AIBU to ask you to cut your grass?

[BadEyedManiac]

I know there's a movement around not cutting grass and not trimming hedges and so on which I have to say our local council has enthusiastically embraced to the point that road signs are partly obscured by various shrubbery.

However although this might be lovely for bees (although the absolute benefits are probably limited in the context of the age of industrial farming which no one is doing anything about) it is hell on earth for people with pollen allergies. And is particular hell on earth for people like me who have pollen allergies and a corneal condition.

I've just woken up due to corneal pain and have spent ten minutes pouring eye drops into my eyes and I know it's only going to get worse as summer goes on. The environmental benefits from people failing to tend their greenery in urban areas are negligible while the effects on the people around you can be absolutely brutal. Please, please cut your bloody grass. This is awful.

I’m sorry you're having a shit time, but also, no, I don't think it's reasonable to tell people what they can and can’t do with their own gardens because you happen to have an allergy. Having an allergy to something that’s constantly present in the natural environment is unfortunate but also not something that other people have to manage for you.

The gardener does every two weeks.

Politely, no. My hay fever is bloody awful at the moment and the absolute last thing I want to do is hang out around my grass.

@Imsittinginthekitchensink your hay fever is bloody awful because no fucker is cutting their bloody grass though.

Cut your grass, people! Pollen allergies are really really common. You're doing fuck all in the grand scheme of things letting it grow, bee wise, if you live in an urban environment. But you're doing plenty harmful to your actual fellow human beings who also share your environment with you by doing so.

My partner has severe hay fever. He also decided he wanted to be a gardener and has an aesthetic love of long grass 😂

I recommend the injection, he also recently tried the hay fever nasal wipes and says they are really good.

Does he have an aesthetic love of ticks too? 🦗

And of driving in the wrong lane at roundabouts because the council have decided to rewild the fucking verges?

Well he’s a gardener lol. We have more to fear than a tick but I won’t tell you about that or you will be scared to touch any living greenery again and demand we burn everything in sight 😂

Really is a huge benefit to bees and other pollinators though, which is extremely important.
It's not like no one will ever cut their grass again.

I used to live in the tropics so I'm good for horror stories thanks.

They have a sensible approach there : if it harms humans, mitigate. It's only in the UK that I've seen this half arsed woolly headed thinking around what to do with greenery.

It's not like no one will ever cut their grass again.

We're already halfway through fucking June. Just when are they going to cut it?

I'm with you!
My DS under 10 designed his own hayfever mask with a wet paper towel to try and get some relief from the damn pollen.
It seems people have just decided keeping gardens nice isn't a done thing anymore.
I cut mine twice a week at the moment.

It's only in the UK that I've seen this half arsed woolly headed thinking around what to do with greenery.

Lots of us like our bees and greenery here in the UK, thankfully. Others things are important, other than humans. 🐝 🌱

I can’t tell if this is a joke or not sorry op - I do believe you do have hay fever though hence the suggestions.

If you are actually being serious that we should ban long grass then I think you need to think of it as your sacrifice so the next generation don’t have even worse hayfever. It’s part genetic and part lack of exposure in early life.

It’s interesting because a lot of people I know who have never had hayfever before are getting it this year - it’s only the wfh lot and we just had COVID lockdowns. So I have made my armchair theory there but that’s not a proven one.

When they choose to.

seriously, not cutting grass in urban areas? What about vermin? is that not a problem in England?

in our area, not cutting your grass is considered a public health hazard because of rats, spiders, and snakes that can then get into housing. Even vacant lots have a regular barrier cut to prevent spread.

@Electriq oh bless him. This last couple of years have been terrible for pollen allergies.

I'm due to have an eye operation soon that I've been waiting for since February for this condition I have that seriously impacts my life - when it flares I can't work or indeed do anything as I can't tolerate any light at all. And now my eyes are all inflamed from pollen and I'm just at my wits' end with it and if I can't get it under control I can't have the operation but I really really need it. Plus it is all so, so painful. I've always had a pollen allergy but these last couple of years are much worse. I do feel for your ds because he won't have experienced it being so bad previously either.

I mean yeah the bees yadda yadda but ffs change what we're doing with arable land then. That would have a meaningful impact. Not just having random patches of long grass along with urban pollution and no mitigation.

Oh honestly fuck knows. I've been on messaging groups with the kind of people who promote this and they're all into fucking mice and all sorts "because nature".

Could I suggest alternatives? We have thyme, mint and creeping things. No mowing, no high grass. It's not great for a football pitch but the average front at least.

I’m really sorry it’s shit for you OP but unfortunately you don’t actually trump everyone else. Things may only make a small difference but it’s a difference and I’m afraid the odd person isn’t and shouldn’t be a deciding factor.

It’s interesting because a lot of people I know who have never had hayfever before are getting it this year - it’s only the wfh lot and we just had COVID lockdowns. So I have made my armchair theory there but that’s not a proven one.

Unless the people you're thinking of literally stayed indoors for two years I suspect your theory falls down.

I myself worked out of home throughout and my allergy was bad the first year, worse the second and is unbearable now. First year the council didn't do fuck all in the way of cutting because covid, second they did some but not as much as usual and in addition this deranged movement towards urban wildery was gathering pace, now this year we've got that plus council have no money so are just letting everything hang out.

Commercial organisations are the same. I spent some time at the train station this afternoon, right in the centre of town (pollution+pollen is the worst combination for lots of us) and there are literally two foot high weeds growing out the tracks. My train was delayed so I was sat there for an hour and by the end it was just unbearable. No bees, because it's a fucking train station, but loads of pollen plus all the crap you get from being in the centre of town and being around trains anyway. I've no doubt they're congratulating themselves on their environmental stance though, despite it doing fuck all.

@MrsTerryPratchett , can you walk on those plants? I would love to replace our grass, I still need to be able to walk to get to the fruit trees and I haven't managed to envision how it would work. I'm thinking maybe stepping stones.

They can take light traffic but we have a couple of stepping stones. And don't step on the bees!

@MrsTerryPratchett , thank you. I'll look into it further.

@user1473878824 one in four people have a pollen allergy. There are a lot of us suffering and we are not a tiny minority.

@MrsTerryPratchett that all sounds eminently sensible and unlikely to impact on your fellow humans. Hurrah!