AIBU to be upset by this letter.

[welshcath]

I got home today to find this letter, which had been sent in the post. Yes our garden has a few stray bits of rubbish in it as it goes straight on to the road and it's been very windy the last few days. It was on my list of things to do this weekend but now I feel like not tidying, in the manner of a truculent child. WWYD?

If they had worded it in a more polite way, I'd be ok. But no, they had to be smart as they are anonymous, so to hell with them and put more eye sores in your garden!!!!

Did you know that if you get a tube of squeezy cheese and draw a giant cock and balls on the pavement outside your neighbour's house, it will not wash off? I think it must be the fat content.

Someone did this by our old local shop. It seems to be a permanent fixture which did make me laugh whenever I walked by. Bit of traditional street art.

I can't be doing with people who write notes like that.

I like the idea of writing "NO" on the bottom, and sellotaping it to the front door or garden gate or something. Statement of intent.

I used to live next door but one to a house whose back garden was piled with black bin bags, bricks and other building detritus, and grass/weeds that were waist high. There was also a stack of roof tiles on the roof, and a roofing ladder that had been there at least three years. Long story cut short - I had a rat problem in my house, EHO came round, they looked for points of entry and it turned out to be my direct neighbour (semi-d houses) BUT when the EHO saw the state of the next house along she was certain that's where they were living and coming from. The house belonged to a builder (!) and ended up being compulsorily purchased as it was a public health hazard. It was bought by a property developer/builder who had to gut the entire building, including the stairs because it was all falling to bits inside from dodgy building.

My point? I never wrote THEM a note to say how shockingly bad their back garden was, and didn't deliberately shop them to the council, it happened as a by-product of the rats invading my own house - because who DOES that?

Loving some of theses suggestions-the fuck off lawn, the lamination & the flamingo esp! I agree it's crazy. I can't believe it's for only 2 pieces of litter-they are nuts and just rude.

I'd copy the letter & attach a letter of your own thanking the anonymous sender for their letter, pointing out however that it was rude & insensitive. Welcome anyone into the garden (should the litter be distressing them), to come and pick it up. Suggest that a more neighbourly way to deal with their problem was to think how they could help first & approach the situation in a vein of friendship first and basically treat everyone else in the community with respect rather than chastising them. Peace & Harmony y'all!

God id be mortified if I got this through and would actually clean up but I have some arsehole nosy village neighbours so I get why you might not!!

Sounds strange If it's just a couple of bits to be honest but I believe anything as some people have too much time on their hands.

There is a wonderful plant called a Dragon Arum which can be got from specialist nurseries. It grows about 4-5 foot high with a large red spathe style flower. When in full flower it smells of rotten meat and decay. Endless hours of amusement watching passersbys faces, get one OP for your front garden.

What if you were seriously ill? Surely your garden wouldn't be a priority?!!
I'd put a big notice in the window saying "sorry about my garden but I've got a terminal illness"

I love the mooning gnomes!

My friend and DH live in a naice area. They have not had the funds or time to keep their garden to the neighbours standards - their NDN has made PA comments for years.
Think 2 parents working FT in jobs that aren't just 9-5.
This summer they had garage knocked out and whole drive though to garden done, BBQ area, hot tub, raised decking and sleeper beds etc. It looks amazing. Her NDN have literally found a reason not to speak to them since

Read all this in the hope of garden picture, come on OP how can we can get judgey without evidence of your disgraceful garden. Shock us.

"sorry about my garden but I've got a terminal illness"

That would probably cause another notes telling OP to stop making excuses and pointing out that she could plug her life support machine into an extension lead from the porch, allowing her full access to all parts of the garden.

Our old neighbour once went nuts at me about our front garden. It's about 1 meter by 3 meters if that. It was shrubs but she wanted it to be stones like hers so they matched. We'd been on holiday and in that fortnight the weather had switched back and forth from rain to sun a number of times. Shrubs had grown and needed cutting back and we didn't do it within 24 hours of returning from holiday so she came and told us off.
Dh couldn't cut it back as he'd badly broken his hand so I did it while 33 weeks pregnant with twins. Neighbour then went nuts at me for doing it myself. That's when I snapped, pointed out we had no family nearby and no funds to pay a gardener as I was about to go on mat leave and have 2 babies when we'd only budgeted for one (plus dd1). She knew dh had his hand in plaster so who exactly did she think would cut it back? My 3 yo?

And I deliberately left the dandelion as we were waiting for it to become a clock. I like dandelions so there.

I also once found her in my back garden as she wanted to cut a bush back in her garden but couldn't reach. She gave me a heat attack then told me off about how dangerous and slippery the decking was - it was and we planned to build a conservatory over it 2 months later so just avoided it as it was February. Apparently she could have fallen - should not have been in my back garden!

Some people are nuts. Even if it is a mess, that's your choice!

I would take that sandwich wrapper, stick it on the outside of wheelie bin and take the bin near the street with the note adding narrative as a reply ; "whoever wrote this, I hope you find other hobbies than poking your nose at others' gardens, as by leaving notes to neighbours the street isn't getting any cleaner!"

Get a blog and publish it! Send all your neighbours the link, one of them might recognise the writing (such as it is) and tell you who it was. Wordpress is the place for blogs, free if you want and a lot of people do, or paid for if you want to do it professionally. If you want your own domain name registered, I recommend Gandi. I have several domains registered there and they're very efficient; and you're not tied to a web host for domain management. You could have fun with this. That neighbour is an a**hole.

As with many others this would make me dig my heels in I would make a sculpture of said detritus and include the letter and title the piece ignorance

Oh dear! I think the best thing is to completely ignore the letter - dont give them the satisfaction to think that they got you.
sounds like the only disgrace in that street is them.
MAybe you could remind them that they are free to not look at your front garden!
How rude.

I was sent an anonymous note once and an acquaintance who's a police office told me it was technically illegal

I deliberately left the dandelion as we were waiting for it to become a clock.

You STAR!, *Dragons!

You absolute STAR!!!

Neighbours are weird. I once had a neighbour send me a detailed note about how inconsiderate I was. My crime? To park in such a way that he couldn't swing his car into his drive. (I wasn't blocking his drive in any way). But he'd done similar to at least 2 other neighbours. He only picked on the women, of course.

Unless your front garden is a health hazard - ignore it.