Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Neighbour spraying my weeds

140 replies

Clappingforjoy · 09/04/2020 19:13

Okay so I'm not a gardener and have tried and tried to keep my garden under some kind of control with the weeds but have never had the money to change it in the way of converting it to a concrete jungle to avoid the maintenance.
Upstairs is senior couple who keep theirs neat and unfortunately they look over onto my lovely garden and it's open at the side meaning that I have to go over onto theirs for access to my shed so I get that my garden is thrown in thier face pretty often.
However how would you feel if she came over into your garden spraying your weeds without asking.

OP posts:
JKScot4 · 09/04/2020 21:39

Gardening is a good form of exercise and plenty of us work full time and don’t leave out gardens a mess, I’d hate living next to that. Stop making excuses and get out and do a bit every day.

stella1know · 09/04/2020 21:47

Really pissed off. weedkiller is environmentally damaging and if they sprayed my lungwort, aquilegia, violets, lily of the valley, hedge dead-nettle, celandine or other wildflowers that my newts and frogs like I would pop a note to them pointing out damage to my property. Weedkiller can also leave nasty bare or yellow patches, weeks later, and I would be very pissed off.
The world needs more wildflowers, not 1950s chemically induced lawns. Rot!!

Sennetti · 09/04/2020 21:50

you CAN be obliged to keep it in order

weeds and undergrowth left to fester can be perfect cover for rats

to be honest i'd be ashamed i'd let it get in that state and more ashamed i'd let myself get into a position where i couldn't even manage it myself. i'd be embarrassed i was causing a nuisance

stella1know · 09/04/2020 21:51

You can’t grow veg now where they have enthusiastically sprayed weedkiller. I wouldn’t want to eat it. Idiots. Unfortunately you probably cant invoice them for the little loss of enjoyment/habitat/soil health/veg growing capacity.

whitedogpoo · 09/04/2020 21:52

Spray with what? I’d be annoyed if it was with roundup as it’s carcinogenic. Salty water, not so much .

stella1know · 09/04/2020 21:52

@MitziK and @JasonPollack 😍🌿

Sennetti · 09/04/2020 21:52

@stella1know

i use organic weedkiller when necessary......how do you know these neighbours didnt as well?

OhLook · 09/04/2020 21:53

I would be fucking livid if anyone came into my garden and especially if they sprayed chemicals everywhere.

DappledThings · 09/04/2020 21:59

how is that even remotely relevant to OP's post?

What happened to reading comprehension?

How is it not relevant? It's another example of someone doing something to someone else's garden that they (the doer) thought was helpful bit was received really badly (as the OP might have reacted).

onegirlandherdog · 09/04/2020 22:50

I'd be fuming. Weed killer is horrific. What happens if a bids comes along, just after it's been sprayed, picks up and insect and feeds it to their young!! I wouldn't let weedkiller anywhere near my garden. It's a wildlife killer.

Khione · 09/04/2020 22:53

Khione no you have that wrong it's a communal walk through my shed is over thier side so my shed is in their garden.

I'm sorry then I read that wrong

campion · 09/04/2020 23:08

Weeding costs absolutely nothing. Just effort on your part.
Maybe your neighbours had had enough of your weeds becoming their weeds. Weeds are not plants in the wrong place - they are a bloody nuisance,especially when they come from an untended wilderness next door.
Weeds are no respector of boundaries.

Fromthebirdsnest · 09/04/2020 23:15

Is be chuffed to bits ! X a gardener is a lot of money! Be grateful up , in fact make a Thank you card maybe they will do your gardening for you !

StoneofDestiny · 09/04/2020 23:18

I'd be embarrassed if my garden was a mess others had to look onto.

sanityisamyth · 09/04/2020 23:24

Depends which weeds. Hopefully not dandelions as the bees rely on them for food. It's hard enough for them without being poisoned and starved.

Mistymonday · 09/04/2020 23:46

Aeful thing to do and terrible for the ecosystem and pets. I would be apoplectic with rage!

Sushiroller · 10/04/2020 08:58

Look YABU but you aŕent getting the answer you want and keep coming up with more excuses....
Like being overweight and working FT 🙄 i am not trying to be unkind when i say this but this honestly isnt unique or special - you are literally describing at least a quarter of the UK population.

it's hard to tell how bad yours is (but it by your own description it doesn't sound great.)
Honestly, overgrown gardens are antisocial and an eyesore. In this current climate you should feel priviledged and lucky to even have one.

FWIW I have spent about £20 on aldi garden tool kit and a pair of garden gloves and our horribly over grown garden (as of last august) looks fairly decent now.
I started in one corner and worked my way around doing it little and often (as i dont love gardening)
Not sure why I am writing this though as i dont think you want to hear anything other than your neighbours are arseholes.

Umnoway · 10/04/2020 09:00

I’d be pleased and would thank them.

Ginfordinner · 10/04/2020 09:01

I agree with Sushiroller

Ronnie27 · 10/04/2020 09:06

It’s a bit cheeky but they are probably doing it as a nice gesture rather than to be passive aggressive / insulting and you’re a bit embarrassed so taking it the wrong way. Don’t be though, keeping a nice garden is tricky when you don’t know what you’re doing and don’t have any help!

I would be pleased and thank them, explain you want to sort it but don’t know how etc, they may be happy to help especially if it’s impacting them.

BMW6 · 10/04/2020 09:10

I'd be embarrassed and would thank them!

ShowOfHands · 10/04/2020 09:13

Weeds are not plants in the wrong place

That's exactly what they are. I purposely grow nettles for wildlife and I also make nettle soup and nettle tea. Some gardeners hate nettles. My friend grows cleavers just to make tea with it.

I'm an organic gardener - my job as well as what I practice at home - so yes I would be extremely cross at weedkiller being sprayed near my garden but I have some sympathy with your neighbours. My immediate neighbours have bindweed and they let it grow everywhere and I spend a lot of time digging out the roots that spread into my garden. It's quite destructive. Ditto ground elder though I can at least eat that.

You don't like gardening op but is there a chance you could? Would you like to try growing veg? Or flowers? Or to make your garden a usable space? There are lots of people who would help on here. Maybe your neighbours too.

CrotchetyQuaver · 10/04/2020 09:36

If you'd kept on top of it then there would have been no need for her to come and spray them. I guess she felt you were letting the side down. The trouble with weeds is that they spread - one years weed is seven years seed as the saying goes. She was actually doing you a favour. I let my garden go to pot due to illness and it's a massive struggle to reclaim it that has lasted several years so far

firawla · 10/04/2020 09:47

I’d just thank them to be honest! We are tempted to do our neighbours as they have a huge amount of weeds growing up against the fence, which sneak through to our side and even damage the fence. Not that we would do without asking, but I’ve definitely said to dh a few times I wish we could just chuck a load of weed killer over the fence!
Can’t really go round and ask now with lock down, but if we do see them in future I might just ask if dh can go in and spray them. I can understand why people don’t want their neighbours garden covered in weeds, it does affect others not only yourself

Sushiroller · 10/04/2020 10:27

You can’t grow veg now where they have enthusiastically sprayed weedkiller. I wouldn’t want to eat it. Idiots.

Given the OP hates gardening and neglects her garden I'm not sure how much veg she is planning on growing