Our house has a long driveway and a rather long private road leading to the driveway. Our property line is approximately 20 feet on my neighbor's (we'll call him John) side of our driveway and road. His property is surrounded by that 20' on two sides. When he mows, he always mows to the driveway and to the road. He doesn't stop at his property line and is actually mowing that portion of our lawn. John says he does this because he likes to mow and he likes it to all look the same. That's fine. No problem. Here's the part I have issues with: He mows in such a way that my driveway and road always end up covered in grass clippings. My husband always blows the driveway/road off with a blower when he finishes mowing. But John mows more often than my husband so there always seems to be grass clippings in my driveway/road. I swear the man mows his lawn every other day!! (My husband mows once a week) So back to the issue. I get that this sounds incredibly petty and small. But it really does bug me - for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that it would be super easy to avoid it - all he would have to do is mow the opposite direction. The second reason is that he is a perfectionist when it comes to his OWN yard. I know that he would NEVER leave his driveway looking that way. Granted, his driveway is very short, but he obviously either blows his driveway or avoids getting the clippings there altogether. So here's my question: What are your thoughts on us asking him to either mow the other direction (thereby avoiding sending the grass clippings onto our driveway) or to stop mowing past the property line completely? Would you consider it rude of us to say something?
As a side note, my other neighbor - who's lived here a lot longer than we have - thinks he is trying to claim that property as his own. He is a bit of a control freak and, based on stories I've heard from several neighbors and things I've seen him do; I'm not sure I would put that past him. But I'm not worried about that because my husband also mows that part of the lawn, as well as the 3/4 acre on the other side of the driveway even if John has just mowed. So he could never claim that he solely takes care of that part of our yard.
We try to be good neighbors and I don't want to make an enemy of him. I just want him to stop doing it. We never asked him to mow our property and frankly, I wish he wouldn't. So what would you do if it were your driveway/road? Would you say something? Or would you just try to ignore it? How would you feel if you were the neighbor and we asked you to stop?
I look forward to hearing your opinions. :D
Okay... Now I feel a little ridiculous! :o}
Thanks everyone for your input. I am not a very assertive person by nature and most often I don't say something when other people would. That's why I asked the question. I do get that it's nit picky and, honestly, if he weren't so picky with his own yard, I would really not have even considered saying something to him. I'll let it go.
I do want to clarify -- it was definitely my intention to be nice about my request and would have done it in a nonchalant way. Like I said, I wasn't looking to start any trouble. I really wanted to know if I could ask without it being a "thing." Guess not. LOL.
I wish my neighbor would mow his yard more than 2 or 3 times a summer... and maybe do something about the weeds, too. Sorry, but I would ignore this. And blowing grass clippings off a road seems totally anal to me.
Ignore it. There are plenty of real problems in life to worry about.
ETA: Sorry, hit "submit" too soon...
I like to pick my battles, and this is not one I would engage in.
Are you at home when he does this? If so, then I would probably walk out there casually while he is in the process of starting over the line (as he is finishing his side and moving over to your side) and motion for him to cut the mower off for a second (assuming he doesn't see you and do it before you have to ask). Then just nicely mention:
"John, you KNOW you really don't have to do that... but if you insist, would you mind cutting it the other direction to keep more of the clippings off the drive? 'Bob' won't be home in time to blow it off the drive today."
He'll probably say "oh. ok. No problem." And that'll be the end of it.
If he has a problem... then just nicely tell him: "Then just leave it un-mowed, and 'Bob' will do it later when he can blow off the drive. I really don't want the clippings on it. Thanks! " (with a smile, of course.)
Sounds like it's time for a fence. Fences = good neighbors.
ignore. life is too short.
In his mind, he is probably just thinking he is helping you out and is being nice. I usually just let these things go because while it might bug me to have grass clippings on the driveway, I would be happy that he is doing me a favor to mow it. I wouldn't say anything except thanks.
I would bring it up in a nonchalant way. Maybe the next time you happen to be outside when he is. Just say a little something nicely. I wouldn't be offended, as long as it was a pleasant conversation.
I get the feeling this is more about peeing on bushes than cutting grass.
Well to put your mind at ease he cannot claim your property just because he mows it. Jeez if that was the case my dad's neighbors could lay claim to his entire yard. Dad isn't very big on lawn maintenance, drives his neighbors nuts so they mow his yard. Oh dad doesn't care if there are lawn clippings on his driveway either. :)
Well my job is done.
Soooo...it's a fairly large piece of property that he's cutting for you, right? Seems like it would be pretty easy to blow them off yourself when he mows.
He can't claim your property just because he mows it. If he ever does try to claim it, tell him it's yours and you have the plat survey to prove it. Just because someone takes care of someone else's stuff doesn't mean they can take it.
If you don't like it, then tell him to stop. If he doesn't, then you need to tell him you don't like the grass clippings on your driveway and he either needs to take care of the grass clippings or stay off your property.
Hmm....I guess I would ignore it, give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he is not doing it in a malicious way but just trying to take care of the yard.
Let me offer you my perspective. I actually mow our lawn most of the time (I love mowing) and I mow into our neighbors yard because it's just about 4 feet beyond ours to their driveway, and I've never even noticed if I blow clippings into their driveway but I am almost certain I do because I blow them all over my own sidewalk and driveway. And I mow a different way each time, so one week I mow lengthwise, next cross wise, next diagonal and then next opposite diagonal. I am pretty sure that no matter what I probably get grass on his driveway.
If he asked me to stop, I think I would feel offended. After all, I am just helping out by mowing all the way over because his landscaper is on a different schedule than I mow and it looks silly if i just stop. And I never thought of the light grass clippings as possibly offensive to anyone until I read your post. I suppose now I'll be worried about it.....
anyway, I think you should let it go, why risk disturbing your neighborly relationship over such a petty thing?
ps he probably IS mowing more than once a week - with the rainy summer we've had we need to move about every 5 days to do it right. I just mowed last Thursday and it is past time to mow again.
I love Victoria W's answer. If you wanted to mention it casually to your neighbor, Victoria has given you some great suggestions.
I'd personally probably let it go, but I'm not nit picky over my lawn. If it really bothers you, say something. But do be aware that it could change your relationship. (not guaranteed, but maybe)
He certainly can try to claim your property as his if he maintains it for a specified period of time (varies depending on ordinances). Trust me on this, our neighbor has turned his back yard into a park and insisted on mowing the base of our hill for years. We finally planted some bushes down there and landscaped it so he can't mow. He still mows past his lawn in the front yard however. Not sure why but he does it but it is killing our grass. I have mentioned it to him twice and need to be more forceful next time I see him. This is just me, of course, but I wouldn't ignore it. You don't have to be mean about it but just casually mention you'd like to care for your own property, thank you very much and goodbye. Good luck!
My husband always mows between the driveways even though 5' belongs to our neighbor. Our neighbor on the other side does the same thing.
My idea would be to plant bushes or something along your side of the property line. Hopefully he wouldn't mow them down!
my neighbors driveway is 6 feet away from mine and my sons bedroom windows. the man powerwashes/mows/blows for hours at a time. more days than not. literally at least 5 or so hours most times. he often starts at 7 am. he will mow for a half hour, stop for cigarette breaks every half hour, leaving the thing running alongside my property, 4 feet from me, the whole time. sitting on his stoop blowing cigarette smoke into my air conditioner. screams and curses at the machine, his million year old mother, anyone who says anything to him, etc. its a joy. oh, and his son often plays cards with his friends in the garage till all hours. we live on top of each other, he is obviously a little loose around the edges, who wants a war??? not me.... so what to do?? .... so, just to give you some perspective.....
sounds like the grass would look better like that anyway, the same to the driveway on either side...
In my neighborhood we mow driveway to driveway, whether or not it's my property or theirs. It makes everything look better.
As far as the grass clippings go--let it go. The wind or breeze will blow it away. You could ask him to point the mower toward the center away from the dirveway but seriously why start trouble where there is none. You all get along--so get along.
I will (and so will all of my other neighbors) give you the people who live right next to me. I have called the cops sooo many times on them and so have all the other neighbors for everything from fireworks at all hours of the day and night to their son playing basketball at midnight to them trampling my flower beds, broken and missing lawn and garden decorations ect ect ect ect ect. If not for them this would be a perfect neighborhood.
Sounds like a great place and time to start planting a hedge :) It would solve all problems of the grass and mowing and property line. I would touch base with "John" so you can agree on location of plantings (also to make him aware so he doesn't mow small plants over.
A similar thing used to happen to us when the lawn service came to our next door neighbor's house - because the 2 houses are so close together, my entire driveway would get covered with grass clippings once a week. My "solution" : I would either get out the garden hose every single time my neighbor's lawn was mowed and hose down my driveway, or sweep the whole thing with a broom. After seeing me do this several times, my neighbor came to me and said she had a talk with the lawn people and asked them to mow in the opposite direction from then on. Problem solved. Maybe if you take a similar approach, your neighbor will catch a clue, and be a little more careful in the future. I am very non-confrontational, so I would never have approached my neighbors about it directly. I know in the grand scheme of life it's not really a big deal, but I do understand your annoyance.
My parents had a neighbor who did something similar. There was a hedgerow between my parent's house and the neighbors and my neighbors started mowing part of it. My parents ignored it. After several years the neighbors started cutting the hedgerow trees down! My parents confronted them at this point, since they did not want their trees cut down, and the neighbors informed them it was their property. My parents had to hire a surveyor and start a court battle to get their hedgerow back. They didn't actually have to go to court. Our neighbor's son apparently explained to his parents that their chances of winning the court case were close to nill since both the city records and our survey showed it wasn't their property. But it was a big pain regardless. Best to avoid having to deal with that later and talk to your neighbor early.
If the neighbor is mowing so often to where it isnt tall enough for your husband to mow,then disregard this part. When your husband mows, he should mow over the 20 foot area the neighbor already mowed. Even if it doesnt need it. Remember its your property, and his so called "likes to keep it even is an excuse to mow it and make it look like his property." On top of that blowing the grass on the drive, but cleaning his off is insane. He knows it is wrong. Now if he leaves grass on his concrete, i would just forget about it. So back to the "making it even" He is trying to control your property... So , yeah i would definately mow over his work, but would not say a word about it. If anything is ever said, say thanks for mowing it! One disagreement spoken leads to bad vibes between neighbors. My neighbors driveway has 2 feet of grass next to it that belongs to her. I make sure I dont mow it, and make the mow line as straight as I can with the property. I have a lot of respect for my neighbors. Remember there is a reason for everything! I have bushes on the side of my house that i would love to trim as they look like the rainforest, but if you only knew my schedule/ and responsibilities... I never get to trim them or replace and know they look like at anytime a gorilla will pop out. If My neighb said anything it would just be bad vibes, but i have 100% intention on removing them this year. Yes, I am a man posting on my wife's account. I ended up here because he wind blew grass clippings on my neighbs driveway and she knocked on the door and asked me about it. I actually forgot about it but would have used the leaf blower if i remembered, seen it tomorrow, or if she would hqve just knocked and talked about anything else i would have came out front and got the hint. Didnt care much for her asking me about it as it wasnt on purpose.
Get someone out to mark your property. Inform the neighbors that they maybe unawary of the where they are, so you are doing them a favor by showing them and resquest that they allow you husband to be the one the tend it. As long as you make it known to your neighbors where the property is. We have markers on the corners of our lot.
Check with a local realtor. Our parents had a neighbor mowing their yard and trying to pay the taxes on the vacant lot. Found out if they care for it for 7 years, it becomes theirs! Whoever pays the property taxes on empty lots can claim it as theirs.
