Leaves blowing into neighbor's yard

[quesyrah]

So we've covered dandelions...how about leaves?

A FB group I am in is having a rousing debate over a note a member's neighbor left on her door. Neighbor asked member to rake her yard because leaves are blowing into their yard and it creates extra clean up and it kills their grass. Member admits they do not rake regularly.

Most responses have been along the lines of "screw them, you don't have to cater to them."

What do you think? If your leaves are constantly blowing into your neighbor's yard do you have a responsibility to rake more often?

[auroraloo]

Um. No. Our neighbor has a tree. Leaves fall in our yard. We take them. Done.

[Deleted]

I guess it depends how uptight the neighbour is being. I mean, if I had a yard full of leaves and hadn't raked all fall and it was blowing into the neighbours' yard, then yes, I should probably take care of it. But if it's just a few leaves here and there, then no. You can't control nature or force everyone to rake on the same day.

That being said, I really appreciate that I live in a community that takes care of each other. We don't have leaves (pine trees) but we do have tons of snow, and people are really good about shovelling common areas quickly, and even shovelling each other's driveways if they know someone is out. I live in the mountains so everyone has a long, steep driveway and if you don't clear it right away, it's basically a skating rink. So there's something to be said for people being considerate with their yards, but leaves don't really become a safety issue, and I doubt they are "killing the grass". Ha ha.

[lala]

Nov 9, 2015 23:17:52 GMT -5 @leftie22 said:

I guess it depends how uptight the neighbour is being. I mean, if I had a yard full of leaves and hadn't raked all fall and it was blowing into the neighbours' yard, then yes, I should probably take care of it. But if it's just a few leaves here and there, then no. You can't control nature or force everyone to rake on the same day.

This. And even if my neighbor didn't rake ever, I still can't imagine leaving them a note or even mentioning.

It's fall. The leaves fall off the trees. The blow around. The end. 

[lala]

I mean, I know we all apply it to our own lives but if this happened on our street it would be hysterical. The street is lined with huge, mature sycamores. Almost every house still has one out front. The leaves and bark fall all summer and fall. We all rake in different intervals on different days. There is no way of knowing what house they even come from.

[jena]

The leaves bothered my old neighbor. So she mowed my yard a few times to get the leaves up. I didn't object and she didn't leave me rude notes, so it worked out.

[cna]

I would be so screwed if my (currently nonexistent) neighbors got upset every time my tree left leaves in their yards. I mean we have a huge tree that seemingly never runs out of leaves, and they go EVERYWHERE. that neighbor sounds like an uppity asshole.

[lattelady5]

I can't even with the crap people get mad about. I get it's annoying to rake leaves but it's life. Learn to deal.

[quesyrah]

We don't really have a leaf problem here so I don't know what's reasonable to rake. Do you have to do it every day? I mean, who cares. They're leaves. Can they really damage grass?

[Kcthepouchh8r]

Maybe. I have a yard of 100+ year old trees. We did 30 bags last weekend without getting them all and yard is full again. Without raking regularly people would get royally fucked if I didn't have a fence. And yes they do kill grass.

[honeydew1894]

I get the frustration, but if leaves are your biggest worry, you need to relax.

[nowa]

Oh - people still rake! I thought we were the only ones... seems like everyone around here uses a leaf blower. I actually enjoy raking.

And the neighbor who wrote the note is being annoying.

[lala]

I like raking, too, nowa.

It's true kc, we could rake daily and still have leaves. Last week was when you could take them to the curb without bags for loose leaf pick up. That week I raked several times to avoid bagging.

[lattelady5]

I'm the only one on the neighborhood who has raked yet. I haven't actually done anything with the leaves though. They're still in a big pile by the swing. I rerake them every day or so it's warm and we jump in them. I'm sure my neighbors don't care considering I'm fairly certain their kids were over here jumping the other day. They have a huge willow that sheds all over my yard and the other neighbors have never raked, ever. Most of the ground around here is littered in a nice layer of crunchy fall colors and I love it.

And yes, if you don't eventually rake them and of there is enough of them and it snows on top of them, they can kill the grass, as I learned a few years ago. I always take sure they're taKen care of before it starts snowing.

[dizzycooks]

We rake and I do feel bad when our neighbors have taken time to clean up their yards and get the leaves up and ours are still blowing around, but guess what, we work, they are retired. Tough. Now that all the leaves have fallen we've started working a little harder at it because it does make spring more pleasant (who likes soggy, decaying leaves?).

[cjcouple]

I get being annoyed. But realistically not everyone has the time to be repeatedly raking. When we owned a home I refused to rake until the trees were 90% bare.

Neighbor complaining should just get a leaf blower and blow then back haha

[penguingrrl]

Man, this just makes me even more appreciative of my awesome neighbor. She knows H commutes and has long days and I have asthma and allergies, so she let me know that when she pulls out her blower to do her lawn she'll do ours as well! She said not to be surprised if the leaf fairy comes one day soon (double joke since she's gay and she and I have long talked about gay rights and politics).

[Kcthepouchh8r]

Nov 10, 2015 6:41:16 GMT -5 nowa said:

Oh - people still rake! I thought we were the only ones... seems like everyone around here uses a leaf blower. I actually enjoy raking.

And the neighbor who wrote the note is being annoying.

Nope, we have a leaf blower too. Lol. We have nine 40+ feet tall trees on my property. I could spend everyday raking and not get a dent with a rake. Lol.

But yeah, if the trees were as large as mine are, it would literally add a whole day of work for a neighbor if I didn't maintain my property and there was a storm. If someone is bitching about a few small trees they definitely deserve an eyeroll. If someone has my kind of yard or worse? Justifiable. I mean I don't think anyone would have a problem calling the town if someone didn't maintain the front of their property, right?

[lala]

Muttering about it to yourself is one thing, going over with a note about leaves? No. I would never call the town about someone who hadn't raked even if it was all fall.

[cabbagecabbage]

Completely reasonable. I also refuse to shovel snow from clouds adjacent to my patch of sky.

[mamaalysson]

The note-leaver is nuts. DH rakes on the weekend, and within hours the stairs are covered in leaves again. It's called fall, right? And don't you just rake up the leaves that fall in your yard? Does it matter what tree they are falling from? I have never taken the time to be all, "Wait...that's not MY leaf!!" They're leaves...they fall and blow around and you rake them up. What a crazy leaf lady.

[quesyrah]

So the note receiver updated today with photos of her yard. She has one tree. ONE tree. I can't imagine it creates that much mess. It is pretty tall (don't know what kind) but note leaver is still crazy

[rosesandpetals]

I think I am the asshole neighbor everyone complains about. If anyone ever sees me raking, it is because my mother-in-law is over and I have no other escape.

One of my neighbors' cats keeps leaving dead mice by our front door. Not cool.

[cjcouple]

So I thought of this post when I was walking out of work. The town i work in, just blows the leaves into long rows along side of the road/edge of sidewalk. So when i cross the street to get to my car I have to jump leaf piles. So odd.

[Kcthepouchh8r]

Nov 10, 2015 15:56:50 GMT -5 lala said:

Muttering about it to yourself is one thing, going over with a note about leaves? No. I would never call the town about someone who hadn't raked even if it was all fall.

Don't most neighborhood associations/HOAs have by laws about maintaining your property? You can't let your yard get overrun with overgrown grass or covered in excessive leaves here. I thought that was pretty common stuff. Huh.

But yeah, still a dick move to not take care of your property and make your neighbor do double the work for your laziness. For one tree it is pretty ridiculous to write a letter but for a yard full of large trees? Really people should spend a good chunk of their weekend every weekend cleaning up after a lazy neighbor and they should just shut up and mind their business? That's insane.

[dizzycooks]

Umm you enjoy the shade don't you? Rake a few leaves.

[lala]

Nov 10, 2015 20:10:18 GMT -5 Kcthepouchh8r said:

Nov 10, 2015 15:56:50 GMT -5 lala said:

Muttering about it to yourself is one thing, going over with a note about leaves? No. I would never call the town about someone who hadn't raked even if it was all fall.

Don't most neighborhood associations/HOAs have by laws about maintaining your property? You can't let your yard get overrun with overgrown grass or covered in excessive leaves here. I thought that was pretty common stuff. Huh.

But yeah, still a dick move to not take care of your property and make your neighbor do double the work for your laziness. For one tree it is pretty ridiculous to write a letter but for a yard full of large trees? Really people should spend a good chunk of their weekend every weekend cleaning up after a lazy neighbor and they should just shut up and mind their business? That's insane.

Thank goodness I live in the land of no hoas. There are township regulations about the length of grass but it has to get pretty high and for a certain amount of time, etc. I don't think it mentions leaves but I'm curious enough to check.

The thing is, I could rake my yard clean today and have it covered tomorrow. I'm not raking daily or even more than once a week. It's just life that some leaves will blow next door.

And that's with one tree, yes one tree can make a pretty big mess. Especially since we're twins with narrow lots.

[lala]

Nov 10, 2015 19:23:00 GMT -5 cjcouple said:

So I thought of this post when I was walking out of work. The town i work in, just blows the leaves into long rows along side of the road/edge of sidewalk. So when i cross the street to get to my car I have to jump leaf piles. So odd.

Likely they do this because the town public works comes and sucks them up. They go for use several times a fall and you have to bag the rest of the time.

[Deleted]

Suddenly thankful for SoCal and all the palm trees. I have never owned a rake! But the downside is I have never jumped into a pile of leaves either.

[rosesandpetals]

My yard also backs up to a wooded area with like a bazillion trees and so do all of my neighbors on this side of the street. So we all have a ton of leaves and it would be impossible to say where they came from. I guess I would feel differently if it were a situation where it were obviously coming from me.