How do you get a neighbor to take care of their lawn?

Question

I have a neighbor who is not watering his lawn. It is dying and will soon be a yard of weeds. I have sent 2 polite anonymous letters asking that they take care of the lawn out of respect for the neighborhood. But to date the lawn is still not being watered or mowed. Any suggestions on how to get this inconsiderate neighbor to take care of his lawn.

Answer 1

why not ask him if you can do it..

be subtle though

say something like , i was just mowing my lawn and saw yours needed a cut , since i got this out i might as well do it

and.. are you sure someone lives there

cuz that plays a big part in it

Answer 2

Did you ever wonder if maybe they have more important things than making sure their lawn looks amazing?  

However, if you insist, you could offer to do it for them.  If you're unwilling to do even that, then it's not a really good etiquette to harrass a nieghbor about their grass.  The only other option would be if their grass is higher than city ordinance allows.  In which case, you could report them.  Other than that, a yellow lawn with weeds is not against the law.

Answer 3

report them, if their lawn is that bad, Im sure you can report it and they'll get fines if they dont. Pls answer mine.Tks!

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Answer 4

His turf is as good as he wants it to be. Try not to be a busy body. Keep watering and mowing your own lawn as usual; he may one day feel guilty to see his lawn is not getting his due attention.

Answer 5

Maybe he is short on funds to water the yard or could be he is sick..Maybe by talking to him in person you can help..Say I noticed your yard is looking a bit ragged is there anything I can do to help..Once a nieghbor of mine was short of money and sick..So we watered her yard and mowed it till she was back on her feet.

Answer 6

You could stop acting like an ***@#$% and realize not everyone wants to waste money on something that would otherwise not exist in the wild. Your neighbor is saving resources while you unnecessarily deplete OURS. A better idea though, would be for you and all of your neighbors to xeriscape your yard- it looks awesome, and demands very little watering. Done and done.

Answer 7

sorry but its his lawn...if he wants brown grass its his choice..unless you live in a community that has guidelines for that stuff you cant do anything...

if you live in a community that has rules about that then you can turn them in..if not...theres nothing you can do..

Answer 8

Have you inquired as to why they aren't taking care of their lawn?  Are they sick or physically unable to do so?  If  that's the case, why don't you offer to help them out.  If they're just neglecting it because they don't care, then that will more than likely continue.  You can check your town's ordinances on the care of property.  Some towns mandate that the property be well maintained.

Answer 9

If it's not your property, it's not your business. You have tried to get him to take care of his lawn and he didn't respond. If you continue to bother him, it could be seen as harrassment. Too bad the lawn looks gross, but it's his problem, not yours. As long as he isn't trashing YOUR property, stay out of it.

Answer 10

I live in a development headed by a homeowners' association - part of our covenants state that our yards must be weed-free and mowed, but if we elect not to water that is our business.  Watering a lawn is seen by many as a dreadful use of a natural resource, and our HOA does not dictate that we must do that.  We cannot, however, just let the lawn areas go to h**l.  If you live in a development like this you can appeal to the HOA.

If you don't, then you are stuck with it unless you have local ordinances that state how a person's yard must be kept.  Usually there are laws about garbage or junk, but weeds are generally perfectly legal.  There's a guy who lives two streets over from me who chooses to keep his front yard as a carpet of dandelions.  I'm sure his neighbors hate that, but there's not much that can be done about it.

The only other option is to deal with it yourself if it means that much to you.  I have a friend who is trying to sell his home and is faced with the same type of neighbor who won't keep his lawn mowed.  He knows that this does reflect badly on his property's curb appeal, so he went over to the neighbor and said, "I'm trying to sell my place, so I want the front to look good.  You don't mind if I mow your grass, do you?"  He mowed it once, and after that, the guy got the hint and kept it up.

Answer 11

Check with your city or county ordinance about residence responsibilities-house, lawn, trash- and if needed report  them to the "preservation" department of that area.

I live in the  St. Louis county and we have ordinances how long are grass can be, leaving trash around, upkeep on house etc. Do you live in a subdivision? They may have rules to follow.