Do you judge people who don't mow or weed their lawn?

[Tobythecat]

Do you? Mine was overgrown for a little while and everyone else's was freshly cut, I felt a bit scruffy

Is this a thing that people judge their neighbours on?

FuckKnuckle, that reminds me off when we had a new wall built out front and I planted the top of it with wildflowers. Imagine my delight when my neighbour from across the road came round to tell me how she'd helpfully weeded my wall for me. I had to explain that they weren't weeds, they were wild flowers and that I'd planted them deliberately. Didn't stop her doing it again though

I don’t want to but I do.
I don’t care that everyone doesn’t do full on gardening etc but I do think it should be kept tidy. And mowing does that. Imo

I do find it untidy looking, especially when the outside verge of most houses are done and If I know them as fit and well.

If the occupants were elderly or have a disability I would never judge.

My NDN is 85 so I do hers and my own every forthnight.

But I do have flowers for the bee's so I like tight grass.

I’d judge on the not mowing, not the weeding.

Very depressing reading the answers to this thread. I begin to understand why there are so many instances of Councils mowing grass verges just as the orchids are throwing up their flower spikes.

I do feel irrationally irked by it but it used to be my job, so seeing a neat lawn with the edges all nicely trimmed brings back the feelings of satisfaction I used to get. Mowing is one of the few jobs in gardening that makes an instant impact - other jobs just aren't as noticeable. I can't get judgy if people don't though, I have no idea what their lives entail and it might just be beyond them to do it.

I do get judgy at my neighbour letting brambles, bindweed, nettles, ivy and - worst of all - tree seedlings grow unhindered, as they creep under the fence and I have more work to do as a result. Irritatingly, the neighbours have a contract maintenance firm come out to cut the grass etc, and they're utterly rubbish and haven't got a clue. And leave the weeds alone

I wouldn’t judge but it does look scruffy and unkempt. Different to wildflower or wildlife havens, it’s just neglect.

I do a little bit but I also realise that some people are elderly, have disabilities etc and don't always have anyone to help them or the money to pay someone to do it. So when I notice myself getting judgy I engage my brain and realise there might be good reasons for it.

Let's hope none of the judgers live in my street. Ours is like a field of dandilions surrounded by neatly mown neighbouring gardens. We both work, have a toddler dd, I'm 7m pg and frankly we would rather sit on the couch than mow the lawn (see also, hoovering stairs carpet) If I was going to dedicate time to gardening, I would sooner improve the back garden which is actually a space we use and enjoy. Front lawn maintenance is surely more for the neighbors' benefit than our own? Since I heard dandelions are good for bees I've been focusing on that instead!

I don't. Probably because ours is the scruffy lawn. We both work very long hours. By the time we could to the lawn it's usually 9pm and if we mowed it then no doubt someone would start a thread on mumsnet about noise when their kids were sleeping.
I've actually managed to do it this morning but it still looks scruffy. I like to think I make up for such behaviour by helping my elderly neighbours with their shopping and being a good neighbour in other ways.

My mum does.
As a result we have fake grass.

No I don't judge because 1) i don't care and 2) it's none of my business

Try making dandelion jam - it's awesome. But leave some for the bees. I only pull up dandelion leaves on the lawn to make a mulch for my veggies.

I wouldn't care unless I was trying to sell my place and thought a neighbour's unruly yard might put potential buyers off. As long as my neighbours aren't overly noisy then I don't see why I should care what they do or don't do with their property.

I don't actually "judge", but I'm in two minds about front lawn maintenance. Yes, it's a personal choice, and not everyone wants to be a gardener. On the other hand, in a neighbourhood like this, with no front hedges or walls, and large front lawns, I think homeowners should keep the front of their house neat.

Sort of. I’m deweeding our lawn at the moment - there are weeds in there the size of cabbages. Some of it is communal. One neighbour has a selection of unemployed 20-somethings living at home. I’m judging because I know that if that was me living at home (especially if I saw a neighbour out there) I’d go and join in (because in those circumstances I actually did).

I suppose I do and I have a massive tolerance for unkemptness. I enjoy mowing the lawn and tend to do it weekly at this time of year.
My neighbours are lazy bastards and their reluctance to do any garden maintenance including trimming the hedge on our boundary does my head in.
So I pulled up the hedge and built a really big fence and now I don’t need to give a fuck.

Blueloner

I do.
There are cool tools for pulling up weeds.
The burnt brown dandelion look is only acceptable while building work is underway.
I keep bees, who are just loving the tree pollens and I’d rather see them not on the ground being potentially stepped on.

No. I think English people are weirdly obsessed with their lawns, the front ones in particular, the ones people think it's déclassé to sit on. When we moved to the village we live in now, to a rented house, the rental agreement included using a garden maintenance service, and we had to ask them to stop concentrating all their efforts on the front garden, which we never used because it wasn't fenced off and we had a toddler, rather than the back, which we used a lot -- they were quite surprised, and said that all their other clients felt it was important to prioritise the front, even when it was never used.

I love it that my neighbour's is messier than mine, it makes me feel slightly smug that whilst hers is 2ft high, mine is only 1ft

I've turned mine into a wildflower meadow and it only gets cut twice a year. I have pretty high fences but part of my garden can just about be looked into from the top floor of a couple of neighbours if you really lean out. One sidled up to me one day and mentioned that my garden is a bit of an eyesore. Told her there is a simple solution, don't crane your scrawny neck out to look then. She no longer talks to me. Result!

PS: I have loads of wonderful butterflies, insects and birds in my garden. To me that is my definition of beautiful.

Yes!

I think everyone should make a basic effort to keep it tidy. Not manicured - I like some wild flowers and insect friendly bits myself - but when it gets to really untidy it just looks a mess.

I had to have this conversation with my tenants not so long ago - they were aghast at mowing the tiny lawn. It is in their tenancy agreement. It's not exactly hard, and if they don't want to do it then don't rent with a garden, get a flat. Lazy sods

It depends. I'm not sure I'd automatically judge as lazy, but I'd wonder what the issue was ie was something wrong.

If someone just wasn't mowing their lawn and said it was because rhy were tuning it into a meadow, unless they had a meadow like proportioned garden I would then just think "ljust be honest you can't be arsed mowing it" 🤣😳