To have told neighbour I wouldn’t lend them our lawn mower for this

[Craftsandfun]

They’ve lived here for 4 years and have never attempted to clear their garden properly. They have some form of copy-catiness and are always looking out the window at what we’re doing.

Dh and me cleaned the garden yesterday and they must have been watching again. Today she messaged me to ask if I have any “powerful” tools to clear the garden (like I’m some kind of lumberjack)

She came around and asked to see the lawn mower as hers is crap, and I told her Dh said not to attempt to cut that growth with the lawn mower as it will break. To cut down the plants and trees and then use the mower on grass only. She left pissed off i think as she’s not replying to my message about Gardener recommendation.

I don’t want to drip feed but what’s pissed me off is that they have 3/4 holidays a year (2 abroad) and she said it’s too expensive to have someone come and clean it as they’re quoting £200-1000. Also I told her to burn the grass/cuttings like we did with the big clean and she made a face like it was a nasty thing to do. I mean wth?

Oh and her Dh has hay fever so can’t apparently do any gardening. If you have hay fever and can’t garden, then you should fork out the cash to get someone else to do it. The amount of rats I’ve seen run into their garden from outside makes me itch all over.

YANBU - it’s not your job to supply them with tools they need, especially if it’s not even the right tools!

And fully agree they either need to invest in proper kit to tackle that or hire a pro.

Stop offering suggestions. She's not interested in your advice. All you have to do is say you don't want to lend it out. That's it.

Rats ned a food source. Just being over grown wont entice them

tell me about it! Not even Leatherface can help with that shit.

She needs to get that all cut down then she can mower over it, don't lend her yours, that is not what they are designed for. C.F.

Your post has triggered 'The Lumberjack Song' in my head.

For that, YABU.

The other stuff, meh. Tell her to jog on. She basically wants you to offer to do her garden.

Yanbu they dont sound like they know what they are doing and could damage your lawnmower.

If you have hay fever and can’t garden, then you should fork out the cash to get someone else to do it.

to be fair some people (me) cant afford to do that although it doesn't sound like this is the case here.There are 2 of them.thiugh so why can't she do it.

It annoys me when people have a green and do nothing to.keep.it half decent. If they don't want flowers fine but mowing the lawn every couple of weeks is surely easy enough.

Laughing at the idea of just putting a mower over that lot. Jesus what an idiot

Tell her about the rats ~ that should jolt her into action. However ~ if she's got rats in her garden they must be cutting through yours too. Not sure rats have respect for borders.

Our houses are separated by a pathway and we have a brick wall with no gaps. Never seen a rat in our garden tbh.

I think she knows about the rats/mice, their front garden is overgrown aswell, and dd saw a dead mouse on the pathway for ages once until it just disintergrated away.

OP YABU to burn grass clippings and other garden rubbishy, Either compost it , get a green waste collection or take it to the tip.

if shes rats It wont be because of the overgrown garden.they go where there is food.so If they have rats its a whole other and separate problem:( but id put poison down because im sure theyd seek your home out too then surely!

I get shocking hay fever - and I do a lot of gardening. I just stock up on the antihistamines. The neighbour's dh is being a lazy git.

I don’t actually think there’s anything wrong with burning clippings if you want to get rid of them quickly and don’t have time for trips to the tip.

We did ours in 3/4 hours during the night.

please don't put rat poison down, it's a terrible death plus if a cat or fox bit the rat they could die as well. if there are rats then you could call the council.

You may think there's nothing wrong with burning clippings but you're wrong - it's antisocial, especially in this weather where people may want to have their windows open / enjoy their gardens / hang out washing.

If he has hay fever that lot spilling pollen into the atmosphere isn't going to help!
They should cut it down and pave over it or something.

My neighbour is similar except that they don't ask to borrow tools. We've cleared the garden for them twice (there was tigers in there!), but her adult son has moved back in, so there's no way we are doing it again this year.

He's a lazy bastard!

I always occasionally smell fires. The allotments near where I work are always burning fires in the evening. I’m sure people can cope with a bit of fire smell without it being antisocial in the evenings/nights. Bbq smoke smells shit too to me. Are they antisocial?

I think bbq smoke and fires are anti social. In this weather I want to have my windows and patio doors open, the washing on the line, not have to close everything because of the smoke.

A couple of hours of fire during one night isn’t going to ruin your life.

It's really "can I borrow your mower so I don't break mine".
Besides that, only a fucking lunatic would go at that shitfest with a mower...where is the nearest specialist eye hospital.

Tell the lazy cow to buy some garden shears (£5 - £20 in Wilko) and put a bit of elbow grease into it.