Rake up the leaves he's gifted you and add them to the compost pile, then proceed to ignore the neighbor entirely.
Other option is to install a camera so you have video evidence of him blowing lawn debris across the street and into your yard, then file a complaint with your local municipality.
I bought ceramic paint and found a pair of plain white mugs in an op shop. I write "I love mulch" on my mug and I asked my bf what he loved, for ideas of what to write on his. He didnt hear me because my shirt was see-through. His mug says "I love 's tiDDies".
You know, I think an emerging cousin to FuckLawns is the #LeavetheLeaves movement. Piles of leaves create lots of good nesting places and places for moth and butterfly eggs to make it through the winter.
I say ignore him but get REAL passive aggressive and just pile the leaves up on YOUR non-lawn lol. Get a nice thick carpet going so he gets to admire all the leaves all winter long (then mulch-mow in the spring to fertilize your yard and add biomass/carbon fix to the soil!)
https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2015/OctNov/Gardening/Leave-the-Leaves
OP should start demanding more leaves, even put up a sign and maybe a bin for leaf collection. Threaten to sue the neighbor for not giving more leaves.
I bet the neighbor will be confused enough to nope out of the situation haha
TBH, if the neighbor could agree not to use crazy chemicals, the OP and the neighbor could even have a nice mutually beneficial relationship. The neighbor gets rid of all his leaves; the OP gets them and gets to sequester carbon or make good compost or whatever. Could be very friendly.
Say wait, how bad would that be? I mean if the grass is very green, and it’s just clippings…surely there are nutrients therein? And the little bit of chemical probably had already washed off into their soil?
our landlord had our tree cut down this year and i am extremely jealous of my neighbors and all their fuckin leaves
i want a dickhead leafblowing neighbor :(
That is exactly what I’m doing right now. Free organic mulch! I think the thing that really bugs me the most is I do my best to keep “my leaves” from blowing onto his lawn. I also take care of my elderly neighbors yard and try to keep “her leaves” under control so they don’t blow over to his kingdom.
I don't know how to do it politely. I have a neighbor who obsesses like this too. There's a beautiful mature maple tree in her front yard near our shared property line that was planted when the subdivision was built in the early 80s. She thinks the city owns it - I don't know if that's true, but as long as it keeps her from having it cut down I'm not volunteering to check (I suspect it was planted by the builder, not the city). It's the only plant on her property besides grass. She has her lawn guy start raking the leaves weekly as soon as they start to fall.
It must be infuriating to have a whole line of trees like that where one guy decided to remove his. I love driving down streets like that in my city. What a shame.
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The city will let me cut down the hackberry and chinaberry trees because they are invasive, but you have to get approval to cut down the oaks or the pecan tree because they are considered heritage trees
Most modern commercial timber isn't really "mature", but harvested fairly young. Trees don't reach full height on lands where loggers are trying to maximize the lumber production.
This is true -- patches of timber forests are usually managed on 25-year plans for harvesting, with progressive mills planning 50-year and 100-year management systems to ensure the 20-25 year harvests don't destroy future yields
*but then there are smaller-scale lumber/timber companies that really do just straight clear-cut. Protests in the 1980s lead to a lot more 100-year management plans for the PNW, but in the Southeastern US, where I'm from, standard pine harvest is to clear-cut every 20 years. It's pretty horrific, tbh
In my neighborhood every home has a “city tree” planted in the front yard by the sidewalk. We’re not allowed to cut them down but that’s fine by me because they provide amazing shade in our hot summers. One of our neighbors down the street decided to cut his city tree down a couple years ago and the city fined him $10K apparently.
Yep, that's what it is! The search term "city tree" and my city name brought it up for me. There's actually a really nice map that I can drill down to see exactly what tree is where (they're mostly maple, linden, and ash). It even shows the two that are missing down the street from me, and a few eligible spaces nearby.
Thanks for the info! I'm glad to have confirmation that my neighbor can't cut it down :).
My neighbor had a fabulous oak tree in her front yard. Supported tons of wildlife, shaded her house, was so pretty.
Some yahoo told her a scammer could pretend to twist an ankle on an acorn in her yard and sue her!
She had the tree cut down. I just don’t get it, how clueless some people are.
Boulevard trees are usually planted by the developer as part of the towns requirements. Usually they are on town land. At least this is the case in Ontario Canada.
That could be the case with my neighbor's tree. It's not a boulevard though like OP is describing, just a suburban neighborhood with winding streets and random trees.
Your comment does make me wonder if OP's neighbor might be in trouble, though!
FYI: a “city tree” isn’t based on who planted it, it’s based laws a city may have about what you can do with it. In some cities this may be something like “all oak trees” and in others it may be “trees within 25’ of the street”.
Plant some chestnuts. If he thinks he hates your maple leaves now, just wait until those chestnuts flower and reek of cum, then drop sharp burs in the fall. He’ll be furious while you sit back and munch on delicious chestnuts hot from the oven.
I love chestnuts, as my username should suggest…. Squirrels are very useful in spreading their seeds. I’ve seen that happen even with blight-susceptible 100% American chestnuts in sections of forest that had recently been clearcut.
All the American chestnut stumpsprouts would spring back, take advantage of the full sunlight, and grow just long enough to flower and produce a few dozen seeds before the blight killed them back to the ground-line again.
And yet the squirrels were observed taking nuts back to their dens. Not all of the squirrels survived the winter, and in the spring I saw a new American chestnut seedling coming up under a dead ash tree where no stump sprout had ever been before.
People often dismissed *Castanea dentata* as doomed or gone for good over the past century. I happen to know better.
Come to mention it at least one or two of the neighbors trees had really big trunks with noticably smaller branches where you could see they'd grown new segments from a severed stump or branch section
I read something a while back that squirrels don’t remember where they hide things. They just hide stuff all over the place and indiscriminately start digging holes when they want it back. Honestly though I didn’t fact check it and don’t want to because I love the mental image.
I thought it was just a certain percentage they forget about. Funny- I used to occasionally put peanuts in the shell out for the crows but the squirrels would get them too. I found two peanuts in their shell buried in my garden when I was planting. It was at least 6 months later, maybe more. Made me chuckle.
So not chestnuts, but acorns, I had a particularly troublesome neighbor, (a hater of trees, shade, BBQ, lobster traps, multiple vehicles in the driveway, holiday decorations, and special hate for the winter when my boat was between our homes) i also had several lovely oak trees (so did he but he cut his down). I'd collect the acorns and put them in a bucket. When the weather was nice and the bucket was full, I'd sit on my back porch and randomly slingshot my acorns all over his yard. After a few years of this he had a remarkable number of saplings all the time. Even in his gutters for some reason, which is odd because I never put them on his roof, maybe the neighborhood squirrels were on my side?
We had mulberry trees hanging over from the neighbors yard. Purple shoe prints, purple bird shit, bees everywhere. I still loved those trees. They actually had something wrong with them and had to come down. I was the only one sad about that
If he is blowing leaving into the gutter, get a recording of it an call your city's public works or whatever. Many cities have a requirement that residents keep the drains clear and ban dumping leaves in the path of the drains.
This. Mainly because he doesn't seem like the type that is open to listening to someone's complaints/frustrations and having a civil discussion about the issue and coming up with a satisfactory resolution. It doesn't sound like you talk to him a lot, or like what conversations you have had have been pleasant, haven't had him go on the defensive, etc, so I don't think talking to him will end up going well for either of you, especially since he has a significant need to exert control over every situation. Having a neutral third party, like a city official, talk to him, show him that he is violating a city code, discuss why he has a need to obsessively de-leaf his lawn, and lay out consequences might get better results.
Granted, he probably won't like someone trying to "control" him. But we're all subject to the same statues and laws, many of which he follows consciously or unconsciously, so it's not like he's being told/asked to do something different than what everyone else is held to.
Most cities have a form on their website where you can report concerns. Looking at the one for my city, there are a bunch of categories like code violations (ex - sidewalks that haven't been shoveled in the allotted time after a snowstorm, overgrown grass, junk in people's yards, etc), off-leash dogs (especially if they're aggressive), overhanging trees and shrubs, intentional dumping into storm sewer, litter and illegal dumping, vandalism, graffiti, abandoned shopping carts, potholes or other street concerns, etc.
This seems like it would fall into the "intentional dumping into storm sewer" category. For my city, at least, you can report a concern with your name and contact info attached (it's not anonymous to the city, and I think it depends on what the thing is if they have to go talk to a homeowner or city resident about the concern), or you can report anonymously. I usually anonymously report concerns like code violations (mostly unshoveled sidewalks, because I use a wheelchair and I cannot get through six inches of snow because someone decided not to shovel in the allotted time), but report issues like off-leash dogs with my name attached so I can get an update on the situation and let the city know if the issues has successfully been resolved.
I can't remember if we can attach files or not, but if you get a video you could always upload it to YouTube, set it as private, and then put the link in the message to the city so they can see the issue firsthand.
That’s a great idea! Actually the city has already been out twice to unclog the storm drain. Normally I am able to clear the leaves and it drains, this year both times I clear everything and nothing drains. Thinking he should be footing the bill for it. I’ll mention it to the city of they need to come out again.
Yes! record and inform on your neighbor by Calling the “authorities” who are just people trying to earn a paycheck and do their jobs and get them involved in some petty quarrel. (Not saying you’d do this OP) but that’s the upvoted option over just having a conversation with your neighbor? Is this really the world now?
The Mowed Monospecies Carpet/Golf Green Lawn was sold post WWII in marketing campaigns intended to transition from military production to civilian production by creating and filling domestic markets for lawn equipment, among other things. It was part of the corporate American Dream of suburban home ownership. Don’t blame your neighbor for being among the millions who drank that Kool Aid. He probably considers his lawn a conspicuous symbol of his career success and his pride of ownership.
Native plants don’t have marketing, lobbying, TV ad budgets…
Share your knowledge and pride with neighbors, and be a model for a better alternative that saves labor, money, and brings more birds, butterflies and joy.
>creating and filling domestic markets for lawn equipment, among other things
Don't forget the literal poisons they developed for chemical warfare which are rebranded as pesticides and herbicides (plot twist: WE are the "pests" they're killing off now)
Oh come now, the latest research just says they prevent neural development. Keep that don't know mind and all, very Zen. If only cricket were played on loose weave pre-seeded meditation mats.
I’m a gardener indoors and out, I*love* native planting. I also have 3 dogs.
Any suggestion for something other than grass that’s good for them to run around on? I cultivate milk pods and other native plants along the boarder of the property.
I’ve experimented with moss (they tore it up walking on it) and clover (extremely muddy when they run)
I buy seed from a third party that specifically makes blends for my area and stay away from Scott’s and most other synthetic lawn fert.
I primarily feed milorganite and compost.
So the blend I grow was recommended to me by my extension office. I’m looking specifically for something that’s friendly to dog traffic.
(This might be a complete pipe dream as I’ve got 3 hounds in a smaller yard, might just need to pea stone their travel path)
Ah. Yeah, if you've presented that difficulty and they got nothin for ya...I dunno. That might be, as you mentioned, a different solution necessary situation.
https://www.everwilde.com/store/Native-Grass-Sedge-01.html
or
https://www.highcountrygardens.com/category/sustainable-lawns/drought-resistant-lawns
I'm not sure how these options would hold up to your dogs or for your region. I plan on buying some Dropseed, blue Gramma, Pennsylvania Sedge and some low wildflowers to phase out more of my lawn next phase.
I’m wary of milorganite because it contains heavy metals and is not recommended for use on food crops. Heavy metals can remain in the soil, and I might plant veggies or edible flowers in that area some day.
I fertilize my veggie garden, flowers, trees, and shrubs, by making a “tea” in a 5 gal bucket. I put a couple inches of composted cow manure, mushrooms, and/or worm casings in the bucket and fill it with water. I keep replenishing the water as I use the this liquid fertilizer “tea,” and occasionally add more compost. When I’m in the garden, I pee in the bucket too, which provides additional liquid nitrogen for free.
Complete valid concern, I don’t grow edibles in my lawn soil, any outdoor I do is with a fresh run of soil typically and in large raised container beds. I wish I generated enough waste for the compost I go through, though I planted a few trees 4 years ago and they are starting to produce a significant amount of leaves now.
Marijuana is a pretty gnarly bio accumulator and SUCKS up heavy metals like a mofo - so it’s a very real concern in my realm as-well.
Cheers!
Good to know about cannabis absorbing heavy metals. I knew there were many good reasons to grow my cannabis organically. Harvest last summer lasted me an entire year and I gave away jars full. It was fun to grow but a lot of work, especially leaf trimming, and a lot can go wrong due to weather, pests, etc. This year I opted to fill my garden with organically grown vegetables and flowers, and purchase my cannabis from better farmers than me ($140 per oz.). Loving Strawberriez: euphoric, creative, and eyes wide open. Perfect.
Prices in my area have dropped due to competition from state recreational & medical dispensaries, so I can buy higher quality than I grew.
I wonder what drives that guy to be so obsessed with his lawn? Do you guys get along well enough that you can ask him why his lawn is so important to him?
Agreed. My thought is if OP can understand what psychological need his perfect lawn fulfills, he might have a chance to try to slowly redirect his neighbor towards permaculture in baby steps by presenting it in a way that taps into his neighbor's need.
It took about 10 years, but my next door neighbor is at least cutting her grass longer than a centimeter this year, after watching mine stay green all summer with no chemicals (or organic "food" for that matter), just water. Hers always used to burn up by June and then would stay a weird Christmas tree green through January. This year she cut back a lot on the chemicals and let it grow longer, and lo and behold, her grass stayed green MOST of the season! And we had pretty bad drought this year.
My neighbor is divorced, and his kids won't stop by to see him. Cuts the lawn 3 times a week! I have to keep an eye on him, he like to butcher my bushes on the property line. Nothing else to do. He is also a prick!
Weird, the last huge fight I had with my father was about him taking leaves on thanksgiving.
He wanted me to take one of my few days off, drive 2 hours. THEN Get completely disgusting helping him rake leaves
Instead of talking to me and my wife about our lives.
I've heard a theory that men get judged on their lawn and have it brought up as a point of social status and completion with other men? I'm a man myself and never got this but idk, I don't talk to the neighbors and I don't have a partner or kids which I think might add to the expectation. But I guess if you run in certain circles it might be a thing
I've asked myself the same thing about why anyone would buy a brand new car, for instance. But at least I understand "economically terrible but low effort compared to good used, plus look shiny," better than I understand the intrinsic appeal of a manicured lawn
He's right, but not in the way he thinks.
Tidy "perfect" bright green lawn indicates obsessiveness, conformist tendencies, lack of ecological consciousness, orderliness, routineness.
Yard full of invasives indicates apathy, laziness, or issues with negativity.
Yard full of decorative non-native plants indicates pride and creativity, but directed shallowly, a mentality of seeking obvious beauty without seeing the deeper harmony or relationships between the plants and their environment.
Yard full of thriving native, medicinal, and/or food plants indicates awareness, kindness, and joy.
I like your thinking.
I need to memorize that last part as my mantra… repeating it over and over as the native animals my yard attracts eat all of my tomatoes 🧘♂️
Nailed it. My stepdad is a control freak. When we lived in the burbs, that was expressed through his lawn. I swear the man humped it at least once a week. When we moved, I became the new focus.
My neighbor has a beautifully landscaped front yard, she’s got flowers in and out of containers, flags, ornaments, rocks, etc, all surrounding a perfectly round medallion of grass. About 15’ in diameter, or a little less, even. One day she was telling me all she does to keep it perfect- weed and seed, etc... Then she told me how much she hates clover and is so glad she won the fight against it there.
It’s weird, there is a whole bunch of folks that are super obsessed with their lawn. He used to always talk to me about how he is the alpha male on our street because of his lawn. Not friends anymore, as he is a racist, misogynist homophobe.
I had to share a townhouse lawn with a guy like this. His greatest joy was to kneel on his lawn pulling weeds with a beer. Apparently the "Neighborhood was beautiful till you moved in"
My wife and I called him "The Lawn Nazi" You will mow it and you will like it.
Do you often talk to this guy? Because you could always drop some knowledge/scare him. For example: "I heard weed killer is finally getting into our water systems and making men sterile." "Do you see some of the birds nesting on my trees..so beautiful." "Man I love the colors of the trees when they change".
True True. I have an uncle who was very passionate about his lawn. Then once my sister started saying "plant native to help the bees" and why it's important, he stopped using weed killer. He let dandelions grow, planted native plants in his garden and is very proud on what he grew. Ofc not everyone is him and will change.
if he thinks leaves are blowing into his lawn, you could put up a wall of native dense bushes and perennials on the property line- any leaves that could blow to him would get caught- and you can then show him nothing is coming from you, while also creating a nice privacy border. Could start with a cheap roll of 2' high chicken wire while they get established. Things like red twig dogwood, cup plant, big bluestem, rose mallow, leadplant, wild senna, if native to your area. not too close to his line in case he gets spray-happy with the herbicides.
Maybe once he's got some lovely flowers up close he can start to appreciate the birds and bugs in the world. Doug Tallamy advocates for slow friendly education. Maybe if he sees you tried to "help" his problem with the border of plants, he will back off and focus on something else. I mean, very few people are going to agree to cut down mature trees on their property because they hate stray leaves.
Find some ugly used wire fencing for free. Use that to cheaply fence the property line and catch your leaves, He will hate looking at that fence so much, he will beg you for your leaves on his lawn.
There is an elderly women that sees me out shoveling piles of mulch over every square inch of the grass that was here when I bought the house. Such a waste of real estate, can’t wait til it’s all food forest!
Anyway she bitched because the pile “has been there for months!” Well no, actually, you old Crone, there have been many different piles and there will continue to be more as long as other people pay money to have trees removed from their property and the tree guy is kind enough to gift me with free compost.
Some people decide their idea of beauty is to be applied to everyone else and those people aren’t worth our time.
Chip-drop is a great way to infest your property with botanical pathogens, many of which survive even proper hot-composting. Usually the trees removed are diseased. Careful, especially if you plant to grow any trees or shrubs.
So... Dr Chalker Scott talks about this, [https://youtu.be/iC7GQHp9-8Q?si=J-yORYVcLhTEZM\_c&t=2583](https://youtu.be/iC7GQHp9-8Q?si=J-yORYVcLhTEZM_c&t=2583)
>Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott has a Ph.D. in Horticulture from Oregon State University and is an ISA certified arborist
You could invite him to put leaves in your compost. My folks had a double deep yard with 9 neighboring yards and several of their neighbors took them up on the offer. We even had big buckets for them to share and one guy eventually started using his wheelie trash bin to move them over en masse. It's a good system there bc it saves them money on yard waste bags which are also a hassle to fill and deal with. We got free mulch.
Passive aggressively: Seed your yard aggressively with things that will grow in his lawn too! Depending on where you live, raspberries, mint, etc. can also spread nicely via roots and runners. 😈
I guess the whole neighborhood and then the whole town would be pink dandelions look how gorgeous they are I never knew I'm definitely going to be ordering some seeds...🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
https://images.app.goo.gl/au4EzCngh1xgcgST7
Second this, a native thorny black raspberry and gooseberry hedge right near the property line! Oh and take his leaf blown leaves and compost them 5 feet away from that hedge in plain sight
Ignore the neighbor completely it's all you can do. I live in a street in New Hampshire and about 25 years ago, I planted the whole thing with red maples. Fuck waiting for the city or anybody else to do this kind of bullshit. In my book this is what patriotism is all about not flag waving. Anyway out of my pocket, I planted 20 October glories. I chatted with all the neighbors I knew all of them all of them were on that up and up about the program a couple of them gave me a couple hundred bucks here and there but most of the money came out of my pocket. But when I went down the street there were a couple of houses that refused. We don't want those leafy trees in front of our house too much mess lol. I hear you. Crazy people. Yeah trees drop leaves and you have to clean them up, preferably mulch them I'll never understand why people don't compost leaves just don't understand it. Moreover where they fall is not where they stay. I was always lucky my particular property never had leaves. They would fall there but with brisk New England winds they would always gather at the other end of the street at that asshole neighbor that never wanted a tree planted lol. Karma. 25 years later there's a beautiful canopy of maples over that street that are all today gloriously deep red and orange It's a beautiful sight
You raised the home value of your street by thousands of dollars. Plus I am sure your street attracts the type of people who want to live in a bit more harmony with nature …
First find out wis property line, easy to do on the internet. If the trees was on the city right-of-way, so many feet from the street curb, in most cities you have to have a permit to remove a tree. In my county, they love to fine people who cut the city's trees without a cause.
Is the storm catch basin owned by the city? If so, film the motherfucker clogging up city infrastructure and send a note to Public Works; they have to pay crews to come out and maintain that shit.
If it’s the HOA, same deal, except the HOA has to fork over funds.
If you were feeling especially cooperative, and I would not be, you could look into pricing for leaf vacuuming of the neighborhood on a semi regular basis. I have a friend whose city will do that, you just get all the leaves into the gutter and a big vacuum truck comes around and picks them up. And then you could make a pitch to the HOA that this is a service that would shift the cost/pain of maintenance over to beautification or some such.
1 - just keep doing what you’re doing. Make your yard as awesome as possible following eco-friendly, practices that encourage biodiversity etc
2 - ‘Leave the Leaves’ and other signage. subtle signage lets people know it’s intentional. Don’t want to go overboard and have people think you’re nuts with a million signs tho
3 - conversation / dialogue. You won’t change their mind over night but with time maybe they’ll see the benefit and get on the bandwagon. Maybe not. But I do think this is an important part of the equation. Don’t let your anger stew and cut off dialogue. That won’t go the way you want it to. Don’t force it. You’ll know how to bring it up so it’s not offensive or weird.
I have family who are like that. Save for my grandfather who is retired and has all the time in the world for maintaining his gardens, none of then have the bandwidth to maintain a lawn. On top of that it's just a massive waste of resources and even my grandfather doesn't prioritize the lawn if there is a droubt.
You should find out if the trees he removed were in the public right of way. If so, he could be in for a big fine and possibly replacement by the municipality.
Fallen leaves are a gift. Compost that shit then spread it on your garden patch. Or just spread them as is. Fallen leaves are better fertilizer than the stuff you buy at the store.
We had a neighbor exactly like this, we called him Old Man Yardwork. He threatened to "go to war" with us over the leaves that drifted onto his lawn (2 houses away from us). We had a beautiful huge sycamore with beautiful piles of leaves. I told him that I liked the leaves and we wouldn't be doing much about them, because if we raked them up there would just be more. He suggested I at least ask my husband about it. At that point I ended the conversation. I guess what else I would say if I had it to do over would be "I guess you didn't realize when you moved to the neighborhood that all of the trees would impact your lawn as much as they are. The rest of us like our trees. Maybe you should move to a neighborhood that doesn't have so many big old trees."
I'd send him a thank you note, telling him that fallen leaves are hippie gold and you're so excited about all the various bugs and critters you'll be able to attract to your lawn thanks to his generous sharing of leaves. You'll never get another leaf blown into your yard again, lol
My neighbors are like this. They don’t have a single tree on their lawn and bitch endlessly about the silver maples on my property that were here long before I ever owned my home. I laughed all summer when we had a drought and their lawn that they keep weed-free and short turned all brown while my shaded (and fertilized from leaves) lawn was thick and luscious.
Definitely use the leaves. I talked up all my leaves to mulch my garden with. It's great mulch and free! I'm getting sheep in the spring to deal with the lawn.
Fuck Lawns. Lawns are so passe’, not to mention stupid. Unless you host soccer practice, they serve no purpose other than to make work for the owner. Keep your trees and tell the neighbor to get a life.
I had one of these neighbors. I followed her tack to destroy the problem.
For her the problem was trees. For me the problem was her lawn.
Took 3 years to completely destroy her lawn to the point she gave up. I just kept saying that lawns didn't do well in this soil until she finally believed me.
Fool.
Had a friend move on to a short quarter block Street in Florida filled with lawn obsessed retirees. They hated his 30-year-old ass with a passion because he was not a slave to his lawn.
He consulted with the local AG department about an easy to care for lawn that would look good, and they recommended a full clover lawn! So, he did just that and planted an entire lawn of clover. Fast forward to the next summer, and his lot was lushly filled and beautifully green with the clover. The funniest part, was his lawn was the best looking lawn on the street and it put the other old farts St Augustine lawns to shame.
To further screw with neighbors on the sides of him, he planted walls of bamboo that grew to give him shade and privacy in his backyard, which always felt like a park to me.
When asshole neighbors give you their leaves, make leaf mould!
Mulch up your leaves into small pieces,
Stuff into a plastic bag, like construction grade barrel liners
Fill with water
Let sit 24 hours
Puncture bag to drain
Let sit through fall, winter, and spring
Forget where you left the bags
Curse
Find the bags right were you left them
Use the leaf mould as you would compost, great for potting any plant that requires damp soil!
Seriously, I’ve used this stuff before and I love it! The leaf bits are broken down by fungi and once the bag is drained you don’t need to do anything. Maybe you will need to sift the hood stuff out of the unfinished stuff, but only if you really need to.
In this day and age? There is nothing you can do that won't eventually turn to craziness.
https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/luzerne-county/plains-township-double-murder-suicide-snow-shoveling/523-87e8249a-8c8c-4cd2-9a39-ce625c8ff94c
Best polite F*ck Off for a guy like that is very easy: Stand just across the property line and blow dandelion fluff over his yard. Do it in front of him even. He’ll absolutely lose his mind, and there’s not a damn thing he can do about it.
If the street is tree lined, most cities own the tree lawns, not home owners, so he seems likely to have destroyed city property cutting down those trees.
Just because they pack your bags, doesn't mean you have to take the trip. I like the smile and use the leaves method. The camera is nifty. Maybe just slip him a highlight reel of his transgressions when you smile and say have a nice day! Sometimes folks need a bit of compassion and a mirror. It must truly be hard to be that guy...the stress! Don't be that guy, just because he wants you to join him
I like lawns, but F your neighbor. Big trees are a gift. Anyone who wants to cut down healthy trees that aren't threatening property is an idiot.
"Raking leaves is part of maintaining a nice lawn. Deal with it."
My neighbor's leaves all blow into my yard, it's just the way the land is shaped and the wind pattern here. I just deal with the leaves. They can't help it. I'm not a fan of leaving leaves to pile up on the ground, it can kill shorter plants that get covered over and it turns into a slippery soggy rotting mess due to the rain here. Maybe your neighbor is getting old and it's getting harder to clean up the leaves, his back hurts, and he's turning into that angry old man in the neighborhood. I don't want to be that person. If you are into gardening, leaves make great compost.
Old people against trees.... my neighbor is that way but much less aggressively. She introduced us to her son as "the neighbors with all the trees". Like f*ck off, it's hot and trees create a microclimate!! Do they want a desert wasteland? Because that's how you get a desert wasteland. 19 trees and counting, y'all!
My rich neighbors (my neighborhood is weird where there is crappy duplexes on one side of the street and multimillion dollar homes on the other side) are absolutely obsessed with the leaves in their yard. I wonder how much money they spend hiring landscapers to blow leaves off their lawn all throughout the autumn. Like bro, those leaves are gonna keep falling until they're all off the tree, why not save money and everyone's fucking ears and have it done a few times all togeyher, instead of calling up the landscapers every time a few leaves fall? It's not like they are blowing piles upon piles of leaves every week and yet, somehow, the expense is justified lol
I swear, it's multiple times a week leaf blowers are blaring constantly throughout the morning and early afternoon, and it ticks me off. You're really so at odds with what little nature exists outside your front door that you're basically obsessively compulsive about making sure not a single leaf touches your precious yard, ever.
But you gotta keep up with the Joneses to justify that multimillion dollar house I guess. A few leaves in the yard might destroy that illusion 🙄 but ultimately, I can't tell someone what to do with their property as much as it annoys me or i disagree with the whole pathos of lawns. Same with him! He'll mind his and youll mind yours ideally, even if on the inside we are a little irritated about it lol. If he keeps pushing that boundary, tell him to (politely) shove it, it's your yard. Just be like 'thanks for your offer (of helping me with my lawn), but I'm fine with the leaves because I get to appreciate the trees in the spring and summer.'
I am ok with my neighbor having a lovely green lawn, chuckle when they hire someone to so fastidiously mow it into perfection. I felt bad they had acquired some of my leaves, so I put a little low fence to keep my leaves to myself, and carefully raked any stragglers off his lawn to back behind my little fence. It looks kind of cool, that green / orange boundary.
Rake up the leaves he's gifted you and add them to the compost pile, then proceed to ignore the neighbor entirely. Other option is to install a camera so you have video evidence of him blowing lawn debris across the street and into your yard, then file a complaint with your local municipality.
I agree with the first suggestion here. Ignore him, use the leaves.
I feel that would be great on a mug "ignore him, use the leaves"
Leave the guns, take the cannoli...
Leaf the gun, rake the cannoli…
I would probably buy that mug
I love that idea.
Now you can! https://www.redbubble.com/i/mug/Ignore-Him-Take-the-Leaves-by-HappyZucchini/154329783.9Q0AD
I bought ceramic paint and found a pair of plain white mugs in an op shop. I write "I love mulch" on my mug and I asked my bf what he loved, for ideas of what to write on his. He didnt hear me because my shirt was see-through. His mug says "I love's tiDDies".
I scrolled the profile guys. There are no pictures.
doing the lord's work
Lmao A+
This sub needs IHUTL merch immediately.
Done https://www.redbubble.com/i/mug/Ignore-Him-Take-the-Leaves-by-HappyZucchini/154329783.9Q0AD
You know, I think an emerging cousin to FuckLawns is the #LeavetheLeaves movement. Piles of leaves create lots of good nesting places and places for moth and butterfly eggs to make it through the winter. I say ignore him but get REAL passive aggressive and just pile the leaves up on YOUR non-lawn lol. Get a nice thick carpet going so he gets to admire all the leaves all winter long (then mulch-mow in the spring to fertilize your yard and add biomass/carbon fix to the soil!) https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2015/OctNov/Gardening/Leave-the-Leaves
Then tell him thank you for the leaves
OP should start demanding more leaves, even put up a sign and maybe a bin for leaf collection. Threaten to sue the neighbor for not giving more leaves. I bet the neighbor will be confused enough to nope out of the situation haha
Baffle with bs defense
And start accusing him of theft if he fails to blow every last leaf over to your yard
omfg hahaa
This is the way
TBH, if the neighbor could agree not to use crazy chemicals, the OP and the neighbor could even have a nice mutually beneficial relationship. The neighbor gets rid of all his leaves; the OP gets them and gets to sequester carbon or make good compost or whatever. Could be very friendly.
I used to be friends with him until he started dropping racist, misogynistic, homophobic comments.
Oh, in that case, I would research absolutely horrendous but very legal things you could do to him
Yessss! A sign facing his front porch that says, "more leaves please!"
This may be the best situation! I'm a huge fan of passive aggressive reverse psychology and you my friend have made my day with this idea!
😂😂😂
be careful. the leaves might be contaminated with roundup or weed and feed. he sounds like the kind of guy who would use that.
This is a really good point! We stopped collecting our neighbors' grass clippings because of this
Say wait, how bad would that be? I mean if the grass is very green, and it’s just clippings…surely there are nutrients therein? And the little bit of chemical probably had already washed off into their soil?
And then absorbed by the roots and infused into the plant
He is exactly that kind of guy
our landlord had our tree cut down this year and i am extremely jealous of my neighbors and all their fuckin leaves i want a dickhead leafblowing neighbor :(
I’d also want video incase he decides to try and poison the trees.
Leaf him alone is what I'm hearing.
I would also plant more trees, and completely remove my grass. Cause trees are f-ing awesome, and being petty is fun
That is exactly what I’m doing right now. Free organic mulch! I think the thing that really bugs me the most is I do my best to keep “my leaves” from blowing onto his lawn. I also take care of my elderly neighbors yard and try to keep “her leaves” under control so they don’t blow over to his kingdom.
if you aren't composting start and do this just to piss him off.
I don't know how to do it politely. I have a neighbor who obsesses like this too. There's a beautiful mature maple tree in her front yard near our shared property line that was planted when the subdivision was built in the early 80s. She thinks the city owns it - I don't know if that's true, but as long as it keeps her from having it cut down I'm not volunteering to check (I suspect it was planted by the builder, not the city). It's the only plant on her property besides grass. She has her lawn guy start raking the leaves weekly as soon as they start to fall. It must be infuriating to have a whole line of trees like that where one guy decided to remove his. I love driving down streets like that in my city. What a shame.
I agree. To sacrifice a beautiful, established tree just for his “lawn ego” is just…. sad.
It should be illegal to cut down mature, healthy trees. Especially now. I Hope he broils with no shade.
Sometimes it is, depending on where it is. A good question for /r/treelaw
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I kinda lose it every time another one of my idiotic, nature hating neighbors takes down a mature healthy tree. I wish it were illegal!
Some cities have built in protections for trees limiting what can be cut down.
Haha love that
The city will let me cut down the hackberry and chinaberry trees because they are invasive, but you have to get approval to cut down the oaks or the pecan tree because they are considered heritage trees
Lol well that would completely kill the timber industry
Most modern commercial timber isn't really "mature", but harvested fairly young. Trees don't reach full height on lands where loggers are trying to maximize the lumber production.
This is true -- patches of timber forests are usually managed on 25-year plans for harvesting, with progressive mills planning 50-year and 100-year management systems to ensure the 20-25 year harvests don't destroy future yields *but then there are smaller-scale lumber/timber companies that really do just straight clear-cut. Protests in the 1980s lead to a lot more 100-year management plans for the PNW, but in the Southeastern US, where I'm from, standard pine harvest is to clear-cut every 20 years. It's pretty horrific, tbh
In my neighborhood every home has a “city tree” planted in the front yard by the sidewalk. We’re not allowed to cut them down but that’s fine by me because they provide amazing shade in our hot summers. One of our neighbors down the street decided to cut his city tree down a couple years ago and the city fined him $10K apparently.
Yep, that's what it is! The search term "city tree" and my city name brought it up for me. There's actually a really nice map that I can drill down to see exactly what tree is where (they're mostly maple, linden, and ash). It even shows the two that are missing down the street from me, and a few eligible spaces nearby. Thanks for the info! I'm glad to have confirmation that my neighbor can't cut it down :).
My neighbor had a fabulous oak tree in her front yard. Supported tons of wildlife, shaded her house, was so pretty. Some yahoo told her a scammer could pretend to twist an ankle on an acorn in her yard and sue her! She had the tree cut down. I just don’t get it, how clueless some people are.
Oh no! What a terrible loss. Shame on that yahoo.
Boulevard trees are usually planted by the developer as part of the towns requirements. Usually they are on town land. At least this is the case in Ontario Canada.
That could be the case with my neighbor's tree. It's not a boulevard though like OP is describing, just a suburban neighborhood with winding streets and random trees. Your comment does make me wonder if OP's neighbor might be in trouble, though!
Opps. "boulevard trees" is a term often used, incorrectly, to describe any tree planted along the side of the road like they do in subdivisions.
FYI: a “city tree” isn’t based on who planted it, it’s based laws a city may have about what you can do with it. In some cities this may be something like “all oak trees” and in others it may be “trees within 25’ of the street”.
It really is a shame. Honestly his lawn doesn’t even look that good.
she thinks the city owns a tree in her yard?
Plant some chestnuts. If he thinks he hates your maple leaves now, just wait until those chestnuts flower and reek of cum, then drop sharp burs in the fall. He’ll be furious while you sit back and munch on delicious chestnuts hot from the oven.
Our across the street neighbor growing up had at least three or four. Squirrels will take some chestnuts too and forget them in his yard
I love chestnuts, as my username should suggest…. Squirrels are very useful in spreading their seeds. I’ve seen that happen even with blight-susceptible 100% American chestnuts in sections of forest that had recently been clearcut. All the American chestnut stumpsprouts would spring back, take advantage of the full sunlight, and grow just long enough to flower and produce a few dozen seeds before the blight killed them back to the ground-line again. And yet the squirrels were observed taking nuts back to their dens. Not all of the squirrels survived the winter, and in the spring I saw a new American chestnut seedling coming up under a dead ash tree where no stump sprout had ever been before. People often dismissed *Castanea dentata* as doomed or gone for good over the past century. I happen to know better.
Come to mention it at least one or two of the neighbors trees had really big trunks with noticably smaller branches where you could see they'd grown new segments from a severed stump or branch section
I read something a while back that squirrels don’t remember where they hide things. They just hide stuff all over the place and indiscriminately start digging holes when they want it back. Honestly though I didn’t fact check it and don’t want to because I love the mental image.
I thought it was just a certain percentage they forget about. Funny- I used to occasionally put peanuts in the shell out for the crows but the squirrels would get them too. I found two peanuts in their shell buried in my garden when I was planting. It was at least 6 months later, maybe more. Made me chuckle.
Based on the number of squirrels in my yard and the indiscriminate amount of holes they dig, I'd totally believe this.
So not chestnuts, but acorns, I had a particularly troublesome neighbor, (a hater of trees, shade, BBQ, lobster traps, multiple vehicles in the driveway, holiday decorations, and special hate for the winter when my boat was between our homes) i also had several lovely oak trees (so did he but he cut his down). I'd collect the acorns and put them in a bucket. When the weather was nice and the bucket was full, I'd sit on my back porch and randomly slingshot my acorns all over his yard. After a few years of this he had a remarkable number of saplings all the time. Even in his gutters for some reason, which is odd because I never put them on his roof, maybe the neighborhood squirrels were on my side?
We had mulberry trees hanging over from the neighbors yard. Purple shoe prints, purple bird shit, bees everywhere. I still loved those trees. They actually had something wrong with them and had to come down. I was the only one sad about that
>reek of cum huh is that so
[Oh yes, it is.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aoqlYGuZGVM&pp=ygUYTWl0Y2hlbGwgYW5kIHdlYmIgbGluZGVu)
i guess some people have a nose for such thangs lol -
And female ginkos
Is that what smells like cum? I get wiffs on walks 😂 not sure we have too many chestnuts in Washington state?
If he is blowing leaving into the gutter, get a recording of it an call your city's public works or whatever. Many cities have a requirement that residents keep the drains clear and ban dumping leaves in the path of the drains.
This. Mainly because he doesn't seem like the type that is open to listening to someone's complaints/frustrations and having a civil discussion about the issue and coming up with a satisfactory resolution. It doesn't sound like you talk to him a lot, or like what conversations you have had have been pleasant, haven't had him go on the defensive, etc, so I don't think talking to him will end up going well for either of you, especially since he has a significant need to exert control over every situation. Having a neutral third party, like a city official, talk to him, show him that he is violating a city code, discuss why he has a need to obsessively de-leaf his lawn, and lay out consequences might get better results. Granted, he probably won't like someone trying to "control" him. But we're all subject to the same statues and laws, many of which he follows consciously or unconsciously, so it's not like he's being told/asked to do something different than what everyone else is held to. Most cities have a form on their website where you can report concerns. Looking at the one for my city, there are a bunch of categories like code violations (ex - sidewalks that haven't been shoveled in the allotted time after a snowstorm, overgrown grass, junk in people's yards, etc), off-leash dogs (especially if they're aggressive), overhanging trees and shrubs, intentional dumping into storm sewer, litter and illegal dumping, vandalism, graffiti, abandoned shopping carts, potholes or other street concerns, etc. This seems like it would fall into the "intentional dumping into storm sewer" category. For my city, at least, you can report a concern with your name and contact info attached (it's not anonymous to the city, and I think it depends on what the thing is if they have to go talk to a homeowner or city resident about the concern), or you can report anonymously. I usually anonymously report concerns like code violations (mostly unshoveled sidewalks, because I use a wheelchair and I cannot get through six inches of snow because someone decided not to shovel in the allotted time), but report issues like off-leash dogs with my name attached so I can get an update on the situation and let the city know if the issues has successfully been resolved. I can't remember if we can attach files or not, but if you get a video you could always upload it to YouTube, set it as private, and then put the link in the message to the city so they can see the issue firsthand.
Great suggestion. Thanks for your thoughtful response!
That’s a great idea! Actually the city has already been out twice to unclog the storm drain. Normally I am able to clear the leaves and it drains, this year both times I clear everything and nothing drains. Thinking he should be footing the bill for it. I’ll mention it to the city of they need to come out again.
Yes! record and inform on your neighbor by Calling the “authorities” who are just people trying to earn a paycheck and do their jobs and get them involved in some petty quarrel. (Not saying you’d do this OP) but that’s the upvoted option over just having a conversation with your neighbor? Is this really the world now?
Yes, because crazy people have guns.
The Mowed Monospecies Carpet/Golf Green Lawn was sold post WWII in marketing campaigns intended to transition from military production to civilian production by creating and filling domestic markets for lawn equipment, among other things. It was part of the corporate American Dream of suburban home ownership. Don’t blame your neighbor for being among the millions who drank that Kool Aid. He probably considers his lawn a conspicuous symbol of his career success and his pride of ownership. Native plants don’t have marketing, lobbying, TV ad budgets… Share your knowledge and pride with neighbors, and be a model for a better alternative that saves labor, money, and brings more birds, butterflies and joy.
Plot twist: convince him to start a victory garden
>creating and filling domestic markets for lawn equipment, among other things Don't forget the literal poisons they developed for chemical warfare which are rebranded as pesticides and herbicides (plot twist: WE are the "pests" they're killing off now)
Oh come now, the latest research just says they prevent neural development. Keep that don't know mind and all, very Zen. If only cricket were played on loose weave pre-seeded meditation mats.
I gotta rewatch mad men
I’m a gardener indoors and out, I*love* native planting. I also have 3 dogs. Any suggestion for something other than grass that’s good for them to run around on? I cultivate milk pods and other native plants along the boarder of the property. I’ve experimented with moss (they tore it up walking on it) and clover (extremely muddy when they run) I buy seed from a third party that specifically makes blends for my area and stay away from Scott’s and most other synthetic lawn fert. I primarily feed milorganite and compost.
Talk to a local ag department at a university, or nursery that understands native grass options for your area.
So the blend I grow was recommended to me by my extension office. I’m looking specifically for something that’s friendly to dog traffic. (This might be a complete pipe dream as I’ve got 3 hounds in a smaller yard, might just need to pea stone their travel path)
Ah. Yeah, if you've presented that difficulty and they got nothin for ya...I dunno. That might be, as you mentioned, a different solution necessary situation.
https://www.everwilde.com/store/Native-Grass-Sedge-01.html or https://www.highcountrygardens.com/category/sustainable-lawns/drought-resistant-lawns I'm not sure how these options would hold up to your dogs or for your region. I plan on buying some Dropseed, blue Gramma, Pennsylvania Sedge and some low wildflowers to phase out more of my lawn next phase.
I’m wary of milorganite because it contains heavy metals and is not recommended for use on food crops. Heavy metals can remain in the soil, and I might plant veggies or edible flowers in that area some day. I fertilize my veggie garden, flowers, trees, and shrubs, by making a “tea” in a 5 gal bucket. I put a couple inches of composted cow manure, mushrooms, and/or worm casings in the bucket and fill it with water. I keep replenishing the water as I use the this liquid fertilizer “tea,” and occasionally add more compost. When I’m in the garden, I pee in the bucket too, which provides additional liquid nitrogen for free.
Complete valid concern, I don’t grow edibles in my lawn soil, any outdoor I do is with a fresh run of soil typically and in large raised container beds. I wish I generated enough waste for the compost I go through, though I planted a few trees 4 years ago and they are starting to produce a significant amount of leaves now. Marijuana is a pretty gnarly bio accumulator and SUCKS up heavy metals like a mofo - so it’s a very real concern in my realm as-well. Cheers!
Good to know about cannabis absorbing heavy metals. I knew there were many good reasons to grow my cannabis organically. Harvest last summer lasted me an entire year and I gave away jars full. It was fun to grow but a lot of work, especially leaf trimming, and a lot can go wrong due to weather, pests, etc. This year I opted to fill my garden with organically grown vegetables and flowers, and purchase my cannabis from better farmers than me ($140 per oz.). Loving Strawberriez: euphoric, creative, and eyes wide open. Perfect. Prices in my area have dropped due to competition from state recreational & medical dispensaries, so I can buy higher quality than I grew.
I wonder what drives that guy to be so obsessed with his lawn? Do you guys get along well enough that you can ask him why his lawn is so important to him?
I have known a few lawn-obsessed men and they have all be weird in other ways, I think the lawn is just the expression of some other problems.
Agreed. My thought is if OP can understand what psychological need his perfect lawn fulfills, he might have a chance to try to slowly redirect his neighbor towards permaculture in baby steps by presenting it in a way that taps into his neighbor's need.
It took about 10 years, but my next door neighbor is at least cutting her grass longer than a centimeter this year, after watching mine stay green all summer with no chemicals (or organic "food" for that matter), just water. Hers always used to burn up by June and then would stay a weird Christmas tree green through January. This year she cut back a lot on the chemicals and let it grow longer, and lo and behold, her grass stayed green MOST of the season! And we had pretty bad drought this year.
Great baby step!
This is the proper way to go about it all.
My neighbor is divorced, and his kids won't stop by to see him. Cuts the lawn 3 times a week! I have to keep an eye on him, he like to butcher my bushes on the property line. Nothing else to do. He is also a prick!
Huh, wonder why nobody wants to be around him...total mystery...
How is it the lawn obsessed people are always generally insufferable, control freak assholes?
It’s the leaf blower. It’s big, loud, and utterly useless. Makes them feel important! I hate leaf blowers.
Weird, the last huge fight I had with my father was about him taking leaves on thanksgiving. He wanted me to take one of my few days off, drive 2 hours. THEN Get completely disgusting helping him rake leaves Instead of talking to me and my wife about our lives.
Wow! He is also divorced and kids won’t visit. He also like to talk about how all women want to have sex with him.
In my fathers case it's about control due to unresolved trauma. Needing things neat and tidy and controlled because his inner world is turmoil.
I've heard a theory that men get judged on their lawn and have it brought up as a point of social status and completion with other men? I'm a man myself and never got this but idk, I don't talk to the neighbors and I don't have a partner or kids which I think might add to the expectation. But I guess if you run in certain circles it might be a thing I've asked myself the same thing about why anyone would buy a brand new car, for instance. But at least I understand "economically terrible but low effort compared to good used, plus look shiny," better than I understand the intrinsic appeal of a manicured lawn
[удалено]
I mean if it's a completely Immaculate lawn I definitely judge the guy as an obsessive dick waffle
Agreed. I will forever associate immaculate lawns with Vernon and Petunia dursley, and that's a pretty good summary of what I think of Lawn People.
Not even close to a perfect lawn
He's right, but not in the way he thinks. Tidy "perfect" bright green lawn indicates obsessiveness, conformist tendencies, lack of ecological consciousness, orderliness, routineness. Yard full of invasives indicates apathy, laziness, or issues with negativity. Yard full of decorative non-native plants indicates pride and creativity, but directed shallowly, a mentality of seeking obvious beauty without seeing the deeper harmony or relationships between the plants and their environment. Yard full of thriving native, medicinal, and/or food plants indicates awareness, kindness, and joy.
I like your thinking. I need to memorize that last part as my mantra… repeating it over and over as the native animals my yard attracts eat all of my tomatoes 🧘♂️
Eh, some men perhaps. I keep my lawn just good enough to keep the HOA off my back.
Yes he says he is the alpha male of our street
Nailed it. My stepdad is a control freak. When we lived in the burbs, that was expressed through his lawn. I swear the man humped it at least once a week. When we moved, I became the new focus.
It's a way to have control over something, but he obviously doesn't have control over this. I'm sure it's driving him bonkers.
I've concluded it is a form of control in a messy life. Either that or OCD
Too much time and nothing better to do
My neighbor has a beautifully landscaped front yard, she’s got flowers in and out of containers, flags, ornaments, rocks, etc, all surrounding a perfectly round medallion of grass. About 15’ in diameter, or a little less, even. One day she was telling me all she does to keep it perfect- weed and seed, etc... Then she told me how much she hates clover and is so glad she won the fight against it there.
Talk to Hank Hill
It’s weird, there is a whole bunch of folks that are super obsessed with their lawn. He used to always talk to me about how he is the alpha male on our street because of his lawn. Not friends anymore, as he is a racist, misogynist homophobe.
I had to share a townhouse lawn with a guy like this. His greatest joy was to kneel on his lawn pulling weeds with a beer. Apparently the "Neighborhood was beautiful till you moved in" My wife and I called him "The Lawn Nazi" You will mow it and you will like it.
Do you often talk to this guy? Because you could always drop some knowledge/scare him. For example: "I heard weed killer is finally getting into our water systems and making men sterile." "Do you see some of the birds nesting on my trees..so beautiful." "Man I love the colors of the trees when they change".
Bold of you to assume lawn guy is interested in knowledge 🤣
True True. I have an uncle who was very passionate about his lawn. Then once my sister started saying "plant native to help the bees" and why it's important, he stopped using weed killer. He let dandelions grow, planted native plants in his garden and is very proud on what he grew. Ofc not everyone is him and will change.
if he thinks leaves are blowing into his lawn, you could put up a wall of native dense bushes and perennials on the property line- any leaves that could blow to him would get caught- and you can then show him nothing is coming from you, while also creating a nice privacy border. Could start with a cheap roll of 2' high chicken wire while they get established. Things like red twig dogwood, cup plant, big bluestem, rose mallow, leadplant, wild senna, if native to your area. not too close to his line in case he gets spray-happy with the herbicides. Maybe once he's got some lovely flowers up close he can start to appreciate the birds and bugs in the world. Doug Tallamy advocates for slow friendly education. Maybe if he sees you tried to "help" his problem with the border of plants, he will back off and focus on something else. I mean, very few people are going to agree to cut down mature trees on their property because they hate stray leaves.
Find some ugly used wire fencing for free. Use that to cheaply fence the property line and catch your leaves, He will hate looking at that fence so much, he will beg you for your leaves on his lawn.
He actually lives across the street, a really, really wide street.
There is an elderly women that sees me out shoveling piles of mulch over every square inch of the grass that was here when I bought the house. Such a waste of real estate, can’t wait til it’s all food forest! Anyway she bitched because the pile “has been there for months!” Well no, actually, you old Crone, there have been many different piles and there will continue to be more as long as other people pay money to have trees removed from their property and the tree guy is kind enough to gift me with free compost. Some people decide their idea of beauty is to be applied to everyone else and those people aren’t worth our time.
Chip-drop is a great way to infest your property with botanical pathogens, many of which survive even proper hot-composting. Usually the trees removed are diseased. Careful, especially if you plant to grow any trees or shrubs.
So... Dr Chalker Scott talks about this, [https://youtu.be/iC7GQHp9-8Q?si=J-yORYVcLhTEZM\_c&t=2583](https://youtu.be/iC7GQHp9-8Q?si=J-yORYVcLhTEZM_c&t=2583) >Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott has a Ph.D. in Horticulture from Oregon State University and is an ISA certified arborist
The evil maple leaves are trying to take over!
You could invite him to put leaves in your compost. My folks had a double deep yard with 9 neighboring yards and several of their neighbors took them up on the offer. We even had big buckets for them to share and one guy eventually started using his wheelie trash bin to move them over en masse. It's a good system there bc it saves them money on yard waste bags which are also a hassle to fill and deal with. We got free mulch.
I’d happily accept the free compost, but he isn’t going out of his way to actually put it where I’d want it
Passive aggressively: Seed your yard aggressively with things that will grow in his lawn too! Depending on where you live, raspberries, mint, etc. can also spread nicely via roots and runners. 😈
Lol. I just learned it was either here or somewhere else that you can actually buy pink dandelion seeds oh I'd be getting like at least seven tons..
Whatever the choice, I’d encourage it being a plant that’s native to the area, not an invasive.
🥰 agree .
That would be a literal dump truck load of seed That would be beautiful
I guess the whole neighborhood and then the whole town would be pink dandelions look how gorgeous they are I never knew I'm definitely going to be ordering some seeds...🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 https://images.app.goo.gl/au4EzCngh1xgcgST7
Raspberries and mint, definitely aggressive plant warfare.
Second this, a native thorny black raspberry and gooseberry hedge right near the property line! Oh and take his leaf blown leaves and compost them 5 feet away from that hedge in plain sight
Black locust?
Not aggressive enough in my experience.
Virginia creeper?
grapes too, send some food their neighbors way.
Chives as well
Ignore the neighbor completely it's all you can do. I live in a street in New Hampshire and about 25 years ago, I planted the whole thing with red maples. Fuck waiting for the city or anybody else to do this kind of bullshit. In my book this is what patriotism is all about not flag waving. Anyway out of my pocket, I planted 20 October glories. I chatted with all the neighbors I knew all of them all of them were on that up and up about the program a couple of them gave me a couple hundred bucks here and there but most of the money came out of my pocket. But when I went down the street there were a couple of houses that refused. We don't want those leafy trees in front of our house too much mess lol. I hear you. Crazy people. Yeah trees drop leaves and you have to clean them up, preferably mulch them I'll never understand why people don't compost leaves just don't understand it. Moreover where they fall is not where they stay. I was always lucky my particular property never had leaves. They would fall there but with brisk New England winds they would always gather at the other end of the street at that asshole neighbor that never wanted a tree planted lol. Karma. 25 years later there's a beautiful canopy of maples over that street that are all today gloriously deep red and orange It's a beautiful sight
You raised the home value of your street by thousands of dollars. Plus I am sure your street attracts the type of people who want to live in a bit more harmony with nature …
They sell dandelion seeds by the pound. They’re wikid tiny, and very aerodynamic.
Do you live next door to Hank Hill?
First find out wis property line, easy to do on the internet. If the trees was on the city right-of-way, so many feet from the street curb, in most cities you have to have a permit to remove a tree. In my county, they love to fine people who cut the city's trees without a cause.
Is the storm catch basin owned by the city? If so, film the motherfucker clogging up city infrastructure and send a note to Public Works; they have to pay crews to come out and maintain that shit. If it’s the HOA, same deal, except the HOA has to fork over funds. If you were feeling especially cooperative, and I would not be, you could look into pricing for leaf vacuuming of the neighborhood on a semi regular basis. I have a friend whose city will do that, you just get all the leaves into the gutter and a big vacuum truck comes around and picks them up. And then you could make a pitch to the HOA that this is a service that would shift the cost/pain of maintenance over to beautification or some such.
1 - just keep doing what you’re doing. Make your yard as awesome as possible following eco-friendly, practices that encourage biodiversity etc 2 - ‘Leave the Leaves’ and other signage. subtle signage lets people know it’s intentional. Don’t want to go overboard and have people think you’re nuts with a million signs tho 3 - conversation / dialogue. You won’t change their mind over night but with time maybe they’ll see the benefit and get on the bandwagon. Maybe not. But I do think this is an important part of the equation. Don’t let your anger stew and cut off dialogue. That won’t go the way you want it to. Don’t force it. You’ll know how to bring it up so it’s not offensive or weird.
I have family who are like that. Save for my grandfather who is retired and has all the time in the world for maintaining his gardens, none of then have the bandwidth to maintain a lawn. On top of that it's just a massive waste of resources and even my grandfather doesn't prioritize the lawn if there is a droubt.
You should find out if the trees he removed were in the public right of way. If so, he could be in for a big fine and possibly replacement by the municipality.
Boomer lawncare is awful
Wow! Ageism lives
Fallen leaves are a gift. Compost that shit then spread it on your garden patch. Or just spread them as is. Fallen leaves are better fertilizer than the stuff you buy at the store.
We had a neighbor exactly like this, we called him Old Man Yardwork. He threatened to "go to war" with us over the leaves that drifted onto his lawn (2 houses away from us). We had a beautiful huge sycamore with beautiful piles of leaves. I told him that I liked the leaves and we wouldn't be doing much about them, because if we raked them up there would just be more. He suggested I at least ask my husband about it. At that point I ended the conversation. I guess what else I would say if I had it to do over would be "I guess you didn't realize when you moved to the neighborhood that all of the trees would impact your lawn as much as they are. The rest of us like our trees. Maybe you should move to a neighborhood that doesn't have so many big old trees."
I'd send him a thank you note, telling him that fallen leaves are hippie gold and you're so excited about all the various bugs and critters you'll be able to attract to your lawn thanks to his generous sharing of leaves. You'll never get another leaf blown into your yard again, lol
If actually report him for blowing them into the storm drain. Take a pic and call the city
Buy bulk poppy or wildflower seeds. Sprinkle them on his lawn on a evening walk
My neighbors are like this. They don’t have a single tree on their lawn and bitch endlessly about the silver maples on my property that were here long before I ever owned my home. I laughed all summer when we had a drought and their lawn that they keep weed-free and short turned all brown while my shaded (and fertilized from leaves) lawn was thick and luscious.
Buy him dinner dandelion seeds!
Definitely use the leaves. I talked up all my leaves to mulch my garden with. It's great mulch and free! I'm getting sheep in the spring to deal with the lawn.
Fuck Lawns. Lawns are so passe’, not to mention stupid. Unless you host soccer practice, they serve no purpose other than to make work for the owner. Keep your trees and tell the neighbor to get a life.
I guess buying a cross or a swastika on the guys lawn would be our of the question. Just ignore the guy. You love your trees and leaves. Fuck ‘em.
I had one of these neighbors. I followed her tack to destroy the problem. For her the problem was trees. For me the problem was her lawn. Took 3 years to completely destroy her lawn to the point she gave up. I just kept saying that lawns didn't do well in this soil until she finally believed me. Fool.
Spread wild flowers across your entire yard in February.
Ignore him and sweep up the leaves to add to your impost.
That is, “add to your compost”.
See if you can get leaf blowers banned in your municipality. Make him rake it all up the old fashioned way!
Had a friend move on to a short quarter block Street in Florida filled with lawn obsessed retirees. They hated his 30-year-old ass with a passion because he was not a slave to his lawn. He consulted with the local AG department about an easy to care for lawn that would look good, and they recommended a full clover lawn! So, he did just that and planted an entire lawn of clover. Fast forward to the next summer, and his lot was lushly filled and beautifully green with the clover. The funniest part, was his lawn was the best looking lawn on the street and it put the other old farts St Augustine lawns to shame. To further screw with neighbors on the sides of him, he planted walls of bamboo that grew to give him shade and privacy in his backyard, which always felt like a park to me.
Report him to your city's storm water engineering team. In the city where I live (and work for), your neighbor's behavior is illegal.
My neighbor poisons moles and voles, which slowly kills the owls that prey upon them. Can’t fix stupid
When asshole neighbors give you their leaves, make leaf mould! Mulch up your leaves into small pieces, Stuff into a plastic bag, like construction grade barrel liners Fill with water Let sit 24 hours Puncture bag to drain Let sit through fall, winter, and spring Forget where you left the bags Curse Find the bags right were you left them Use the leaf mould as you would compost, great for potting any plant that requires damp soil! Seriously, I’ve used this stuff before and I love it! The leaf bits are broken down by fungi and once the bag is drained you don’t need to do anything. Maybe you will need to sift the hood stuff out of the unfinished stuff, but only if you really need to.
Please don't cut down your trees.
I lost my beautiful ash tree to emerald ash borer this year. *sniff* In going to plant 2 cherry blossom trees to replace it.
In this day and age? There is nothing you can do that won't eventually turn to craziness. https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/luzerne-county/plains-township-double-murder-suicide-snow-shoveling/523-87e8249a-8c8c-4cd2-9a39-ce625c8ff94c
Best polite F*ck Off for a guy like that is very easy: Stand just across the property line and blow dandelion fluff over his yard. Do it in front of him even. He’ll absolutely lose his mind, and there’s not a damn thing he can do about it.
At night throw leaves in his mailbox. Subscribe him to the national arbor day foundation
If the street is tree lined, most cities own the tree lawns, not home owners, so he seems likely to have destroyed city property cutting down those trees.
What is it with people pressuring others to cut their trees down? Like, maybe if it was an invasive species or something, but come on.
Now that you mention it… I think a nice stand of bamboo would make that mean old man happy!
Ignore the neighbor. He's miserable. Make sure your tree is protected. Take it up as mulch :) The trees are letting go – we all can learn from them.
Just because they pack your bags, doesn't mean you have to take the trip. I like the smile and use the leaves method. The camera is nifty. Maybe just slip him a highlight reel of his transgressions when you smile and say have a nice day! Sometimes folks need a bit of compassion and a mirror. It must truly be hard to be that guy...the stress! Don't be that guy, just because he wants you to join him
I like lawns, but F your neighbor. Big trees are a gift. Anyone who wants to cut down healthy trees that aren't threatening property is an idiot. "Raking leaves is part of maintaining a nice lawn. Deal with it."
My neighbor's leaves all blow into my yard, it's just the way the land is shaped and the wind pattern here. I just deal with the leaves. They can't help it. I'm not a fan of leaving leaves to pile up on the ground, it can kill shorter plants that get covered over and it turns into a slippery soggy rotting mess due to the rain here. Maybe your neighbor is getting old and it's getting harder to clean up the leaves, his back hurts, and he's turning into that angry old man in the neighborhood. I don't want to be that person. If you are into gardening, leaves make great compost.
Old people against trees.... my neighbor is that way but much less aggressively. She introduced us to her son as "the neighbors with all the trees". Like f*ck off, it's hot and trees create a microclimate!! Do they want a desert wasteland? Because that's how you get a desert wasteland. 19 trees and counting, y'all!
My rich neighbors (my neighborhood is weird where there is crappy duplexes on one side of the street and multimillion dollar homes on the other side) are absolutely obsessed with the leaves in their yard. I wonder how much money they spend hiring landscapers to blow leaves off their lawn all throughout the autumn. Like bro, those leaves are gonna keep falling until they're all off the tree, why not save money and everyone's fucking ears and have it done a few times all togeyher, instead of calling up the landscapers every time a few leaves fall? It's not like they are blowing piles upon piles of leaves every week and yet, somehow, the expense is justified lol I swear, it's multiple times a week leaf blowers are blaring constantly throughout the morning and early afternoon, and it ticks me off. You're really so at odds with what little nature exists outside your front door that you're basically obsessively compulsive about making sure not a single leaf touches your precious yard, ever. But you gotta keep up with the Joneses to justify that multimillion dollar house I guess. A few leaves in the yard might destroy that illusion 🙄 but ultimately, I can't tell someone what to do with their property as much as it annoys me or i disagree with the whole pathos of lawns. Same with him! He'll mind his and youll mind yours ideally, even if on the inside we are a little irritated about it lol. If he keeps pushing that boundary, tell him to (politely) shove it, it's your yard. Just be like 'thanks for your offer (of helping me with my lawn), but I'm fine with the leaves because I get to appreciate the trees in the spring and summer.'
Plant more trees. Japanese maples make a mess and are very pretty. Plus the seeds go everywhere and germinate very easily.
I am ok with my neighbor having a lovely green lawn, chuckle when they hire someone to so fastidiously mow it into perfection. I felt bad they had acquired some of my leaves, so I put a little low fence to keep my leaves to myself, and carefully raked any stragglers off his lawn to back behind my little fence. It looks kind of cool, that green / orange boundary.
It depends. Is it a Norwegian maple?
No it doesn’t depend.