Would YOU be offended if your neighbor mowed your lawn?

[disneymom3]

He was my class president! We went to their DD's wedding three weeks ago. The only complaint I have as that they didn't make their DD marry my DS#2.
Now, I just want to know one thing after all of this; HOW MUCH WEIGHT DID I LOOSE!

Oh in that case then no big deal at all! I am sure they will be happy you did it. About the note--my sis and I lived alone a few summers as my parents were in MN and we stayed in CA. We both hated mowing the lawn and actually our nephew was supposed to do it. (We paid him.) He was not very reliable however and our lawn would get pretty darn long at times. One day, I came home from work and half of our front lawn was mowed. Only half. My sister thought that some neighbor thought we were disgracing the neighborhood, I thought that someone or other was doing us a favor. I asked all of my friends if they knew who did it. No one claimed to know. We asked a few neighbors we knew well and they didn't know either. TWO years later we found out that it was indeed a friend of mine who was going to do it as a favor and then decided that only doing half of it would make a great practical joke!

 

[JoyG]

I have to wonder if a neighbor had such a "type A" personality about his lawn, how he allowed it to get long enough that someone else wants to mow it in the first place.

I sent DH over to our neighbors house at the beginning of the summer b/c their grass had grown so long it started to turn to seed at the tops. He mowed the front lawn b/c we were tired of looking at it.

He got a thumbs up sign from the neighbor on the other side of the offending yard as he was mowing.

Turns out the owners of the offending yard had moved but not put the house up for sale yet. Apparently a landscaping company was supposed to be taking care of it, but there was a communication glitch.

Edited to add: I would have NO problems with someone doing our yard. I might feel a little like 'oh snap, it must have really been bad if they had to do it' but I wouldn't be offended. When we first bought our house there was an elderly man next door who would get out there in the winter with his snowblower and do our sidewalk for us when he did his. He was so kind.

 

[Database]

Glad that you did it! Burglars sometimes use an un-mown lawn as an indicator that occupants are on vacation.

We would have as well. My neighborhood is soooo cool. Can't tell ya how much we love it. We're always looking out for each other.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

no - I think it is great, especially since you know each other well enough! In our present neighborhood a bunch of us do this - and also snowplow the driveways for each other, sometimes just because.

our old neighborhood was a different story: our neighbors were gone on a 2 week ski trip and the snow was really piling up. We knew they had a son in the area, but he just wasn't showing up. It was getting to be a security issue because it was clear no one had been around for some time. We went ahead and did it - they came back and acted a little put off. They must have re-thought it because 2 weeks later they came over with a bottle of wine!

 

[nhpooh]

Glad that you did it! Burglars sometimes use an un-mown lawn as an indicator that occupants are on vacation.

One of our neighbors hardly ever mow there lawn, and they never go away. The burglars really wouldn't want to go in there yard, you never know what's in there.

 

[irishbosoxfan]

This reminds me of myself last week. I live on a military post and we have a "landscaping company"rotfl2: ) Well because last week was the holiday they took it off---The week before our neighbors had decided to plant a garden out front and tore up all along their walkway,tossing the grass clumps onto the lawn(we share a front lawn) and leaving the old pavers all over the grass

I went out and stacked the pavers,picked up each and every clump of now dead grass,mowed the entire front,put down grass seed in all the dead spots we now had and covered them with grass clippings and watered it.

As I was tying off the bags of clippings,the husband came out,looked at the lawn,looked at me then got in his car and drove away with out so much as nodding at me to acknowledge what I had just spent hours doing.

People like him piss me off---they are disgusting as neighbors go.

I have a garden in my back yard and I can't even smell the flowers I took my time planting because they have 2 dogs and can't be bothered to clean up the poop.

Oh and get this...they have a little DD who they bought a pool for but because of the condition of their yard she can't go in it unless they put it on my section of the yard--I didn't say anything but when they just left it there when she was done to kill my grass underneath I dumped it and put it on their porch--Thankfully they haven't done it since.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Thank you card--Heck! I'd bake 'em a cake!!

Our next door neighbors own a landscaping business and the husband started mowing our yard for us last summer. It's a small yard, takes maybe 15 minutes to mow. He would never accept payment.

The first time he did it he would not accept any kind of payment. I couldn't NOT do anything, so I made them a pan of homemade brownies. He returned my pan a few days later and told me he would keep mowing our yard if I kept refilling the pan

They have 4 kids and they love me, LOL!

 

[DawnCt1]

I have to wonder if a neighbor had such a "type A" personality about his lawn, how he allowed it to get long enough that someone else wants to mow it in the first place.

.

I have to say, it isn't long enough for "most" people to feel it needs to be mowed. Its long enough for him to think it needs to be mowed. I think his DS just came home, its almost dark. I will bet he sent him home from vacation to mow the lawn.

 

[byoung]

When my neighbor used his snow blower on my sidewalk I loved it.

 

[PatsGirl]

It's hard to believe that there are people out there that would be upset about this. Come on people, it's grass, it'll grow back

My neighbors and I often talk about the lack of "neighborliness" these days. I was brought up to help out wherever needed. For many years my neighbor next door mowed my lawn, changed my outdoor light bulbs, and did odd things around the yard when he could see I was having a hard time getting to it. I think he hated that I was a single Mom trying to do the inside/outside of my home all by myself. I never took advantage of him but I was sure glad that he thought my lawn needed to be cut about a day before I planned to do it We got a laugh out of this each time it happened. For some reason they always seemed to notice when one of the side outdoor lights were out before I did and changed them sometimes without my even knowing it. Once when some kids took out our mailboxes (with a bat we think) he kindly replaced mine when he did his that same day. Of course I insisted on paying but the labor itself was worth every penny! I could go on and on about the thoughtful things he did. Sure, there were occasions that I felt he and his wife may have crossed the imaginary line but I told myself that I was very lucky to have them and needed to "not sweat the little things".

My sweet neighbor passed away nearly two years ago and now his wife, early 90s, is by herself. We are finally able to pay her back. When we get snow, my kids and I always make sure we do her walk so she can get out. She doesn't drive when it's raining or dark (probably shouldn't at all but...) so I always call before going to run errands to see if she needs anything. She also keeps close to home so there's been times that I've taken her to appointments, etc. My son mows her lawn for her whenever it appears to be needed (she has other neighbors who sometimes beat us to the punch). Often all she needs is an ear Does it get tiring sometimes? Yes, but she's lonely and you know what....

I couldn't have asked for better neighbors for the past 25 years!

Now, don't get me started about the neighbor on the other side -- of course he's around my age and can't get out of his own way never mind helping anyone else -- and grumpy to boot

 

[DLBDS]

DH would be irked only if they scalped our yard. My husband is very particular about the height of the blades...4" (I think). There really isn't a chance that anyone would mow our yard anyway. We don't call it 'the park' for nothing.

 

[Muushka]

Thank you OP for starting this thread!!! Because it gives me the opportunity to brag about my neighbors, who are angels.

My husband has ruptured his Achilles tendon (ouch). For the past 4 months while he has been in a cast and boot, they have mowed our side yard, which is a bear to mow. It is the area that is closest to theirs, so they claim it is no big deal. But I have mowed that area, it is a big deal.

Each week I would bring over some sort of treat, either dinner or fruit or some such goodie. She finally said STOP! IT IS NO BIG DEAL!!! But I think she knows how much we appreciate this. I mow the rest of the yard (which is easy) and my poor husband has to sit and watch. It is killing him.

 

[4greatboys]

No, we would be thrilled.

 

[lillygator]

I would have to say yes...simply because we don't know any of our neighbors too well and our yard is filled with pineapples, frangi pani's, orchids, birds of paradise, etc not to mention a few nests of bunnies...and some people are not careful mowing around things.

When I first met DH, his dad would come and mow for him as he was working a lot. His dad would hit plants breaking off branches, etc and it drove DH crazy!

 

[imsorry]

Yeah, I'd be offended.

I'd also think they were people with WAY too much time on their hands.

Because they are trying to be neighborly? Judge much?

 

[Database]

It's hard to believe that there are people out there that would be upset about this. Come on people, it's grass, it'll grow back

My neighbors and I often talk about the lack of "neighborliness" these days. I was brought up to help out wherever needed. For many years my neighbor next door mowed my lawn, changed my outdoor light bulbs, and did odd things around the yard when he could see I was having a hard time getting to it. I think he hated that I was a single Mom trying to do the inside/outside of my home all by myself. I never took advantage of him but I was sure glad that he thought my lawn needed to be cut about a day before I planned to do it We got a laugh out of this each time it happened. For some reason they always seemed to notice when one of the side outdoor lights were out before I did and changed them sometimes without my even knowing it. Once when some kids took out our mailboxes (with a bat we think) he kindly replaced mine when he did his that same day. Of course I insisted on paying but the labor itself was worth every penny! I could go on and on about the thoughtful things he did. Sure, there were occasions that I felt he and his wife may have crossed the imaginary line but I told myself that I was very lucky to have them and needed to "not sweat the little things".

My sweet neighbor passed away nearly two years ago and now his wife, early 90s, is by herself. We are finally able to pay her back. When we get snow, my kids and I always make sure we do her walk so she can get out. She doesn't drive when it's raining or dark (probably shouldn't at all but...) so I always call before going to run errands to see if she needs anything. She also keeps close to home so there's been times that I've taken her to appointments, etc. My son mows her lawn for her whenever it appears to be needed (she has other neighbors who sometimes beat us to the punch). Often all she needs is an ear Does it get tiring sometimes? Yes, but she's lonely and you know what....

I couldn't have asked for better neighbors for the past 25 years!

Now, don't get me started about the neighbor on the other side -- of course he's around my age and can't get out of his own way never mind helping anyone else -- and grumpy to boot

Whew. That is a sweet and touching story.

 

[Golf4food]

If somebody wanted to mow my lawn I would kiss their feet. If I could afford it we'd have a lawn service do all of it.

 

[Toot Sweet]

Nope! Our neighbors just mowed ours and we were grateful!

 

[Chattyaholic]

If we were on vacation or DH had surgery, or we had some tragedy to deal with like a death in the family or something then no, I would not be offended if a neighbor mowed our lawn. But if they did it repeatedly, or just thought it was "too long" so mowed it because of that then I wouldn't like it.

Our DS lives next door to us with his family, rents the house from my FIL. Occasionally their lawn has gotten rather long, and FIL will take it upon himself to mow it just for that reason. I don't think it's any of his business how long the lawn gets, when the house is rented and he receives his rent on time. Same with his other rental house. If he thinks the grass gets too long over there, he will mow there too. I wouldn't like it if I lived there.

 

[TnTsParty]

Dawn - in your case I think it will be fine with your neighbors that you did that and very neighborly if I might say. In our case it wouldn't be ok - see our neighbors on the one side do cut into our part of the grass when he cuts his (even though my DH has just cut ours!!!) thankfully its only a small section on the side of our yard. Also his mower blades are set WAY to low (since he hardly ever mows anyway!!) and it scalps the grass. Also here you have to be careful not to transfer bugs from one yard to the next so my DH doesn't like anyone but him with is mower cutting the grass.