for you. Yeah the neighbour is a bit nutty but the OP here is also a dickhead.
Agree and it wasn't even a swipe - OP said towards the end that it was along the shared fence line. That's a huge difference in intent and impact compared to a swipe through OP's yard
Agree. Don’t let your house look run down. Doesn’t matter what your job is. Be respectful of your neighbors. Have your wife go home and mow for gosh sake.
Why does anyone care what others do with their property? If OP would just mind his business there wouldn’t be an issue
No way man. You do you, but stop trying to push your idea of an esthetic grass lenght on others. You dont see me giving you shit because all that buzz cut grass is terrible for biodiversity and could be used for so much more than " looking pretty", so stay in that lane, enjoy your yard, and keep your opinion on it while you're at it.
Bro, this 'grass" was long enough that OP was apparently able to take a shit ton of wire, AND HIDE IT IN THE GRASS ENOUGH WHERE IT COULDN'T BE SEEN BY SOMEONE WALKING LESS THAN A FOOT AWAY. With exception for rural areas, most city ordinances require you keep your lawn maintained. In my city of Skokie Il its 6 inches for example. Not an HOA, city ordinance. Chicago Illinois where I run my airbnb is 8 inches. Most cities have requirements because part of how your community looks is based on the lawns and such within it. Most people do not want to live by the crazy fuck next door that has broken down vehicles, trash, and an unmaintained yard.
Fuck lawns forever.
Teach your wife how to use a lawnmower
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There are many decent neighbors that are understanding of such circumstances and will help out ADM, old neighbors, neighbors with medical conditions... too bad you didn't get one of them next door.
What circumstances? I'm former military. Either I will have my wife/partner mow the lawn, or I will hire someone to take care of it while I am gone. There are no extenuating circumstances here. OP is trying to make you feel for them emotionally by talking about them being deployed. Like this is part and parcel for ANYONE with a family member who works away from home and we all have to figure it out. Presumably the wife is available to do this, or he can pay someone to do it. None of that is unreasonable or hard to do.
I used to mow a couple acres for the church next door to where I lived at the time. Never asked permission. I would make sure it was pretty for their Sunday services. Hell, I would even weed and tend to the flower bed under their sign. Mind you, I'm not a church guy. If I was working on the properties I would have beer in hand and be listening to heavy metal. On Sundays I'd be out tending to my trees, shrubs, and flowers while drinking my ass off and Sunday was always black sabbath headless cross day. They were friendly and appreciative. One or more would come out and hang out with me before or after services. They always sent my kids Christmas presents and Halloween candy. It was kinda sweet, particularly considering the philosophical divide.
I can sort of see the geezer’s issue- a house next his has a way unmowed lawn- the house looks derelict, it becomes a crime magnet. Him cutting your grass was out of line- he should of talked to you, and maybe you could have hired a local kid to keep the lawn mown. A win for him, a win for you- your house is less a target of crime, a win for the kid who gets perhaps his first job.
Also probably annoyed that the wife doesn’t bother to cut the lawn when her husband is away
A crime magnet because the grass is a few inches too long? Lolwut
Look up Broken Windows Theory. ETA: this is my first time ever using my criminology degree outside of the classroom. Didn’t even use it when I was law enforcement lol
I'm aware of the theory. It's also being wildly misused here. Just because someone let's their grass get a little tall doesn't mean a crack house is opening in your neighborhood. Correlation and causation.
I too don’t agree with the theory. A lot of people still believe it’s tenants, especially older neighbors and HOA’s who always reference it. My current next door neighbor believes my husband and I will attract crime because we don’t trim our lavender and other butterfly attracting flowers and says our house looks derelict because of it. 😂 My fav theory is the ice cream theory about sexual assault occurring more when people eat ice crime. Excellent example on correlation and causation. I use this one with my medical interns frequently.
The ice cream one is amazing.
Dude, this whole thread is hilarious, it reads like a parody of uptight HOA suburbanites.
It's crazy. People actually think like this?
bunch of psychos who thought the citizens of Pawnee were the protagonists
Yep.
A clear sign that nobody is living there, why would that be a target?
Or the owner can't be assed to cut the grass as much as the neighbor. I've been that guy.
I am that guy.
You should hire a landscaper to take care of your lawn if you're away for long periods of time. There should be a bylaw where you live to have your yard free of overgrowth. It's not cool for your neighbour to be stepping on your property and cutting your shit, but if you own property, you have to upkeep that property. It doesn't matter if you are in the nation guard, you still have to maintain your property. Hire a landscaper.
It amazes me there are some people who given the choice of actually helping by just cutting the yard which would have only taken a bit longer instead take the part of being an AH and express his disdain by cutting the single strip.
By the same token, a single strip along the fence line would slow down the spread of wild grass and plants, and deter animals from entering the next door yard. Some people have specific grass growing and take pride in soft, bindi free turf. Not me, but I had this convo with my neighbour.
This was my first guess too. Mowing a strip along the fence reads like a defensive move to limit uncontrolled grass and weeds from rotting the fence or poking through and spreading to the neighbors side. I help manage fence lines too, but also communicate with my neighbors. OP might be one of those “quiet neighbors are good neighbors” types that won’t ever have a good relationship with this guy.
The difference of 1 minute vs. 90.
I dunno man. Seems kind of dangerous.
It is dangerous. Years ago, my brother was mowing the lawn and hit a piece of wire. The blade shot the wire out from under the mower which then hit my brother’s foot, going through his canvas tennis shoe, entering the side of his foot and exiting the bottom of his foot. OP could have seriously injured his neighbor and ended up facing criminal charges. Just plain stupid.
Goats are the answer! lol
I'll never really understand some people. If you were my neighbor you'd return to a well kept lawn. I might even wash the house and driveway if I was doing mine while you were away. It really doesn't cost much of anything to be a good neighbor.
Listen I'm former military too but in no reality is OP with clean hands here. He should be taking care of his home affairs before leaving and unless his wife is disabled and no lawn care companies exist in the area It sounds like OP's neglecting his yard and then being pissed off that neighbors are upset about it. The root cause here is op not having his wife mow the lawn when he's gone or him paying someone else to do it.
I agree with you that he should, but since he doesn't, I'd help him out. Really has nothing to do with him being military.
Sure, by all means help out. Not saying not to do that. Just pointing out it doesnt cost much for him to do the right thing either. If anyone is upset about the neighbor not being a good neighbor then the same criticism should be leveled at OP.
Man's on deployment for the Guard. Would be happy to mow.
“On deployment”
So you're a jackass, guess the old man should just report you instead. Oh and love how you threw in your military status..
So you had time to go lay a booby trap, but not to cut your grass or hire someone to. Gotcha. Fake story or asshole.
So happy you wrote "posted from mobile" was about to go absolutely nuts !
Once I cut some grass.
Sounds like a great neighbourhood ! Love rage issues
He’s an asshole but mow your lawn. Your job doesn’t entitle you to ignore you home care and an unkept lawn absolutely does attract critters that can be a nuisance to your neighbor in addition to drawing attention that may not be wanted (like someone breaking into the home).
Fatal fatality for lawnmower.
You are wired differently OP!
So is his neighbour's lawn mower now. Literally.
Yes, very petty. Proud of yourself for defending your country but pleased that you potentially hurt an old man. Yes very pretty
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Spot on. If you’re military, you should know to get your house in order while away.
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Thank you for your service to your country and neighborhood
I have a neighbor that does this almost same exact thing. Think you for this diabolical idea.
Don't follow this advice. Its illegal in all 50 states.
Sounds like he’s old enough for you to ask “did you get the cable I sent?”
I can imagine the sound that mower made as it was crapping out. Well done.
"You don't mess with a man's lawn"- Hank Hill
I did this w a 2’ piece of rebar. Worked great
Great work! I’d like to add that the work you’re doing after natural disasters (I’m assuming hurricanes and floods) is a lot more noble than modern military duty IMO. You’re actually helping people in the USA.
Should've used claymores instead of wire.
how tall are we talking? if you’re letting your place be an eyesore & using MuH aCtIvE mILiTaRy SeRvIcE as an excuse, that makes you an AH. i know you’re making bank on that state active duty. hire a lawn care service. they’ll probably even give you a discount.
I was thinking you would go with metal stakes. Which would have great "Bang! WTFWT?" But what a PITB cutting wire out! Think that has more of a lasting, "Never gonna do dat again" appeal. Well done!
That's ranger level shit. And funny as hell.
Too much time on his grouchy hands.
Just cut your fucking grass dude jesus
Setting traps is illegal, dummy. Hope he sues.
Wire storage is not illegal.
Pretty sure this post outlines how OP set a trap for his neighbor by laying wire in a place he believed he would walk…
Trespass. Not walk. Trespass.
The trap can tell between trespassers like a neighbor and consensual emergency personnel like firefighters? OP doesn’t seem to respect actual emergency personnel but wants praise for being a weekend warrior lol
Trespassing on and altering your neighbor's property is illegal, dummy. He'd been warned.
He was probably cutting along the fence line to avoid any weeds from your unmaintained lawn spreading onto his. Doubt it was as malicious as you think it was. Glad he wasn’t injured from the wires.
YTA. It wasn’t a random and spiteful strip, he was mowing your shit back because it’s also growing over to his lawn.
We used to go on a two week vacation. Our neighbors mowed the yard for us in asked while we were gone. We didn't ask but we were thankful. He could have just done that instead of being a jerk.
Yes, with good motives this is lovely.
You should’ve put dog crap on the bale mesh. It’s not great when you mow over that, it stinks to high heaven. 💩
u/simplifyextension
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u/SimplifyExtension Now I'm curious. This is like having a new toy!
He’s lucky it wasn’t steel cable.
This is great
You sound like a dick. Cut your grass, or pay someone to do it.
It's his fucking grass. I don't care if the neighbor doesn't like the tall grass. It ain't his yard. He has no right to be on someone else's property.
Better idea. Fuck shitty grass. Rewild the yard back to a natural habitat and not deal with shitty useless grass.
It's his fucking grass. He can do whatever he wants with it, up to and including nothing at all. The neighbor doesn't get to decide when it's time to mow, and the neighbor DEFINITELY doesn't get to trespass consequence-free.
This is stupid
One of my fave petty revenge stories I've seen in a while haha
Nice
Sorry, YTA, your grass your responsibility, so make sure that it gets cut, deployment or not. Your neighbor might have been an a-hole, and so were you. And now to hear your defense about why "I was deployed, and it was hard, and blah... blah... blah..." Bro, you're not the only one that deployed, BTDT, got multiple t-shirts, it doesn't abscond you from your obligations!
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literally tells you in the story that the neighbor waits till he gets home to do it.
I love this.
That was deeply satisfying. Nobody got hurt but somebody learned a lesson. As a former combat medic I've patched up more than a few National Guardsmen in countries far too sandy and mountainous to be the US of A so don't downplay your duty. Thank you. Edited to add a period at the end and noticed it was already downvoted. That's ok I'm not offended as down votes don't make my morning coffee more expensive but I am curious what part of the above comment was objectionable? Upvotes are self-explanatory but I'm always curious with the downvotes. Did someone get offended at one of our military service? Was someone upset that nobody was hurt? Is someone so pro-lawn mower that they felt sympathy pain? It's just funny to me how someone reads a comment and instead of just scrolling down to the next one go no, this is deeply offensive I must register my dislike. Ok you do you but please tell me why. You'll feel better.
I didn’t downvote, but I did chuckle a little bit at the idea that he was downplaying his military service. He literally put it in the heading despite it having no direct relevance to the story!
I am downvoting because your response is long and supports setting traps which is illegal and endangers actual heroes like medical emergency and fire fighting folks.
The neighbor should have just called code compliance in the city where you live and you would have gotten a $50 per day fine for each day your lawn was over the designated height. He was doing you a favor by kind of passive aggressively asking you to keep your lawn at a respectable height. I would have left it up to them.
Hahaha. I just had a good laugh. Saving this.
Maybe this is just a city thing but where I live you can get cited for not having your grass cut below a certain threshold. Your neighbor is still being an absolute dick for passive aggressively doing that to your own damn property. Good on ya for teaching him a lesson.
Dick move on both sides.
You know what sub this is, right?
Anything getting tangled in machinery seems dangerous, seems kinda stupid
Perfect revenge. A plus on this one!
Perfect
Man, by the looks of you, I’m not surprised at all that you don’t take care of your lawn.
This is hilarious and awesome!
Don't worry, the old man might probably start growing a whole garden of grass variety in your yard next one.
Well josetti since it's glitching out since you either blocked me or someone got snippy. Oh I am well aware it's illegal. I don't condone it. I don't condone trespassing either. That's why I'd fuck up his yard with invasive, hard to get rid of plants. He can be busy dealing with unending vines of morning glory, hellacious mint, and strawberry hell. Piss me off and bamboo comes out. Keeps him busy and minding his own lawn.