Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Lawn Troubles

Has anyone with AS ever experienced being reported for "long grass and weeds" on their property and how did you handle that?

I came home to a message on my machine telling me that I had 7 days to correct it. It really upsets me in a number of ways...

A few years ago, I was the ONLY one on my side of the street that kept my yard cleaned up. I was out there every day. The first year I bought this house I knew it was going to take a lot. I bought this house almost 9 years ago with my ex husband. I had one tree in my front yard. At the first hint of cold every leaf fell to the ground. I went out and raked shortly after. But the rest of my neighbors have these huge maple trees in their yard. I am in a half cul-de-sac and it seems to be the vortex of the neighborhood. I get every piece of trash from the neighborhood in my yard and what seems to be every single leaf in my yard. I have the smallest front yard on the block so you would think it would be quite easy to take care of. But the leaves get almost knee high and I think I was raking leaves in my yard until April that year. I eventually bought a mulching lawn mower and the years after that I was able to keep up. I also have the largest back yard and the previous owner planted trees everywhere in the yard and in the water retention area ouside it... not to mention the large wooded plot of land next to me.

I worked in my yard so much that I decided to go to school for horticulture (the study of plants). You would think a horticulture major would have a nice yard - wrong. Sadly, this is when my yard went downhill. I was working full time and going to school full time. I did the minimum, I mowed and that's it. My flower beds kind of suffered. Once I didn't have to take as many classes, my yard began to shape up a bit but then [my unofficial AS] hit. I wasn't able to do anything. Once my SI joint felt better I was able to pop a pain pill for my neck and upper back and work on my yard. Well this winter it snowed before the leaves fell so I couldn't rake until it got warmer and dryer. In January I tried to clean up my yard but I was having dizzy spells. I raked one small part of my yard and almost collapsed of exhaustion. I was finally diagnosed with a brain tumor and had surgery in March.

A little after my surgery while I was on medical leave I attempted to clean up the leaves but about a week after I came home from the hospital fatigue really hit me. I managed to create piles of leaves but I couldn't bend over to pick them up. Just about a month ago I was finally able to go out and clean up all the leaves. I started to trim the climbing rose bush and piled up the branches. But it turned out that we had about 30 bags of leaves from just the front yard and I couldn't get rid of them as fast as I wanted. I had planned on having sod laid in my front yard since it wasn't that big and all the lawn had died since I was unsuccessful at fixing my lone underground sprinkler. I have been fighting with this sprinkler system that the previous owner of this house installed for several years. I used to water the yard all the time but the PVP setup kept bursting and I would try to fix it and I would get a million mosquito bites and ended up completely soaked. I even bought a timer so that I didn't become a meal for the mosquitoes. But it wasn't long after that I returned to a geiser in my front yard. It had burst again. About two weeks ago, my boyfriend and I were out there and installed a new faucet and got the line connected, but as my luck has it, the line got plugged in the process. We decided that we would have to forget about that underground sprinker and figure something else out.

The times I did go out to work on my front yard my neighbors, who don't seem to work, were out in their lawn chairs watching me. You would think as nosey as they are they would know what I went through recently. I guess I should have went out there without my bandana so they could get a clue. And to think I was worried about grossing them out.

Well, now the weather is near or above 100 and there's been an ozone alert day for quite some time. Despite of that, my boyfriend mowed the back yard three days ago when we had a short "cool spell." He still came in exhausted from the heat and never got to the front yard. The day before yesterday, he was out there trimming the tree sprouts that took root in my flower beds. Again, he came in exhausted. I swear, native Oklahoma must be a jungle.

I really don't understand what they are complaining about. It might be that small pile of thorns and I don't have a truck so I have to rent one to haul the darn branches to the dump if I'm to get rid of them now. I usually filter them into the regular trash but since the neighbors removed a tree that was coming onto my property, my former brush pile would be in plain view. We recently had a storm that knocked several large branches off my trees and those are in my back yard. I don't have a chain saw to get rid of those at the moment. The only thing left that they might be complaining about is the utility easement that I quit mowing a few years ago because my neighbor would mow it after I got done mowing it simply because he loved his new riding lawn mower. He scalped it to the point the grass died. Maybe it's not the neighbors complaining... the gas company walks through there to take readings. I honestly don't know if the neighbor is still mowing it. Regardless, I know the weeds and grass has to be more than a foot tall to be considered a nuisance...

Anyway, just letting off some steam with probably the only people that can understand my frustration. I don't have time to make my yard 100% weed free in 7 days. It would help if I knew what they were referring to. And since my SI joint pain has hit once again, I'm not sure I can pysically do it. Maybe I just need to buy a truck and a chain saw and pop a pain pill and a cheap sprinker to run through when I'm near heat stroke... I better cool my temper first LOL! I'm done whining now

Sharon

Oh Sharon,

Are you sure you and I dont live next to each other...lol

I have had the EXACT same thing happen.

We have lived in our house for 2 and 1/2 years now (buying it) and our neighbors on the east side the mom and the daughter are really nice but the Dad has NEVER said a word to us. He skulks around in his back yard and watches us from his patio....a BIG problem for me is he smokes and his butts and cigarette packages blow over into our yard, at first I would pick them up and throw them away but now actually yesterday after my Dad mowed for me I gathered them up and put them all on his doorstep.

Last year we had one of those big rubber pools. We had taken the water out but my husband travels and sometimes he is gone for 2 weeks...I cant get out there and pick up that pool and put it up by myself so it was out there empty not hurting anyone but I will admit we hadnt mowed for about 2 weeks.

I got a letter from the county health dept saying that someone had complained about the pool and the yard. We had 14 days to clean it up or we would be fined $300.00. Of course the next weekend when my husband came home him and my Dad took care of it, it just made us mad that our neighbor didnt feel he could be man enough just to come over and ask, PLUS he knows that I have health problems, I dont really think he cares. We are still ticked over that.

We know it had to be him because 2 out of the 3 sides of our fence is privacy except for his. My Dad called one day and said I think we will just put up another privacy fence on his side, I was like well he will just find something else to gripe about.

I am not sure what to do, if you do not get it cleaned up they will fine you. You might call them let them know your situation. The H.O.W. foundation might come out and help. Try not to let it bug you too much..it seems like most of us have neighbors like that at one time or another. The sad thing is I am sure who ever did it probly knows what you have been thru and they are just being mean.

Do you have any friends you and your boyfriend can call on for like a saturday that would help, or a church there has to be someone that can help.

Let me know what happens,

Lisa

I think I've mentioned in a different post about one of my horticulture teachers that was fined because he had TULIPS that were over 1 foot high in his back yard. His neighbor turned him in and he did have a privacy fence - a high one. She would have had to climb on something to know what was on the other side.

And to think several years ago I was thinking of starting a charity lawn service for people who couldn't take care of their yards anymore. I didn't expect to be one of them so soon. lol

Thanks Lisa!

Sharon

It's sad when you all get pestered for such minor things when there are neighbors like my Mom's in this world!
My Mom's neighborhood has had a few meetings now, called the police and health department and left letters for the nuisance neighbors.. Not much for results, other than they put up a hug privacy fence to hide their mess.
The neighborhood refers to them as the "Hillbillies". They've got 3 generations (Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Son, Daughter-in-law, baby boy and another on the way) living in a house my aunt used to own.. It's not that big. With them is 2 St. Bernards, who they breed (and kept a puppy from the last litter), and a Newfoundland. They got rid of their other Newfie.
The biggest problem they've had were that the people weren't cleaning up after their dogs. Ever. (And they let the little boy play in the same back yard!) The smell was so bad, my mom could smell it two houses away in her kitchen! They reported them. The "Hillbillies" cleaned it up and tossed all of the waste in between their garage and their neighbors! Yuck. My mom's neighbors reported them again. They finally loaded it all up in 3 or 4 big garbage bags and hauled it! (They've since put up the privacy fence, though on one side facing a parking lot, it's still chainlink.. and they've obviously stopped cleaning up again)
At one point, they stopped taking their trash out to the curb (didn't pay the waste bill?) It got so bad, the city refused to pick it up and it took them 3 trips in the pick-up to haul it all... wonder where they dumped it...?
Then they started scrapping to make money.. All hours of the night they'd be out sorting metal in their driveway. (I visited Mom during this period.. The train down the block doesn't bother me.. the amount of noise they make.. wow..)
They stopped that after being reported again.
Now, they look for every excuse to call the cops on all the other neighbors. (Including my grandparent's 50th wedding aniversary party held at my Mom's house.. I know.. those 70 year olds get REALLY rowdy! Sheesh..)
Anyway.. ALL I'm saying is.. You're neighbors should have these neighbors..and they can all live in Hillbilly-complain-about-everything-your-neighbor-does-Hell.

Also, if it makes you feel any better.. I rent. My yard is atrocious! My land lord didn't mow until the beginning of June this year. That was after my neighbor finally complained. He's mowed 3 times total all summer (no joke). My neighbor said before they bought the place (it's a duplex), the yard was beautiful, and so was hers. Now, every weed you can think of is growing out there, and spreading into her yard. Half the back yard is creeping charlie.. I told him if he's not going to mow, to at least store the lawn mower at the house and I would! (God, I can't wait to move at the end of August!!)

Guess I needed to vent a little too.

If I lived anywhere near Oklahoma, I'd help you out!

Sharon just a thought here, have you considered hiring a student to do your lawn? My parents were in the same position when they found out that a kid in their neibourhood was doing peoples lawns for next to nothing. Another option would be to get rid of the lawn altogether and pave or interlock brick your whole yard. I think that my first suggestion would be more realistic.

Good luck and screw the neibours,
Steve

Sharon,

Sorry you are having to deal with this added stress. Try calling (if you haven't already) some of your local churches and see if they know of anyone willing to help you. There are a few here that volunteers from the churches will come out and help with lawn work, house work and things like that for disabled individuals.
I hope you can get some help soon.

Take care,
Pam

this here's america; the land of the free and the home of the brave.

hire someone to erect a twenty-foot tall american flag, place a cannon on the lawn and a sign reading
'DON'T TREAD ON ME".

put yo rockin' chair under the flag on the front lawn and sit with a shotgun in yo lap...enjoy the landscaping.

give 'em heck.
best
aB

Leave it to Ben to give us a chuckle.
So good to see you Ben.

I agree with others, hire a kid or someone to lend a hand if you think you need to.

Maggie

I don't know where you live in OK but here in our town when anyone is reported to the city because their lawn is over 12 inches tall, the first thing the city does is to find out why and to see if they need help. If they have sickness, death, etc., they see that they get the help they need. If not, they give them so many days to clean it up and if not the city does and charges them for it.

Do you have neighbors or friends that would help you? My hubby has been keeping one of our neighbor's lawn cleaned up because he has had surgery. Maybe if you let it be known that you need help, a church youth group would take it on as a project. When my hubby had his eye problem and couldn't do anything for a month, I found a couple of young men from church to take care of it. Of course, it wasn't like my hubby would do it but it was mowed.

I think the first thing that I would do is to call the city office and tell them why you are having problems and ask if there are any social organizations that would help you.

I am so sorry you are having to deal with this on top of feeling bad. I hope today is a better day for you.


Blessings.
Possi

Sharon,
Sorry about your woes. You have had some good ideas. Until they start drawing blood from your veins, remember it is a lawn, you are flesh and blood. You matter.
My wife sympathizes with you, she has had Lon trouble for 37 years.
Lon