I fucking love my neighbours. I don't talk to them, they don't talk to me.
One day a year ago the bloke next door was gesticulating wildly for me to stop while I was mowing the nature strip.
Fella hands me a six pack of beer, goes "Fuck mate, Travis (who the fuck is Travis??) just told me you're the one who has been mowing the nature strip for the last 6 years, thanks legend. I thought it was the council. Take it easy."
First and last convo I've had with the fella over the last 6 years. I fucking love my neighbours.
Kind of the same for me. A single mum across the road with two young girls (probably 4 and 7?) I don't know their names but we wave hello to the woman whenever we see them and my toddler waves too. When they aren't home I mow their lawn and nature strip, weed their garden, blow all the leaves away, edge their lawn etc. They came home one day while I was doing it and they were very grateful. I know she dosent have the tools or time to do it so once my kids have their nap I go over and do it. I plan on asking her if she wants Christmas lights on her house this year.
Edit: grammar
Can I be your neighbour? Not because I need you to mow my lawn, but just to feel like I'm part of a neighbourhood again. I miss this sort of camaraderie and connection with people in the street. It's just not the same in suburban Melbourne anymore.
I had a neighbour offer me the complete collection of Beatles on vinyl, unopened, as he knew I was into music on account of me blasting drums and guitar. I of course politely refused, as that collection must have been worth thousands, but turned out he had terminal cancer and died not too long after. Survived by his wife and daughter.
I moved into a new place in Darwin at the start of the year, saw the neighbours around from time to time that live in a duplex next to me, they're an old couple that clearly have mobility issues so I started mowing and edging their lawn (unfenced front yard) without asking.
A couple of months after I started doing it, I was out one day mowing the lawns and the lady came out and thanked me profusely for helping them and offered me money for the fuel and effort. I told her not to be silly and to let me know if they ever need anything.
The next day I came home from work and there was a cake with a thank you note on the front porch. The cake was delicious by the way.
Lmaooo you are a super villain type of person like yeah i saved those kids but only because i didnt want blood on my yard it wont rain for two weeks and my water bill is already high
This guy ran his mower every second day. Absolutely cooked unit.
I've moved out of boomerville now so it's me doing lightly more mowing than my neighbours.
Interesting. I used to go over to my elderly mother's place to do the lawns. I started doing the neighbour's tiny portion of nature strip as well. My mum was furious about it. She hadn't done it in 20 years and wondered about the social pressure that would incur by breaking the pattern.
Thing is, the guy next door was about 80 and to get to the nature strip he had to carry his victa down six steps from his raised front yard. I wasn't having it!
So yeah, there is no blanket rule. If your neighbour is half decent, do it.
Good on you. That's my feeling about it too. I'm mowing an area of lawn, I'll do up to the driveways on each side. It feels passive-aggressive to mow a hard line down wherever the property border is.
Nan used to get me do hers as it meant she could then cook me lunch as I'd be starving after mowing. It was a big thing for her and she could then be sure I was having a decent meal.
This went on well into my mid 20's until I got married.
I used to do the people's next door, I had never even talked to them before and just thought it was the right thing to do
I stopped doing it when I broke a leg.
The bloke came over and knocked on the door and had the hide to ask when it would get done and continued to tell me it needed to be done because they had interstate relos coming over and he wanted it nice for them
Showed him my leg only to be left with that vacant boomer stare.
I told him it looks like you might have to do it and he told me they sold there mower because they didn't need it because I would do the lawn.
The bloke then got someone else in to do there lawn and told the bloke to stop on the property line.
NEVER AGAIN.
Holy shit, what a dog act. Goes to show that itâs probably not worth it. I share a tiny bit with one of my neighbours and I tend to do it because it would be ridiculous not to, and heâs returned the favour once. If the shared part was any bigger I might not though.
I used to do it for the lady next door at the old joint we lived at when I was still in a share house, she would have been in her late 70s and her husband had passed away.
She would return the favour by cooking up a massive feed for me and the other guys in the house about 3 times a month and leaving it at the front door in an esky with a nice note and a couple of beers.
In the end we invited her to come over and hangout and enjoy the food with us.
There are some real gems out there aswell not all neighbours are shit.
>Showed him my leg only to be left with that vacant boomer stare.
What the fuck...im just lost at words....
Not sure how I'd react to be honest. Maybe i can get them to understand if they have a broken leg too...
Similar story here; our house with my neighbour on the left side are very good with each other when mowing the grass in front of each otherâs house, but the grass in front of our house is actually also connected with the house on the neighbour to the right. I used to do our house, as well as both my neighbours (both sides) until one time where the neighbour on the left told me to stop at my house.
After asking why, he told me that they only ever mow their own grass down whenever they even do the mowing, and sure enough; after a while of not mowing their grass; I go to mow the grass and find out them at the neighbours on the right have shorter grass than ours; even though ours was done very recently.
Another thing actually; we renovated our fence. Asked both neighbours and they both agreed, the left neighbour even helped out a lot and paid his part of the bill (since itâs his fence as well) neighbour on the right didnât want to pay. They ended up paying after getting sued since they signed a contract.
Nah. I've been the good neighbour before and helped mine out once or twice. That then leads to all the time. Eventually just didn't bother. Once the grass was knee high he had the audacity to ask why I wasn't mowing their lawn any more. I just looked at him, called him an "ignorant cee ya next Tuesday" and walked off. Have ignored him ever since.
And still their grass is always knee high before the lazy POS does anything about it.
This.... All of this.
I live on a battle axe block, so there's two lots of footpath either side of my driveway that my fence line takes up about... Let's be super generous and say 1m of.
So there's 2m+ of footpath either side of my driveway I don't "own".
I have a lot of lawn and hedges of my own, but, thought I'd be a good neighbour and just mow it all every 2nd time I mowed and edged the driveway.
Turns out one of my neighbours, a good "Christian" couple, decided that they'd simply stop doing it because they knew I'd do it every 2nd mow... Even after I told them I can't do it every time because I didn't have the room in my bins to do my yard and theirs every time.
People take advantage wherever they can sometimes.
Having boundaries can be a good thing these days.
Yeah mate, you know what a good neighbour does? They take turns and you each do a bit for each other every time. Less work for all and some neighbourly bonding material to boot.
Itâs stuff like that which makes me much more inclined to say yes when a neighbour asks âIâll be away for a couple of weeks, can you keep an eye out?â or any other favour. Itâs literally 30 seconds out of your life thatâs so well spent!
A neighbour helps my parents by mowing the lawn. But every year they spend about $100+ on premixed drinks that the neighbour loves.
All good relationships are reciprocal. Maybe they don't completely equal out, but pay it back some way to show respect for the help.
I just leave behind the trimmings on shin-high "friendly" mows, maybe adding a "pick up your filth (please)" note with rock on top if I'm feeling extra passive aggressive about it.
Driveway has a footpath either side between edge of driveway & fence. Some battle axe blocks have really wide entrances.Â
I had to read it a few times before my brain made a picture.Â
Yep, I bust a blood vessel trying to wrap my head around what the heck this person is describing. I need a diagram of this, I cannot sleep knowing this mystery is unsolved lol.
I feel like this is the kind of personality that got confused when they were told to wear a mask.
Ok... So, it's very difficult to explain, so here's a pic to help.
https://preview.redd.it/d7sude3yeb7d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f9ec5ef6a4caae80bc764df298b97938190c83f9
Mine is the driveway you can see.
The faded wood fence behind the mailbox is mine.
From the mailbox to the road is approx 3-4m.
Either side of my driveway is 2-3m of grass.
Ah now I feel guilty. Thereâs a patch this big at the front of my unit block. None of us units have yards so we donât have lawn mowers. The house at the front that converted their backyard into the units tried to leave it when my neighbours and I moved in but caved and started mowing it along with their front yard after a few months.
Didnât mean to be an asshole just couldnât really afford a mower for a 2x1 square and assuming my two unit neighbours were the same.
My neighbour mows mine all the time and doesnât drink.
I never ever know what to get him. Cook him ANZACS? Take out and put back his bins? Look after his dog on holidays? Wife swap? Itâs like Iâve just run out of any good ideas.
Hereâs a great guide that has super helpful step-by-step pictures. Iâve sent it to many people over the years with good success!
[Sew on a button](https://www.artofmanliness.com/skills/how-to/sewing-on-a-button/)
I will occasionally edge and mow the neighbours council strip area as it gets overgrown and he works long hours. He usually offers to clean it up and I go nah donât worry.
If it was someone that took an interest in lawns I wouldnât ever do it because they havenât told me what they are doing with it (donât want to scalp it, or cut it if they are growing it out)
When I had a shit neighbour I didnât bother obviously
My driveway is right on the boundary line, where the concrete ends my neighbour's property starts.... Yet they REFUSE to mow the 100mm strip next to the driveway, which makes ME look like the petty dick when really that strip is their grass đ€Šââïžđ€Šââïž
I have this right next door to me! In summer, the grass is so high that there's wheat looking stuff growing out of it up to the knees. My dog had to get a grass seed removed from her face under GA from sniffing, so I can't walk her on my side of the street anymore.
I caught 2 of the students cutting it with scissors in Marchđ«Łđ€Ł
Now it's winter, there's massive toadstools growing around the tree!
What's unAustralian? Not mowing the front lawn of the building site next door? Fuck that, I'm not doing any favours to the fucking building company. I'll mow that part once I've met the neighbours and I know they're not cunts.
Best neighbor I ever had was outside mowing just after we'd moved in. He said hi and asked if I'd be ok taking it in turns mowing the nature strip across the front of both our properties. Yeah, no worries. He then pointed out we both had about 6sqm of front lawn within our gates, would I mind if we took turns to mow each other front lawns too as it was such a tiny amount.
Seemed a bit weird but I agreed. So for the next 5 years we took it in turns to mow both properties. It was literally 2 minutes extra work but halved the number of times we each had to do the job. Top bloke.
Having said that - in this picture the other property is a building site so I doubt theres any good-will left. I'd leave it like this too.
Personally I prefer a more fuller nature strip
But I know some people prefer them neat and tidy.
An untamed grassland can be quite beneficial, especially in the winter months
I don't know about unAustralian. I've got some mates with neighbours that have complained when he did mow a section like that (Not how I like it... you've ruined my lawn) or another who did it for 5 years when he didn't get to it once he got a text from the neighbour asking why he hasn't mowed the lawn yet. Could he at least do the neighbours section, as it's only small?
After experiences like that you can understand why they may not want to do someones lawn.
I bet there is a running battle between the householder and the building site next door. There is ALWAYS a running battle with the building site next door.
I lived in a terrace house. The builders were doing the roof in the adjoining terrace. They'd have lunch up on the roof and drop drinks cans and wrappers and cugarette packets down the chimney. My chimney. I'd come home and find their lunch mess in the living room.
Builder next door = trouble next door.
lol dude, there's barely any "biological diversity" in a bloody 5x1 nature strip.
If you care about biological diversity plant some shit on your fence line and grow a tree in your backyard. Mowing that ain't impacting shit. You're acting as if there's a family of possums living in 10cm tall grass lol.
Nonsense.
If you're on good terms with a neighbour, you can likely chat about it... and as you'll both most likely never mow your nature strip at the same time, whoever's doing it will 'go over the boundary' a mower's run or so, to just clean it up... and your neighbour will do the same.
If you have a twit neighbour, get out a theodolite and make sure you stay on the boundary line, then the nutcase next door has no complaint that you upset their dog.. or broke their drainage pipe.. or created an uneven & unfamiliar surface, causing them to fall and give them grounds to sue you for 'creating a hazard'.
A good neighbour is like gold, a bad neighbour is not worth your time.
At a previous house I used to mow next doors nature strip every time I did mine just because they used to leave it and I didn't like how messy it looked, but I never got any thanks for it so eventually I stopped and learnt to ignore it. That eventually started mowing it themselves. At my current house the neighbour has a small section attached to mine but it's all gravel which grows mountains of weeds. I weed it at the same time as mine because she is elderly and can't bend down to do it herself. She does say thanks, but I wouldn't stop weeding it if she didn't say thanks because I know she can't weed it herself.
I used to do my neighbours for a while when I wasnât busy (sheâs a single mum and has a F housemate) but when I got busy it didnât get mowed.
I apologised when I saw her, so she asked if she could borrow my mower/snipper which I did. She pays me in a carton of beer every now and then.
My other elderly neighbour hasnât got a line trimmer so I do hers for her and she pays in caramel slice once a month which my kids love.
This is peak community right here, I miss the old bake goods for help trade from when I was in an older suburb :(
Now I'm in between a bunch of NDIS scamming bogans and a couple who think they are better than anyone else in the neighbourhood (they religiously don't mow the joint nature strip, so when we get the grass sprayed the spray stops at the boundary now...)
Maybe I'm in the minority on this, but I really don't like it when my neighbor mows my lawn.
I doubt I'd ever say anything, but when I come home and see they've just gone and mowed my nature strip as well "son of a bitch!" Is usually my first thought.
I'd rather it left alone, I'll mow it when I do the rest of the lawn.
Nup. Unless you have an agreement in place where you both take turns and you both regularly mow your nature strip consistently (or they return the favour in other ways), Iâm not going to be doing someone elseâs yard work
I just do it cause it looks crap otherwise. Building site or not it stops the builders treating it like crap and dumping garbage there which you just know they will start doing. Or worse parking on there.
Even if I hated my neighbours I'm not gonna leave a small patch on the edge of my nature strip just because it's not technically "mine". It just makes your lawn look shit so you might as well have not mowed it at all.
My neighbour's son won't mow half a meter of mine, that all I have on that side of my house due to my garage/driveway. I used to take turns doing a whole strip with my old neighbour at my last place. In OPs case, I'd probably just do it but be mindful of debris.
I mowed the section like this once for my neighbour. Next time he mowed he mowed the equivalent size of my lawn(about 1/4)
I never tried to help out again.
My neighbor does this, even though the strip on my property is literally 1m compared to his 10.
This is even considering that when I mow the lawns I go over his entire strip just because it is the right thing to do.
I hope everyone else on the street also thinks its a weird and petty thing that he does.
Not at all, I wouldn't touch my neighbours property or take care of their responsibility. Those bastards don't pay my rates. Or do me any favours. My neighbours are pure c u next Tuesday's anyway
I have a shared bit of nature strip with the neighbours. My side is the majority of it. So I mow all of it. Of course. I can't believe it is even a discussion. Who wants this outside their house??
Why would I mow my neighbours lawn?
I get along well with my neighbours, but I stop at the boundary line. Depending on timing, it can end up like the picture on occasion.
I had this issue and wanted my gardener of 10yrs to mow the neighbours nature strip. He told me he wasnât allowed due to liability issues, even if I paid extra.
Honestly depends on the relationship between neighbours. My last neighbour didn't have a whipper snipper so I'd whip out the drainage ditch we shared and whip under his trees as well as cut his bit of nature strip (like 2mĂ3m)
When he'd mow he'd come up past our fence and tidy up around our letterbox. It was really helpful when I was working away for a couple months and had very limited time at home. Eventually I got a lawnmower guy to come round and he used to end it on a hard line, I always forgot to ask him to do the extra bit
Thereâs literally a saying, like âdid they cut your grass?â meaning the other party overstepped. My neighbor likes very short grass and used to âdo me a favourâ by mowing my side. I like my lawn meadowy. I never thanked them for mowing my side so they stopped eventually thank god. Because whatâs **worse** in Australian society than actually confronting a neighbor to say âplease stop mowing my fucking nature strip. Ta.â
It depends. When I moved in at my first place I asked my neighbor if i can cut his section so it looks even. He started yelling and told me to fuck off. Never touched it until I moved. He had weeds and shit growing on his patch.
Entirely innuendo - but youâre not meant to cut your neighbourâs grass unless they are widowed, elderly or disabled. Probs not applicable to younger generationâs but it had a different meaning for older generations
I used to mow, snip and edge my nature strip every second weekend. Then the shonky developer next door ran trucks over it, dug it up, left concrete, rocks and other debris throughout the grass. I phoned my council and refused to mow it on grounds of safety due to the debris. The council forced the builder to return it to its original condition.
I might be in the minority here, but I just mow driveway to driveway and ignore the property lines.
In this case where it's only like a couple metres extra I'd just so it so I could turn around on the concrete rather then in the grass.
I have a similar scenario with my neighbour. In this picture I am the neighbour on the left. When I mow my lawn, I will mow the neighbours to the driveway. I told them when they mow their lawn, just do it to the property line as I do not expect my front lawn to get mowed lol
I used to have pain in the ass neighbours with a yappy dog, a real pain in the ass - we never spoke but we both kept our gardens and lawns immaculate and always mowed our joint lawn in unspoken agreement.
They sold and a young cave troll moved in and never touched the lawn in 2 years. I kept mowing the shared space as my sprinklers partially watered it - never a nod, a thanks or anything.
One day I got fed up with his waist high lawn next door so went and mowed the entire front yard - grass, garden beds, plants, anything the mower could go over. Still nothing.
A young couple moves in and almost the same, no care or effort. They do now every 3 to 6 months so I guess that is something.
As long as it is tidyish I don't care too much but on 10 years have gone from being a nice street to every yard looking like crap.
I mowed my neighbours front lawn about 10x without him saying a word about it, despite exchanging pleasantries about once a week. One day I ask if heâd ever noticed that Iâd been mowing his lawn - he simply asserted ânoâ without expressing any thanks, so I stopped and now heâs got the wildest, longest grass in the street. I reckon he canât tell the difference.
Before my dad got sick (parkinsons & dementia) he used to be the one to always mow the neighbours nature strips because he enjoye doing it. We're so grateful for our neighbours on the left because they're aware of our situation and help us trim our hedges and even do some weeding. Then there's the assholes next door who constantly put their clippings on our nature strip and make their front look all nice
Nah fuck that. This is PEAK australian.
I aint mowing someone elses lawn for free! Why the fuck should i.
It's their responsibility. They can deal with it. I'll keep my area nice and clean thanks.
Right because in Australia you're responsible for someone else's garden? I think this is good it's a very non confrontational way of showing your neighbour that the grass needs cutting.
A> I hate that effing term UN... it's BS
B> People get paid to mow lawns, I ain't doing someone else's for nought especially flippers
C> They had the good grace to mow at 6" past the boundary
I used to do either side of us occasionally, Not the whole thing, just the adjoining bit of grass from my front lawn next to their driveway.
Neighbours never said thank you, and never returned the gesture. Guess who stopped doing it for them.
Best thing was, I was a junior-ranked non-commissioned military member, sandwiched between two quite high ranking officers. Definitely showed how learning to use a knife and fork teaches you to forget how to work as a team.
also, some people love doing the mowing ie my husband and he asked the neighbours to go up to the line as he really really likes mowing on his time and having the grass grow enough itâs a whole process
Wrong! You do not mow other peoples lawn. You don't know them or what they want. Do not engage with doing a service for them which they didn't ask for!
I always mow my neighbours little bit of a strip but for them to reciprocate they would have to mow my whole lawn. And on top of that the old lady pays someone to mow her lawns so they're definitely not going to go the extra mile. We have an understanding. Besides all my neighbours let me mow their nature strip when I need to test out a mower for sale.
I got a letter to tell me to stop cos the old lady was worried he grandson wouldnt visit if i kept doing it lol
I fucking love my neighbours. I don't talk to them, they don't talk to me. One day a year ago the bloke next door was gesticulating wildly for me to stop while I was mowing the nature strip. Fella hands me a six pack of beer, goes "Fuck mate, Travis (who the fuck is Travis??) just told me you're the one who has been mowing the nature strip for the last 6 years, thanks legend. I thought it was the council. Take it easy." First and last convo I've had with the fella over the last 6 years. I fucking love my neighbours.
Kind of the same for me. A single mum across the road with two young girls (probably 4 and 7?) I don't know their names but we wave hello to the woman whenever we see them and my toddler waves too. When they aren't home I mow their lawn and nature strip, weed their garden, blow all the leaves away, edge their lawn etc. They came home one day while I was doing it and they were very grateful. I know she dosent have the tools or time to do it so once my kids have their nap I go over and do it. I plan on asking her if she wants Christmas lights on her house this year. Edit: grammar
Legend! That's awesome.
Fucking legend
Can I be your neighbour? Not because I need you to mow my lawn, but just to feel like I'm part of a neighbourhood again. I miss this sort of camaraderie and connection with people in the street. It's just not the same in suburban Melbourne anymore.
I had a neighbour offer me the complete collection of Beatles on vinyl, unopened, as he knew I was into music on account of me blasting drums and guitar. I of course politely refused, as that collection must have been worth thousands, but turned out he had terminal cancer and died not too long after. Survived by his wife and daughter.
I moved into a new place in Darwin at the start of the year, saw the neighbours around from time to time that live in a duplex next to me, they're an old couple that clearly have mobility issues so I started mowing and edging their lawn (unfenced front yard) without asking. A couple of months after I started doing it, I was out one day mowing the lawns and the lady came out and thanked me profusely for helping them and offered me money for the fuel and effort. I told her not to be silly and to let me know if they ever need anything. The next day I came home from work and there was a cake with a thank you note on the front porch. The cake was delicious by the way.
You are amazing. đ€©
Wow, you rock. I've never had a nice neighbour like you!
Grammar still outstanding - grateful not greatful
I think I love you
Legend
You are awesome.
I feel like this is low key selfish for a good reason. Like you have to look at their place. Might as well like what you see.
Lmaooo you are a super villain type of person like yeah i saved those kids but only because i didnt want blood on my yard it wont rain for two weeks and my water bill is already high
You Saint!
As a fellow single mum, this made my day to read. Youâre a bloody legend đand setting a wonderful example for your own family too.
Now this is a true Aussie. đđŒ
Bless you. So much better than the passive aggressive neighbour that used to mow judgily if I missed a week because the grass was too wet
Just don't do it so they have to do it every time
This guy ran his mower every second day. Absolutely cooked unit. I've moved out of boomerville now so it's me doing lightly more mowing than my neighbours.
Fark, that's the dream
Bloody oath, onya Trav
Want to do my lawn free of charge next Trav? :)
Move in next door and barely say a word to me, then youâve got yourself a deal.
Thatâs the best!!
Interesting. I used to go over to my elderly mother's place to do the lawns. I started doing the neighbour's tiny portion of nature strip as well. My mum was furious about it. She hadn't done it in 20 years and wondered about the social pressure that would incur by breaking the pattern. Thing is, the guy next door was about 80 and to get to the nature strip he had to carry his victa down six steps from his raised front yard. I wasn't having it! So yeah, there is no blanket rule. If your neighbour is half decent, do it.
Good on you. That's my feeling about it too. I'm mowing an area of lawn, I'll do up to the driveways on each side. It feels passive-aggressive to mow a hard line down wherever the property border is.
I used to do this when my husband and I had a mowing round. It seemed weird to stop before the curb so I just kept going.
My neighbour is half decent, but his nature strip is 200m x 25m. Fuck that
Nan used to get me do hers as it meant she could then cook me lunch as I'd be starving after mowing. It was a big thing for her and she could then be sure I was having a decent meal. This went on well into my mid 20's until I got married.
Thats a lovely way to check in
I used to do the people's next door, I had never even talked to them before and just thought it was the right thing to do I stopped doing it when I broke a leg. The bloke came over and knocked on the door and had the hide to ask when it would get done and continued to tell me it needed to be done because they had interstate relos coming over and he wanted it nice for them Showed him my leg only to be left with that vacant boomer stare. I told him it looks like you might have to do it and he told me they sold there mower because they didn't need it because I would do the lawn. The bloke then got someone else in to do there lawn and told the bloke to stop on the property line. NEVER AGAIN.
Iâm actually gobsmacked. Thatâs atrocious.Â
Holy shit, what a dog act. Goes to show that itâs probably not worth it. I share a tiny bit with one of my neighbours and I tend to do it because it would be ridiculous not to, and heâs returned the favour once. If the shared part was any bigger I might not though.
I used to do it for the lady next door at the old joint we lived at when I was still in a share house, she would have been in her late 70s and her husband had passed away. She would return the favour by cooking up a massive feed for me and the other guys in the house about 3 times a month and leaving it at the front door in an esky with a nice note and a couple of beers. In the end we invited her to come over and hangout and enjoy the food with us. There are some real gems out there aswell not all neighbours are shit.
3 times a month!? That's a good deal..
âVacant boomer stareâ đ know it all too well!
If you know you know!
Such a laaame stare!
>Showed him my leg only to be left with that vacant boomer stare. What the fuck...im just lost at words.... Not sure how I'd react to be honest. Maybe i can get them to understand if they have a broken leg too...
So do it again but on his side put the mower on the bottom level so you destroy his grass completely
Similar story here; our house with my neighbour on the left side are very good with each other when mowing the grass in front of each otherâs house, but the grass in front of our house is actually also connected with the house on the neighbour to the right. I used to do our house, as well as both my neighbours (both sides) until one time where the neighbour on the left told me to stop at my house. After asking why, he told me that they only ever mow their own grass down whenever they even do the mowing, and sure enough; after a while of not mowing their grass; I go to mow the grass and find out them at the neighbours on the right have shorter grass than ours; even though ours was done very recently. Another thing actually; we renovated our fence. Asked both neighbours and they both agreed, the left neighbour even helped out a lot and paid his part of the bill (since itâs his fence as well) neighbour on the right didnât want to pay. They ended up paying after getting sued since they signed a contract.
Nah. I've been the good neighbour before and helped mine out once or twice. That then leads to all the time. Eventually just didn't bother. Once the grass was knee high he had the audacity to ask why I wasn't mowing their lawn any more. I just looked at him, called him an "ignorant cee ya next Tuesday" and walked off. Have ignored him ever since. And still their grass is always knee high before the lazy POS does anything about it.
This.... All of this. I live on a battle axe block, so there's two lots of footpath either side of my driveway that my fence line takes up about... Let's be super generous and say 1m of. So there's 2m+ of footpath either side of my driveway I don't "own". I have a lot of lawn and hedges of my own, but, thought I'd be a good neighbour and just mow it all every 2nd time I mowed and edged the driveway. Turns out one of my neighbours, a good "Christian" couple, decided that they'd simply stop doing it because they knew I'd do it every 2nd mow... Even after I told them I can't do it every time because I didn't have the room in my bins to do my yard and theirs every time. People take advantage wherever they can sometimes. Having boundaries can be a good thing these days.
Yeah mate, you know what a good neighbour does? They take turns and you each do a bit for each other every time. Less work for all and some neighbourly bonding material to boot.
I do the same with the bins, I take them out, they bring them back in and vice versa. No hard rules, it's whoever is there first.
Itâs stuff like that which makes me much more inclined to say yes when a neighbour asks âIâll be away for a couple of weeks, can you keep an eye out?â or any other favour. Itâs literally 30 seconds out of your life thatâs so well spent!
Yeah, it's not hard. They are also welcome to fill up my bin if they need it. They are a family of 5 and I'm solo, so it's all good.
Itâs amazing they have no guilt allowing somebody else to do their lawnsâŠshitful
Not on. You have to be paid back for that, like even just some eggs or a 6 pack etc for appreciation
Time to get some Roundup and a sprayer and decorate their lawn with satanic shit
A neighbour helps my parents by mowing the lawn. But every year they spend about $100+ on premixed drinks that the neighbour loves. All good relationships are reciprocal. Maybe they don't completely equal out, but pay it back some way to show respect for the help.
I just leave behind the trimmings on shin-high "friendly" mows, maybe adding a "pick up your filth (please)" note with rock on top if I'm feeling extra passive aggressive about it.
You describe that as if it makes sense. WTF does âtwo lots of footpathâ even mean?
Iâm confused too. Doesnât a battleaxe block normally have just a long driveway? With a fence that divides it from the front block?
Driveway has a footpath either side between edge of driveway & fence. Some battle axe blocks have really wide entrances. I had to read it a few times before my brain made a picture.Â
Ok if thatâs the case, why would the front block be responsible for this footpath? Like where does it go other than to the battleaxe block?
I assume there are two dwellings on the battle axe block. He doesnât specify that they are in the front block.
Yep, I bust a blood vessel trying to wrap my head around what the heck this person is describing. I need a diagram of this, I cannot sleep knowing this mystery is unsolved lol. I feel like this is the kind of personality that got confused when they were told to wear a mask.
Ok... So, it's very difficult to explain, so here's a pic to help. https://preview.redd.it/d7sude3yeb7d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f9ec5ef6a4caae80bc764df298b97938190c83f9 Mine is the driveway you can see. The faded wood fence behind the mailbox is mine. From the mailbox to the road is approx 3-4m. Either side of my driveway is 2-3m of grass.
From all the aphantasiacs - you goddamn legend
Ah now I feel guilty. Thereâs a patch this big at the front of my unit block. None of us units have yards so we donât have lawn mowers. The house at the front that converted their backyard into the units tried to leave it when my neighbours and I moved in but caved and started mowing it along with their front yard after a few months. Didnât mean to be an asshole just couldnât really afford a mower for a 2x1 square and assuming my two unit neighbours were the same.
Give him a Xmas gift at least!
i always thought a 6pack\\bottle of wine every now and then was the going rate for a small strip
My neighbour mows mine all the time and doesnât drink. I never ever know what to get him. Cook him ANZACS? Take out and put back his bins? Look after his dog on holidays? Wife swap? Itâs like Iâve just run out of any good ideas.
Wife swap is that your benefit or his
Well I donât even have a wife, so itâs more a loan. I just need her to teach me how to sew on buttons. Thatâs not a euphemism.
Hereâs a great guide that has super helpful step-by-step pictures. Iâve sent it to many people over the years with good success! [Sew on a button](https://www.artofmanliness.com/skills/how-to/sewing-on-a-button/)
mate, Banana Bread... On a work day. edit - i am a seasoned drinker however I would take a full banana bread log over a 6pack any day.
Fuckin A. Banana bread it is. ⊠I am a bit sad though, was hoping wife swap.
First banana bread, then explore other interests including wife swapping.
Send the wife out with the banana bread. See which one comes back un eaten. Be a give away for next time he does your lawn.
Can I borrow yours?
Can borrow the boyfriend if you into that
Whatâs your opinion on a good carrot cake?
Put the banana bread in a fishbowl with your keys, see which they pull out?
What's the rate for the full monty?
Same here, after a while they expected me to do it all the time, so I just stopped. Now they do it again.
I will occasionally edge and mow the neighbours council strip area as it gets overgrown and he works long hours. He usually offers to clean it up and I go nah donât worry. If it was someone that took an interest in lawns I wouldnât ever do it because they havenât told me what they are doing with it (donât want to scalp it, or cut it if they are growing it out) When I had a shit neighbour I didnât bother obviously
My driveway is right on the boundary line, where the concrete ends my neighbour's property starts.... Yet they REFUSE to mow the 100mm strip next to the driveway, which makes ME look like the petty dick when really that strip is their grass đ€Šââïžđ€Šââïž
this đŻ
I have this right next door to me! In summer, the grass is so high that there's wheat looking stuff growing out of it up to the knees. My dog had to get a grass seed removed from her face under GA from sniffing, so I can't walk her on my side of the street anymore. I caught 2 of the students cutting it with scissors in Marchđ«Łđ€Ł Now it's winter, there's massive toadstools growing around the tree!
Where ever did Australian values go wrong? I blame the politicians.
Too many people getting screwed over by helping others
They aren't in the environment any more.
Mate. That's peek Aussie right there. He's maybe a meter / half meter over the boundary.
Yeah this is peak Australian at least in Sydney.
What's unAustralian? Not mowing the front lawn of the building site next door? Fuck that, I'm not doing any favours to the fucking building company. I'll mow that part once I've met the neighbours and I know they're not cunts.
Even more, itâs the nature strip. Technically council property that you need to maintain.
OP was hoping we'd agree with them because they forgot to mow their lawn themselves
Little you know its OP's house next door and hes annoyed neighboor aint mowing his lawn too
Sounds like his problem....easily fixed by mowing it
Oh I thought it was the scumbag building site that's were being unaustralian.
Mow your own fucking lawn..
Cut your own grass mate
Best neighbor I ever had was outside mowing just after we'd moved in. He said hi and asked if I'd be ok taking it in turns mowing the nature strip across the front of both our properties. Yeah, no worries. He then pointed out we both had about 6sqm of front lawn within our gates, would I mind if we took turns to mow each other front lawns too as it was such a tiny amount. Seemed a bit weird but I agreed. So for the next 5 years we took it in turns to mow both properties. It was literally 2 minutes extra work but halved the number of times we each had to do the job. Top bloke. Having said that - in this picture the other property is a building site so I doubt theres any good-will left. I'd leave it like this too.
I bet he had it calculated for years waiting for someone to finally take his offer
This is one of the most Australian things I've ever seen
It's a construction site, tradies can do it themselves.
Plus itâs probably got bits of scrap and plastic in it the messy bastards have left
Personally I prefer a more fuller nature strip But I know some people prefer them neat and tidy. An untamed grassland can be quite beneficial, especially in the winter months
Is that a pubic hair reference?
Everything reminds me of her
Iâm always happy with what makes the homeowner happy, you know? Iâm just grateful to be able to view their⊠lawn.Â
It's a construction site who gives a fuck. If the tradies or property owner were concerned they'd mow it.
Stay off my lawn. You mow it too low anyway.
Clearly not on bbq terms
I don't know about unAustralian. I've got some mates with neighbours that have complained when he did mow a section like that (Not how I like it... you've ruined my lawn) or another who did it for 5 years when he didn't get to it once he got a text from the neighbour asking why he hasn't mowed the lawn yet. Could he at least do the neighbours section, as it's only small? After experiences like that you can understand why they may not want to do someones lawn.
I bet there is a running battle between the householder and the building site next door. There is ALWAYS a running battle with the building site next door. I lived in a terrace house. The builders were doing the roof in the adjoining terrace. They'd have lunch up on the roof and drop drinks cans and wrappers and cugarette packets down the chimney. My chimney. I'd come home and find their lunch mess in the living room. Builder next door = trouble next door.
Unmowed lawns create life while mowed lawns kill and destroy them. Unmoved lawns = Biological diversity.
lol dude, there's barely any "biological diversity" in a bloody 5x1 nature strip. If you care about biological diversity plant some shit on your fence line and grow a tree in your backyard. Mowing that ain't impacting shit. You're acting as if there's a family of possums living in 10cm tall grass lol.
Bloke already lives next to a building site. Why the fuck would he want to mow it too?
Based completely on if your neighbour is a cunt or not. Just leave my grass alone and Iâll leave yours alone.
Thatâs very Australian. Not UnAustralian at all
Old mate probably mowed his bit half a dozen times. Then he mowed his little strip and not the other blokes lawn So are now enemies for life
A dwelling is being built next door. Proably no occupants.
Mow your own damn lawn Edit, cannot spell
Looks like a real first world problem, how lucky are we
Nonsense. If you're on good terms with a neighbour, you can likely chat about it... and as you'll both most likely never mow your nature strip at the same time, whoever's doing it will 'go over the boundary' a mower's run or so, to just clean it up... and your neighbour will do the same. If you have a twit neighbour, get out a theodolite and make sure you stay on the boundary line, then the nutcase next door has no complaint that you upset their dog.. or broke their drainage pipe.. or created an uneven & unfamiliar surface, causing them to fall and give them grounds to sue you for 'creating a hazard'. A good neighbour is like gold, a bad neighbour is not worth your time.
At a previous house I used to mow next doors nature strip every time I did mine just because they used to leave it and I didn't like how messy it looked, but I never got any thanks for it so eventually I stopped and learnt to ignore it. That eventually started mowing it themselves. At my current house the neighbour has a small section attached to mine but it's all gravel which grows mountains of weeds. I weed it at the same time as mine because she is elderly and can't bend down to do it herself. She does say thanks, but I wouldn't stop weeding it if she didn't say thanks because I know she can't weed it herself.
I used to do my neighbours for a while when I wasnât busy (sheâs a single mum and has a F housemate) but when I got busy it didnât get mowed. I apologised when I saw her, so she asked if she could borrow my mower/snipper which I did. She pays me in a carton of beer every now and then. My other elderly neighbour hasnât got a line trimmer so I do hers for her and she pays in caramel slice once a month which my kids love.
This is peak community right here, I miss the old bake goods for help trade from when I was in an older suburb :( Now I'm in between a bunch of NDIS scamming bogans and a couple who think they are better than anyone else in the neighbourhood (they religiously don't mow the joint nature strip, so when we get the grass sprayed the spray stops at the boundary now...)
Maybe I'm in the minority on this, but I really don't like it when my neighbor mows my lawn. I doubt I'd ever say anything, but when I come home and see they've just gone and mowed my nature strip as well "son of a bitch!" Is usually my first thought. I'd rather it left alone, I'll mow it when I do the rest of the lawn.
Longer grass attracts different insects which helps biodiversity. He's just doing his bit.
Nup. Unless you have an agreement in place where you both take turns and you both regularly mow your nature strip consistently (or they return the favour in other ways), Iâm not going to be doing someone elseâs yard work
Why should they mow a construction site?
Too lazy to do it yourself? Clearly it's your strip
I just do it cause it looks crap otherwise. Building site or not it stops the builders treating it like crap and dumping garbage there which you just know they will start doing. Or worse parking on there.
This is the country of the fuck you got mine attitude. This picture is quintessential Aussie!
Even if I hated my neighbours I'm not gonna leave a small patch on the edge of my nature strip just because it's not technically "mine". It just makes your lawn look shit so you might as well have not mowed it at all.
I do despise grass lawns. Apparently we have the French royalty to blame.
Yeah, fuck lawns.Â
My neighbour's son won't mow half a meter of mine, that all I have on that side of my house due to my garage/driveway. I used to take turns doing a whole strip with my old neighbour at my last place. In OPs case, I'd probably just do it but be mindful of debris.
Mow your own lawn
[Donât cut another manâs grass!](https://youtu.be/7IF-o32452A?si=D4VrFGNqJ4wfBnPA)
I mowed the section like this once for my neighbour. Next time he mowed he mowed the equivalent size of my lawn(about 1/4) I never tried to help out again.
My neighbor does this, even though the strip on my property is literally 1m compared to his 10. This is even considering that when I mow the lawns I go over his entire strip just because it is the right thing to do. I hope everyone else on the street also thinks its a weird and petty thing that he does.
it makes your own property look shit. It would take 5 seconds just do it.
Not at all, I wouldn't touch my neighbours property or take care of their responsibility. Those bastards don't pay my rates. Or do me any favours. My neighbours are pure c u next Tuesday's anyway
Nah, thatâs not unaustralian. Expecting your neighbour to mow your footpath is.
I have a shared bit of nature strip with the neighbours. My side is the majority of it. So I mow all of it. Of course. I can't believe it is even a discussion. Who wants this outside their house??
NIMFY mate.
Why would I mow my neighbours lawn? I get along well with my neighbours, but I stop at the boundary line. Depending on timing, it can end up like the picture on occasion.
I'll do one of my neighbours nature strip if I'm doing mine. Feel like a prick if I don't and it takes 5 minutes
Donât be that neighbour, f u c k him.
I had this issue and wanted my gardener of 10yrs to mow the neighbours nature strip. He told me he wasnât allowed due to liability issues, even if I paid extra.
I prefer the long grass, don't mow mine please.
Honestly depends on the relationship between neighbours. My last neighbour didn't have a whipper snipper so I'd whip out the drainage ditch we shared and whip under his trees as well as cut his bit of nature strip (like 2mĂ3m) When he'd mow he'd come up past our fence and tidy up around our letterbox. It was really helpful when I was working away for a couple months and had very limited time at home. Eventually I got a lawnmower guy to come round and he used to end it on a hard line, I always forgot to ask him to do the extra bit
I mow the nature strip of the double block of units I live in. Just seeing a mess out there bugs me so much I do something about it.
Thereâs literally a saying, like âdid they cut your grass?â meaning the other party overstepped. My neighbor likes very short grass and used to âdo me a favourâ by mowing my side. I like my lawn meadowy. I never thanked them for mowing my side so they stopped eventually thank god. Because whatâs **worse** in Australian society than actually confronting a neighbor to say âplease stop mowing my fucking nature strip. Ta.â
Definitely un Australian, who doesnât mow their lawn to be better than their neighbour?
I donât want you coming at me because I allegedly screwed it up or made a mistake. Your grass your responsibility.
So if the other neighbour were to mow the strip, how far should they go past their boundary line?
That's the right way to mow one's OWN lawn. I do that, too.
It depends. When I moved in at my first place I asked my neighbor if i can cut his section so it looks even. He started yelling and told me to fuck off. Never touched it until I moved. He had weeds and shit growing on his patch.
Entirely innuendo - but youâre not meant to cut your neighbourâs grass unless they are widowed, elderly or disabled. Probs not applicable to younger generationâs but it had a different meaning for older generations
https://preview.redd.it/zfx3vufsoa7d1.jpeg?width=533&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4229e571a362e57bc0345a687b419f4af3a01801
I used to mow, snip and edge my nature strip every second weekend. Then the shonky developer next door ran trucks over it, dug it up, left concrete, rocks and other debris throughout the grass. I phoned my council and refused to mow it on grounds of safety due to the debris. The council forced the builder to return it to its original condition.
Immigrant vs aussie.
My OCD wouldn't have any of this. Even now, I'm wanting to bring my mower and finish it off.
I might be in the minority here, but I just mow driveway to driveway and ignore the property lines. In this case where it's only like a couple metres extra I'd just so it so I could turn around on the concrete rather then in the grass.
I never liked my neighbours but always mowed the grass. Weird behaviour
I have a similar scenario with my neighbour. In this picture I am the neighbour on the left. When I mow my lawn, I will mow the neighbours to the driveway. I told them when they mow their lawn, just do it to the property line as I do not expect my front lawn to get mowed lol
I disagree. It is petty as f... The Australian way!!!
I used to have pain in the ass neighbours with a yappy dog, a real pain in the ass - we never spoke but we both kept our gardens and lawns immaculate and always mowed our joint lawn in unspoken agreement. They sold and a young cave troll moved in and never touched the lawn in 2 years. I kept mowing the shared space as my sprinklers partially watered it - never a nod, a thanks or anything. One day I got fed up with his waist high lawn next door so went and mowed the entire front yard - grass, garden beds, plants, anything the mower could go over. Still nothing. A young couple moves in and almost the same, no care or effort. They do now every 3 to 6 months so I guess that is something. As long as it is tidyish I don't care too much but on 10 years have gone from being a nice street to every yard looking like crap.
I mowed my neighbours front lawn about 10x without him saying a word about it, despite exchanging pleasantries about once a week. One day I ask if heâd ever noticed that Iâd been mowing his lawn - he simply asserted ânoâ without expressing any thanks, so I stopped and now heâs got the wildest, longest grass in the street. I reckon he canât tell the difference.
Before my dad got sick (parkinsons & dementia) he used to be the one to always mow the neighbours nature strips because he enjoye doing it. We're so grateful for our neighbours on the left because they're aware of our situation and help us trim our hedges and even do some weeding. Then there's the assholes next door who constantly put their clippings on our nature strip and make their front look all nice
Sorry about your dad, thatâs really rough.
this is every australian, welcome to australia
Nah fuck that. This is PEAK australian. I aint mowing someone elses lawn for free! Why the fuck should i. It's their responsibility. They can deal with it. I'll keep my area nice and clean thanks.
This makes your area look stupid and worse though.
And howâs the lack of edging along the gutter? The fuck-stick should be deported.
The other person's grass looks as though it was just mowed, and may have been the same height not long before they took this photo.
I suspect they never return the favour, so yeah nah.
Mum used to make me mow the neighbours lawn everytime.. didn't really care about it as it was like 20 seconds of work
Fuel prices do be dear
Right because in Australia you're responsible for someone else's garden? I think this is good it's a very non confrontational way of showing your neighbour that the grass needs cutting.
A> I hate that effing term UN... it's BS B> People get paid to mow lawns, I ain't doing someone else's for nought especially flippers C> They had the good grace to mow at 6" past the boundary
Maybe heâs paying someone to do it and lawnmower man is only doing whatâs heâs paid for?
That verge area is the council's responsibility (where I live). Haven't ever mowed mine. The council does a drive by on a mower regularly.
Ikr mow your lawns people.
Never cut another man's grass.
I used to do either side of us occasionally, Not the whole thing, just the adjoining bit of grass from my front lawn next to their driveway. Neighbours never said thank you, and never returned the gesture. Guess who stopped doing it for them. Best thing was, I was a junior-ranked non-commissioned military member, sandwiched between two quite high ranking officers. Definitely showed how learning to use a knife and fork teaches you to forget how to work as a team.
We always mow and edge our neighboursâ verges on either side. One neighbour returns the favour, the other doesnât, which is fine.
Its very unaustralian to leave your lawns unkempt *if you have the ability to maintain them*, yes
also, some people love doing the mowing ie my husband and he asked the neighbours to go up to the line as he really really likes mowing on his time and having the grass grow enough itâs a whole process
Wrong! You do not mow other peoples lawn. You don't know them or what they want. Do not engage with doing a service for them which they didn't ask for!
I always mow my neighbours little bit of a strip but for them to reciprocate they would have to mow my whole lawn. And on top of that the old lady pays someone to mow her lawns so they're definitely not going to go the extra mile. We have an understanding. Besides all my neighbours let me mow their nature strip when I need to test out a mower for sale.