To ask neighbour not to smoke in his own garden?

This.

I think this about people parking on the bloody road to (in a residential area,) when they've got a driveway. I know it's a free country, and it's perfectly legal blah blah blah, but sometimes it's a case of 'just because you CAN do something, it doesn't always mean you should.'

As for smoking in the garden though. Tricky one. Where is the person meant to go to smoke? Are they meant to go for a walk in the woods where there will (probably) be no humans to offend?!

It's a tough one ... Thankfully smoking is becoming increasingly anti-social. I don't know anyone who smokes now truth be told, except for 2 neighbours. None of my friends, family, or work colleagues, or anyone in my hobby groups. Same with both my adult DDs. They don't smoke, and neither do their partners. My 2 DD have around 20 friends between them. Not one single one smokes.

30+ years ago, it seems like every third person smoked.

I'm

I'd ask him nicely if he would mind smoking somewhere other than directly under your window and explain why

Presumably your neighbour only smokes one cigarette at a time. I doubt your problem is as bad as you perceive it. You cannot stop him smoking in his own garden.

In England (I am presuming that is where you are), we have some fine weather but an awful lot of wind and rain, during which time I doubt the smoke wafts up to your bedroom window. I think you could put up with a little passive smoke, it is hardly likely to do you harm. Keep your clothes well away and use some febreeze if necessary.

This is rather similar to a text I sent our neighbour - After living next door to each other for several years and being on really good terms she started smoking the strongest weed you could imagine. It felt like you hit a wall of the stench. It was so eye-wateringly strong that for a while we were convinced she must be a growing factory.

She didn't want it smelling in her house so used to lean out the mid-storey window as the prevailing wind would blow it away (and directly down the row of her neighbour's windows, doors and gardens) As her habit increased she set up a chair at the window.

She ignored the message (which she was entitled to do) but we were all a bit disappointed. All we wanted was to suggest moving to the front window as it would trail the smoke away from the houses but apparently (as told to one of the other neighbours) she didn't want strangers walking by in the street knowing her business.

In the summer it was awful. Our houses were designed with south-facing balconies and Juliet doors to be thrown open in the summer. Hers were the only open windows and doors on the row as the rest of ours had to remain shut to combat her smoke and god we sweltered. In the end, we had aircon with a huge filter put in as did our neighbours.

We all were ecstatic when the landlord decided to sell up. I was in heaven during the recent hot weather as we could have all the doors and windows open for the first time in years.

It is his perogative to smoke in his garden, but a more considerate person would go up the back, away from people's houses. I have the odd guest who smokes and tell them to go up the back of the garden.
You could pop him a note as I think some people are oblivious and he may take it on board.

Of course she can.

One barbecue gives off the equivalent carcinogens to 500,000 cigarettes. A gas oven can raise benzene levels higher than secondhand smoke.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/15/gas-stoves-pollution-alternatives

This!

I feel for you though.

When I was a smoker I’d have been happy to move further down the garden to partake once the neighbour had made a polite request.

I'm a smoker and I'd rather know if my smoke was bothering a neighbour.

I hate smoking too but I don't think you can ask him not to smoke in his own garden.

Exactly this. If he's a decent bloke he'll think about how what he does affects his neighbours and smoke elsewhere. You never know it might encourage him to give up the horrid habit.
As an ex smoker sometimes you just a little push helps.

Trust me, if you are a none smoker and cant stand the stench, your suggestion wont get rid of all of it but may help as a last resort

Yes, ask and see what she says.
She could go ballistic or you may be pleasantly surprised

Smoking should be banned in all public spaces along with where it can impact neibours like you

keep us posted but please be careful as people can get very vindictive. If she works, that great but from your post about smoking I doubt she does so be aware you may get a massive problem

The dangerous stench is awful and I'm not sure what many people are smoking these days but as we often go for a walk along the rive and sit on a bench - you get a few smokers and the stecnch is like sewer stench - its awful - we get up and leave is the wind is blowing it our way

Smoke is grim so I totally sympathise but I don’t think you can reasonable expect someone not to smoke in their own garden. Have you thought about a fan for the bedroom? It makes a huge difference to room temp and means no need to open the window overnight which solves my fear of bugs flying in, and would equally deal with your smoke issue.

Why ,what exactly will that do ?
He knows he smokes ,I'm sure he's aware it s bad for his health.

Her leaving her window open isn't causing a stink (unless her or her partner has particularly strong/lingering farts or sprays perfume 24/7). Smoking is causing a stink.

You could tell him how the smell rises into your bedroom and ask him if he could find another window to smoke out of, but unfortuneately he has every right to keep doing it..
we had a similar situation in a flat with a lovely south facing balcony. Heavy smokers underneath us and we couldnt ever use our balcony or leave the kitchen/bathroom windows open because of the smell.

@fope Is there something preventing you from putting a fan in the window to blow out?

It's not really high horse tbh.
Choosing to smoke and subject others to the stink is pretty selfish. That said, humans are selfish by nature and loads of folk do selfish things every day.

I mean, I guess only as unreasonable as if he asked you not to leave your windows open? Or to sleep in another room? 🤷‍♂️

How's the view from that high horse of yours?

You can't really ask people not to smoke on their own property but it may be considered a nuisance if it effects other people in the building. We had similar with a tenant keeping his internal front door open so the smoke permiated everyone else's flats. It was considered a statutory nuisance and the council ordered him to keep his internal door shut. You say other people in the block have also commented about it but who have they commented about it to? Are they just talking about it among themselves or approaching him together to speak to him? I suspect the former as is all too often in these situations. We once had a cannabis factory next door effecting everyone else's quality of life but all people seemed to want to do was talk among themselves about how awful it was. Nobody actually wanted to put their head above the parapet and do something about it. When other people comment about it, ask them to perhaps support you and both jointly comment about it together either to him or the council as causing a nuisance.