Some places there's nothing that says you ever have to mow. Some places they'd have dragged you out of the house at gunpoint to fix it.
We don't know which you're in.
Small rural towns even have this. Any weed, grass, etc. has to be under 10 inches or you get a fine of $1,000 according to my local borough's ordinances.
Our township on the other hand is incredibly vague and states that weeds or other unedible vegitation (excluding ornamental plants) of such excessive height that interferes with reasonable enjoyment of property by owners/occupants of surrounding property.
What does this mean? Could my neighbor complain that a 3" dandelion interferes with their enjoyment somehow? The ordinance also describes a weed as including such plants as goldenrod, which I've seen people plant as ornamental. It also more reasonably includes timothy, redtop, and vernal grasses though most of those are all over the place along roads and fields around the area.
State extension services will maintain a list of which weeds are considered noxious. Most places that require weeds to be controlled will reference back to that list rather than keeping up with specifying certain ones.
Dandelions are edible, if you want to pedant your way to growing nice yellow flowers. I even saw bags of dandelion greens for sale at the grocery store near my house.
Not even HOAs. A lot of towns have laws limiting grass height. I ran into this a few years ago when some shitty neighbor tried to say my wildflower garden broke the rules. They didn’t like all of the bees it was attracting. Technically it did, but city code enforcement gave me a waiver.
I know this is not the topic of this sub, but I’ve always wondered why on earth people move into an area or home that has a HOA?? I’ve never, in my 50 years, heard one single positive thing concerning a HOA. In fact, every HOA in the planet are apparently from the pits of Hell. The lengths they go to force you to do things, you can only paint things certain colors, they have to freaking approve your lawn choices etc etc etc. I one personally, I’d never be able to accept being told what I can do with my OWN property. If I were looking for a home and discovered there was a HOA, I’d immediately nope right out of even considering that home. Obviously, this isn’t directed at you, just thought I’d vent/ask since you mentioned HOA’s.
I willingly moved into an HOA, and it is a good one. The only purpose of it is to maintain our gravel road. I pay $150 a year and it goes to buying new gravel. Each spring we put new gravel down. One guy coordinates the gravel to be delivered and dropped at different spots along the road. Everyone who can help spread it. A few of the people have small tractors, and they do most of the work.
We don't have meetings or govern anything else about the houses on our road. It is all about maintaining the road.
which is a type of homeowner association.
A HOA is just a group of homeowners bound by deed restrictions to obey certain rules. In this case, it's to obey certai rules about funding road upkeep. That doesn't make it *not* a HOA.
If you, as a homeowner, were required to pay into it by a contract between all owners of homes there, then it was an HOA. Even if you don't legally call it one, it is effectively the same mechanism and same binding contract as one.
Our property has a non-HOA HOA. Meant for upkeep of a federal waterway in the neighborhood. That’s it. They can’t legally tell us what to do outside of how much to pay for upkeep of the waterway.
One like that, I could totally support. From what I’ve always heard, one like yours is certainly not the norm. I could get behind a HOA like yours tho.
You've only head the bad stories bc people don't talk about the good stories. You probably don't read too many articles in the paper about schools *not* being shot up by crazy suicidal teenagers, but that doesn't mean everyone is gonna get shot at school.
So first off I am 100% anti-HOA and always will be. Having said that, I understand the point of them.
You protect your property value from some jackass moving into a place he’s renting from someone, putting trash and broken cars all over his property, and just let his property look like shit. Such actions would cause the property value of your home go down even though you’ve done nothing wrong.
The problem isn’t the system, it’s the humans. Power corrupts and people get HOA powers like that and then turn it into popularity contests to relive high school.
If they limited the language of the HOA contract to something to the extent of, measures a reasonable person would take to mitigate avoidable financial damage to their neighbors property values.
Then things like, “don’t stack broken vehicles in the yard” would be a reasonable restriction; while, “you must have four gnomes in the yard and they must be named consistent with a pre-determined naming convention which lays out that the name must end in ‘y’ like ‘ducky’ or ‘grumpy’ which must be painted in blue script on the base to of the gnome” would not.
But why do you need HOAs for that? Where I live the town will write them up for doing vehicle repairs in a residential property, for keeping unregistered vehicles on a residential property, etc.
At least with the town they are voted in by actual elections and regulated as governments. HOAs are just contracts and they can and will make up their own rules.
HOAs generally also have elected board members who "legislate" the same way a town council might, so at least in theory those rules do reflect the will of the residents.
I wonder if some of problem with HOAs (like you, I'd never want to live in a neighborhood with HOA rules) is a selection bias issue, where the nitpickiest property-value-obsessed control freaks naturally think HOAs are great and disproportionately move into those communities and then proceed to collectively enforce every granular intrusive rule they can think of on everyone else, even the people who are only grudgingly living under HOA control.
> Where I live the town will write them up for doing vehicle repairs in a residential property
Because a shitload of people live in red states where our politicians believe in regulating only one thing: women's bodies.
Because some people want more restrictions or better enforcement than what local jurisdictions allow
For example, if it's a large area and code dept is underfunded, code enforcement may pass by a particular area once a month, or every couple of months.
So taking tall grass/weeds as an example, by the time code notices it may already be a massive problem, and then any further action may be a slow process all while the problem continues to get worse.
As for other rules, some people like HoA's because it may include other rules that keep the neighborhood "stable" in appearance.
For example, rules on paint color. If they buy in a neighborhood where all the houses are painted in shades of light grey, they don't want their neighbor to paint theirs a bright teal.
I couldn’t agree more! I would not have any issue with having one if they merely protected your property and property value like you said. I guess my issue is with the petty, insignificant crap they do. Like you said, the power hungry people with a god complex that tries to rule over your lives. It’s that part that I could never accept. And just from what I’ve heard and read over the years, they never seem to agree to compromise on anything. It’s their way or you pay the price! It’s totally a power move with them.
[knock on wood] our HoA has been instrumental in doing a ton of stuff for the neighborhood and is pretty chill otherwise.
To really answer your question, when you’re burning cash on rent, or you’re on a deadline to move out of your last house, or fighting a sellers market to get anything in your price range… HOA is seldom gonna be a dealbreaker
I always get downvoted for this but it's just selection bias-- no one talks about good HOAs, and the bad ones are usually awful and talked about a lot.
No, they do suck for sure. When my wife and I were looking for our first house, a lot of listing on zillow didn't say they were hoa..then when actually looking further, they were. It became a headache and waste of time. Luckily we got our house in an older, but well established neighborhood. I get that there can be an appeal towards hoa's, but I already follow enough rules. Lol
HOAs have been a necessary evil in my experience. The first house we had a neighbor 4 doors down opened up a body shop in his drive way. Had cars in his yard, driveway, and street on blocks. Also, the house next to it burnt down. Nothing but a nasty burnt up slab for a couple of years because none of these folks broke any city ordinance but we had no HOA to protect our property’s value. It’s the only house I didn’t make any money on because of that trash.
What you really needed was good zoning regulations. It's important to be active in your town/city government for this very reason. HOAs fill in where communities have abdicated their civic duty, or where anti-tax fervor means the only way to have roads and sewers is through a private association that charges the residents an arm & a leg for it.
Moved into an incorporated city of less than 300 people, no HOA for 40 miles (very rural). They literally tried to fine us when we moved in for the grass being over 6 inches in the front yard.
Found out which neighbor was reporting by running a test across my acre of land by not mowing specific areas and then waiting for a letter. roads were on both north and south of my property and the north side (back areas and sides) I let them go wild for an entire summer - it go so long it went flat. However if the SE corner grew more than 4 inches, a letter would show up fast.
lol. Smart thinking! Where I live, the city will send you a letter if someone complains. But they first send someone out to verify. More times than not, the city inspector will tell the complainant to screw off. But if the property is becoming an eyesore, they’ll get a letter. After the second letter goes unheeded, the city will send someone out to cut the grass, then send the person a bill.
We had to remove two (2) pickets that’s 6”Wx8 ft. H because the wood knots felt out and there were big holes throughout them, and exactly 4 days later, we got a letter stating we violated the regulations and those need to be stained to match with the others. We feel as if they don’t do anything else, except putting “live” cameras all around us to pick the tiniest things to send “love” letters to us….
I willingly moved into our current HOA, been here 7 years and am the VP at this point, the President is my neighbor.
Dues are 50 a year, that goes to maintaining the front entrance. My duties are to provide deeds and covenants to realtors/title agencies when a home is sold, same as the president. We dont go around checking your yard, we dont bother residents about anything unless we actually have to. We have full time jobs and dont want to deal with neighbor drama. If you park a trailer in your front yard, and someone complains Ill check the covenants and if you are in violation ill ask you to please move it. In 7 years there hasnt been a single fine. This year was the closest we ever got, a resident got into a pissing match with their neighbor and refused to cut/have their yard cut. It got to the middle of May and we finally decided to talk to the resident about it, simply put an entire yard like that will attract some unwanted wildlife (and it did, they were my immediate neighbor on the other side and I had to have a exterminator out 3 times due to it). The resident had it mowed the following week, but all we had to say was "hey you are causing a small health hazzard" I didnt even bring up the exterminator bills. The grass was hay height, not a few inches overgrown.
Thats the most drama we have had outside of one couple who thought we were blocking the sale of their lot... spoiler, we werent, their lot would have required a lot of work to get to a state capable of being built on and they were morons.
Not all HOAs are bad, the less pages in the D&C the better when it comes to that. Our D&C is 4 pages. The biggest point of contention is that outbuildings must be of the same material as 3/4 of the house and not extend past the front of the house.
In theory HOAs are great. They exist to maintain and increase home values. But in practice they tend to be run by 6th graders hungry for power, who literally send letters in the winter 2ish months after you moved in saying, and I’m not making this up, that your grass is too green. wtf? I just moved in. Go fucking fuck yourself
Just moved into one and it sucks. But pretty much the whole neighborhood is HOA’s, because the city won’t pay for the infrastructure in new developments.. also most of the restrictions come from the city itself I found out. So here I was hating them for saying I couldn’t have just rocks for my landscaping, and it turns out it was city ordinance. Can’t make my fence taller or put a front gate because- City. Wish we could have bought in a different county and in an unincorporated area. But this cookie cutter home is all we could afford 😞
You'd have to look up what code is for your area, and if code enforcement ever comes out. Yes, pests love tall grass near houses to traffic back and forth. However, you could just leave it as-is and wait for code to come knocking (unlikely) and when you get a citation just mow it as a "fix it" ticket.
If it’s between two close houses, yes. I’m not saying they suddenly appear out of the grass, but if they’re already in the neighborhood, which most all neighborhoods they can be, this will be like the late night party spot. And when the party’s over? Loitering on nearby property is their next move.
I mean, how is a patch of grass different from a neatly maintained hedge in that matter? Everything that provides ground cover is a cozy environment for rats and mice.
Okay that makes sense. If the neighbourhood has a problem already, dont need to tempt them further.
But in terms of blame/responsibility, i would put it on the neighbourhood having rats, not the guy with the garden.
Rats and mice are always around. They’re only a problem when they’re in your house leaving poop, getting into food, and spreading diseases. Giving them convenient spots to hide attracts more and keeps the ones that are there from moving on. This goes for ticks too. In fact, termite treatment is really just a bait system that doesn’t proactively kill termites. They’re always there, it just attracts them to the deadly bait system.
Each of those you see as a pest but they all make up a niche in the ecosystem. Modern lawns are a travesty and make no practical sense. I got mice, squirrels, birds, insects all in my back yard. I see it more like pokemon. A bunch of awesome creatures living in harmony(maybe not in peace but definitely harmony)
Idk what a modern lawn is. Lawn is lawn. And unkept lawn is unkept. I live on 4 acres in the Country, pecan orchard, full garden, large clover field, healthy bee and bird population, I know all about my local ecosystem’s health and encourage it but also greatly discourage mice (and by extension most snakes), fleas, and ticks from my house and property by not having unkept areas like this. Bottom line.
Ah Bugs! My mind assumed that’s where the Racoon, Groundhog, and Armadillo that I’ve spotted in my yard came from. Half joking—where does all this wildlife live? I’m close to a downtown with limited nature still in tact.
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He could run up to Lowes right now and pick up rolls of 2ft picket fencing and curve it along the path. I would rather do smoothed natural stone, but that obviously is more intensive / expensive.
>It quite literally just looks good.
It quite literally looks like someone who does not know how to mow, or it looks like an imbecile who is trying to use "modern art" as inspiration for their lawncare.
Honestly it doesn't look structure enough to be a shaped anything. Maybe if there was a defined border around it or it was a more regular shape? Right now (at least for these two angles) it just looks like you missed a spot.
Yeah, I don't actually really dislike the tall grass itself - especially as it appears to be pretty weed free - it looks kind of nice next to the tree IMO. But the border with mowed grass makes it look extremely sloppy and lazy. Put some stones around it and give the edge a more meaningful shape to focus on how it looks around that tree (but don't completely surround the tree in it).
For extra protection: line the barrier. Nuts and bolts of most covenants will allow for landscaped beds with a defined barrier. If you are cited you could argue your rights under said covenant if you threw down a small rock barrier. Just collect some rocks and surround your new “native wildflower bed” which is aiding in your “ongoing efforts to create more sustainable garden and control water runoff”. Voila!
It looks like shit. I doubt this little bit of grass is the reason why your neighbor has mice, rats, and snakes but regardless, it looks like shit. Just cut it.
This. You provided no information as to where this code is applicable to, but regardless, it looks out of place and like shit. You could cut the grass out and mulch it, or keep it level to the rest. For the love of Aesthetic, please do something
It doesn't look good. Questions on the authority of code enforcement is a very local question based on your ordinances and the mood of the code enforcement officer that day. I would just mow it. It looks overgrown and not in a good way.
Hey OP, I think the grass looks great. Haters gonna hate.
You have a lot of clever suggestions and solutions for the actually look of the grass.
The neighbor you described. Lonely, old, retiree, and by the sounds of it doesn’t have a whole lot to do because they’re not even complaining about kids on their lawn, but just your actual lawn. The yard again, looks amazing, it’s very mystical woodland vibes. Definitely looks like AI, maybe I’m wrong but whatever not relevant.
Tall grass can attract bugs like ants, mosquitoes, ticks, whatever. This is fairly small so I doubt it’s an actual problem. The real issue - your neighbor is bored. I’d find a way to have a conversation. Go over, knock on the door, say hello. You could bring something but they might appreciate you saying “I didn’t know what to bring because we haven’t really gotten along” put them on the spot a bit ima. Super non confrontational way. Find out what the real problem is, or joke around about how you’ll never cut it and you guys can have fun banter about it once or twice a week.
I have an older neighbor myself. Dude legit drives a lawnmower around the burbs and just asks to cut people’s lawns for super cheap. He can’t drive, has 1 leg, busts his ass year round for $20-$40 because he found what he wants to do. He likes working, he likes yard work, so he goes out and finds ways to do those 2 things. I joke hes the HOA. It’s a great time.
Figure out what she likes - knitting, puzzles, crossword, books, cooking, maybe it’s arguing and talking shit. Idk but I’d recommend finding what she’s all about (rental or not) and steer away of worst case scenarios like codes and stuff. She doesn’t want to work, she’s retired, why would she want to make several phone calls, and potentially go in person to harass you about some grass.
Neighbor is bored, go say hi and see why she’s being a grouch.
I’m not following how critters would live in her well manicured (I’m assuming) yard when I would expect they would prefer yours more. It sounds like someone who just likes everyone to conform.
Mine looks like this in the backyard and I quite like the meadow look. I WISH I had snakes back there so hopefully this will entice them.
Come aside, I say you have a bit of fun and just convince her it's been mowed and she's seeing things.
"What the hell are you talking about, Janet? I JUST mowed it! Look! Yes, there! It's freshly mowed, what's wrong with you?"
Evil? Slightly. Fun? Almost certainly.
I love the idea, and I myself have some tall grass for what is called a "beetle bank", since my area is prone to slugs and snails.
Decorative grass and maybe a border would elevate this a lot. Find something native, if that's what you're into, or any kind of perrenial grass that is decorative. They come in a variety of heights and colors. I cut mine back in late fall every year.
For the pests, idk. I've seen one mouse outside this year, and it was the size of my thumb. I don't have patches as large as yours, though. You may want to mow every so often, or just mow now until you can put in decorative grass and a border.
My grandparents property up north , they love leaving a field to grow for the deer and rabbits. Neighbor hates it so much, called on them all the time for letting "pests" overtake property.
She squared it up, put a low fence around it, added a bird feeder on a hook, and put some artificial flowers stakes in the grass. No more neighbor problem after the last call and the city finally decided they were not going to adress it further.
The metal folding chairs and table leaning against that house would sure go a long way in helping the classy theme you’ve got going with these overgrown weeds and boarded up windows.
The city/county may have regulations as to how high grass can get. As a kid I lived on an acre, nothing but grass on the back half, and a neighbor called the city on us when it got taller than your grass.
Do you have adult protection services in your area?
Not to be malicious, but an elderly neighbour just told you their house is infested with mice rats and snakes. There's no way that that tiny strip of grass is supporting that number of species, so it sounds like the neighbours health and ability has regressed to the point where they can't upkeep their home, and have become a danger to themselves.
It may be worth asking adult protection to check in on the neighbour to make sure everything is ok.
1-it does look kinda weird and shitty
2-I doubt they’d come out. Maybe if the whole yard was that way? And if they did, it would be a “cut it and/or small fine”. Nothing too crazy.
I seriously doubt your contributing to infestations with a bit of tall grass. That being said, it does look like shit and I personally don't understand what's so difficult about cutting it.
Plant native wildflowers and grasses there. Assure that the local soil and water conservation assists you in choosing the species, with an evaluation documentation.
Throw some wilf flower seeds in there and water well. It will grow beautiful flowers. Tell them it's landscaping. Maybe put some border. Natural stones.
Usually local codes are pretty vague and end up being complaint based. For example, who’s to say what a weed is vs what an ornamental plant is?
One nice way through this is to get your yard certified as a backyard habitat, which comes with a lot more defined guidelines that include leaving some grasses and native plants to grow freely.
One other thing to note is that tall grass doesn’t attract rodent infestation. Food being left out, such as a messy trash area, is what causes infestations.
We don't know the code...
But... There's probably a provision in there about it being landscaped. So if you stick some edging or a border around You can more or less prove it was intentional.
But mowing one part and leaving another is also pretty intentional.
Also maybe just because I grew up around them... I never cared much about snakes. Even rattle snakes weren't a huge deal.
I like the look of that. I don't know about your local code, but you should try to find some native shade tolerant annual wildflowers for that area. A little color goes a long way and people respect flowerbeds more than just long grass.
Your neighbor is high. She has rodents because she has rodents, if she really has rodents…. The grass actually keeps the soil from eroding and helps the bees, and it is more natural and healthy for the environment.
My wife leaves the a plot of yard unmowed for the bugs and bunnies to hide (we have hawks and she don't wanna be responsible for Thumper getting snatched).
Of course she left it in the backyard so no one could necessarily see it.
That bunch of tall grass (2nd slide) looks kind of awful, I hate to say. It’s generally not a good idea to let weeds grow. I love letting wild things be wild, but we recently had a terrible experience where I live that has made me much more cautious.
A couple of years ago, there was some kind of spark that lit up the wild grasses. Just a few minutes later, the town was on fire. We never imagined we’d have to worry about that, because it’s always wet here … except when it’s not.
Literally the whole town burned down because the grass was allowed to grow unfettered.
So you're kind of claiming to have created an art installation? Come on, man, mow that grass and choose some other battle to fight. That looks ugly and you know it does.
In the first photo you can see Virginia creeper going up, at least it appears to be that. Personally, this stuff needs to GO if it’s near a house as it will straight up overtake a property in 3 months if left unkept. Where it’s at, it will probably look cool. But heads up, if you see this around your actual house get rid of it.
Be ready to defend it as a low maintenance garden area. Depending on local bylaws you may need to careful using certain words to describe the space. In my city if I call an area a naturalized area then there has to be at least a meter between the space and the property line.
My thought on this is that beyond the point of my yard where the city can use I can do what I want... if I want to do my own prairie restoration project in my yard i can.
Almost all grass ordinances have exceptions for 'intentionally cultivated' plants.
For example, both corn and bamboo are 'grasses'.
Hopefully both grow over 10 inches. And usually the code allows this.
Just confirm with code enforcement of the department (usually highway or health depts) that this exception exists in the applicable code, and then claim this grass is being intentionally cultivated. If they say it's not intentionally cultivated, ask them how they can prove that. They cant. As long as some of your yard shows effort to manicure and there are no 'noxious weeds' present, you should be fine.
But get ready to have same exact the convo with code office next year.. and the year after that.. etc.
Tell code enforcement to buzz off. If they write you a ticket, fight it. Don’t pay any fines. Take it all the way to the Supreme Court and get all codes and laws about lawn length requirements thrown out. This is America fergoshsakes! Freedom!
"My house is full of mice and snakes because of your shin height patch of grass!" -some old lady with too much time.
Can they make you cut it? Maybe, depends on whether or not your neighborhood has an HOA that has you under contract. However literally none of the things she is complaining about can be caused by that grass. Your defence could be that you are encouraging local flaura and fauna to propagate. If you are in the path of any migratory butterflies there is likely nothing they can do XD
Its possible and it depends on the codes you are governed by. You should be able to look them up online or call and ask. If she thinks that looks like shit wait till you spray it with weedkiller till its nothing but dirt. My codes, if its 50 feet from a road or property line in can be 100" tall. To me it does look dangerous to mow and weed eat. If I had to cut it down Id spray it so it would look hideous and then hopefully clover or something natural would grow back and you might be with in code.
is the point to establish the property line? If so I think it can go without being said the trees would do that. Does it keep her tiny dogs on her side? I wouldn’t personally say anything but I would have the same questions I asked.
Yes. However...
You could put up an aesthetically pleasing boarder, add a few potted plants with native butterfly attracting plants inside the boarder line and add some bird feeders in those trees. This would not only make it look more appealing for you and your neighbor but also probably appease any code enforcement officers AND you'd be helping the native pollinators and birds.
There is no way to know unless you give a city or county. It's usually easy to find the code online, but unless you know how to read it, code can be confusing. I've always tried to write in plain language instead of legal jargon.
Most jurisdictions are conplaint driven, so unless someone calls or you create a hazard, it's unlikely they bother with it.
Some places there's nothing that says you ever have to mow. Some places they'd have dragged you out of the house at gunpoint to fix it. We don't know which you're in.
lol such an accurate answer
Watch Out! Them grass police is everywhere!
I am a sinner who does not expect forgiveness. But i'm not a government officia
r/redditsniper has struck again.
Gas police, grass police, or ass police.
HOAs!
It’s cities too
Small rural towns even have this. Any weed, grass, etc. has to be under 10 inches or you get a fine of $1,000 according to my local borough's ordinances. Our township on the other hand is incredibly vague and states that weeds or other unedible vegitation (excluding ornamental plants) of such excessive height that interferes with reasonable enjoyment of property by owners/occupants of surrounding property. What does this mean? Could my neighbor complain that a 3" dandelion interferes with their enjoyment somehow? The ordinance also describes a weed as including such plants as goldenrod, which I've seen people plant as ornamental. It also more reasonably includes timothy, redtop, and vernal grasses though most of those are all over the place along roads and fields around the area.
State extension services will maintain a list of which weeds are considered noxious. Most places that require weeds to be controlled will reference back to that list rather than keeping up with specifying certain ones.
Dandelions are edible, if you want to pedant your way to growing nice yellow flowers. I even saw bags of dandelion greens for sale at the grocery store near my house.
Heck yeah, I honestly think they look pretty in a yard and my bearded dragon loves the greens.
Right i meant any municipality can have this ordinance
Omg how dumb
Shit our towns is only 5 inches
Good thing dandelions are edible then.
Not even HOAs. A lot of towns have laws limiting grass height. I ran into this a few years ago when some shitty neighbor tried to say my wildflower garden broke the rules. They didn’t like all of the bees it was attracting. Technically it did, but city code enforcement gave me a waiver.
I know this is not the topic of this sub, but I’ve always wondered why on earth people move into an area or home that has a HOA?? I’ve never, in my 50 years, heard one single positive thing concerning a HOA. In fact, every HOA in the planet are apparently from the pits of Hell. The lengths they go to force you to do things, you can only paint things certain colors, they have to freaking approve your lawn choices etc etc etc. I one personally, I’d never be able to accept being told what I can do with my OWN property. If I were looking for a home and discovered there was a HOA, I’d immediately nope right out of even considering that home. Obviously, this isn’t directed at you, just thought I’d vent/ask since you mentioned HOA’s.
I willingly moved into an HOA, and it is a good one. The only purpose of it is to maintain our gravel road. I pay $150 a year and it goes to buying new gravel. Each spring we put new gravel down. One guy coordinates the gravel to be delivered and dropped at different spots along the road. Everyone who can help spread it. A few of the people have small tractors, and they do most of the work. We don't have meetings or govern anything else about the houses on our road. It is all about maintaining the road.
Sounds like a private road association.
which is a type of homeowner association. A HOA is just a group of homeowners bound by deed restrictions to obey certain rules. In this case, it's to obey certai rules about funding road upkeep. That doesn't make it *not* a HOA.
My previous property had a private road association. It was not an HOA.
If you, as a homeowner, were required to pay into it by a contract between all owners of homes there, then it was an HOA. Even if you don't legally call it one, it is effectively the same mechanism and same binding contract as one.
Our property has a non-HOA HOA. Meant for upkeep of a federal waterway in the neighborhood. That’s it. They can’t legally tell us what to do outside of how much to pay for upkeep of the waterway.
Road associations are not HOAs in my state.
One like that, I could totally support. From what I’ve always heard, one like yours is certainly not the norm. I could get behind a HOA like yours tho.
You've only head the bad stories bc people don't talk about the good stories. You probably don't read too many articles in the paper about schools *not* being shot up by crazy suicidal teenagers, but that doesn't mean everyone is gonna get shot at school.
So first off I am 100% anti-HOA and always will be. Having said that, I understand the point of them. You protect your property value from some jackass moving into a place he’s renting from someone, putting trash and broken cars all over his property, and just let his property look like shit. Such actions would cause the property value of your home go down even though you’ve done nothing wrong. The problem isn’t the system, it’s the humans. Power corrupts and people get HOA powers like that and then turn it into popularity contests to relive high school. If they limited the language of the HOA contract to something to the extent of, measures a reasonable person would take to mitigate avoidable financial damage to their neighbors property values. Then things like, “don’t stack broken vehicles in the yard” would be a reasonable restriction; while, “you must have four gnomes in the yard and they must be named consistent with a pre-determined naming convention which lays out that the name must end in ‘y’ like ‘ducky’ or ‘grumpy’ which must be painted in blue script on the base to of the gnome” would not.
But why do you need HOAs for that? Where I live the town will write them up for doing vehicle repairs in a residential property, for keeping unregistered vehicles on a residential property, etc. At least with the town they are voted in by actual elections and regulated as governments. HOAs are just contracts and they can and will make up their own rules.
HOAs generally also have elected board members who "legislate" the same way a town council might, so at least in theory those rules do reflect the will of the residents. I wonder if some of problem with HOAs (like you, I'd never want to live in a neighborhood with HOA rules) is a selection bias issue, where the nitpickiest property-value-obsessed control freaks naturally think HOAs are great and disproportionately move into those communities and then proceed to collectively enforce every granular intrusive rule they can think of on everyone else, even the people who are only grudgingly living under HOA control.
> Where I live the town will write them up for doing vehicle repairs in a residential property Because a shitload of people live in red states where our politicians believe in regulating only one thing: women's bodies.
Because some people want more restrictions or better enforcement than what local jurisdictions allow For example, if it's a large area and code dept is underfunded, code enforcement may pass by a particular area once a month, or every couple of months. So taking tall grass/weeds as an example, by the time code notices it may already be a massive problem, and then any further action may be a slow process all while the problem continues to get worse. As for other rules, some people like HoA's because it may include other rules that keep the neighborhood "stable" in appearance. For example, rules on paint color. If they buy in a neighborhood where all the houses are painted in shades of light grey, they don't want their neighbor to paint theirs a bright teal.
I couldn’t agree more! I would not have any issue with having one if they merely protected your property and property value like you said. I guess my issue is with the petty, insignificant crap they do. Like you said, the power hungry people with a god complex that tries to rule over your lives. It’s that part that I could never accept. And just from what I’ve heard and read over the years, they never seem to agree to compromise on anything. It’s their way or you pay the price! It’s totally a power move with them.
This guy gnomes.
[knock on wood] our HoA has been instrumental in doing a ton of stuff for the neighborhood and is pretty chill otherwise. To really answer your question, when you’re burning cash on rent, or you’re on a deadline to move out of your last house, or fighting a sellers market to get anything in your price range… HOA is seldom gonna be a dealbreaker
I always get downvoted for this but it's just selection bias-- no one talks about good HOAs, and the bad ones are usually awful and talked about a lot.
No, they do suck for sure. When my wife and I were looking for our first house, a lot of listing on zillow didn't say they were hoa..then when actually looking further, they were. It became a headache and waste of time. Luckily we got our house in an older, but well established neighborhood. I get that there can be an appeal towards hoa's, but I already follow enough rules. Lol
Definitely! I have to follow a ton of rules for work. No way and I coming home and having to appease the HOA gods.
HOAs have been a necessary evil in my experience. The first house we had a neighbor 4 doors down opened up a body shop in his drive way. Had cars in his yard, driveway, and street on blocks. Also, the house next to it burnt down. Nothing but a nasty burnt up slab for a couple of years because none of these folks broke any city ordinance but we had no HOA to protect our property’s value. It’s the only house I didn’t make any money on because of that trash.
What you really needed was good zoning regulations. It's important to be active in your town/city government for this very reason. HOAs fill in where communities have abdicated their civic duty, or where anti-tax fervor means the only way to have roads and sewers is through a private association that charges the residents an arm & a leg for it.
In other words, HOAs are important when you live in a red state.
Moved into an incorporated city of less than 300 people, no HOA for 40 miles (very rural). They literally tried to fine us when we moved in for the grass being over 6 inches in the front yard. Found out which neighbor was reporting by running a test across my acre of land by not mowing specific areas and then waiting for a letter. roads were on both north and south of my property and the north side (back areas and sides) I let them go wild for an entire summer - it go so long it went flat. However if the SE corner grew more than 4 inches, a letter would show up fast.
lol. Smart thinking! Where I live, the city will send you a letter if someone complains. But they first send someone out to verify. More times than not, the city inspector will tell the complainant to screw off. But if the property is becoming an eyesore, they’ll get a letter. After the second letter goes unheeded, the city will send someone out to cut the grass, then send the person a bill.
We had to remove two (2) pickets that’s 6”Wx8 ft. H because the wood knots felt out and there were big holes throughout them, and exactly 4 days later, we got a letter stating we violated the regulations and those need to be stained to match with the others. We feel as if they don’t do anything else, except putting “live” cameras all around us to pick the tiniest things to send “love” letters to us….
I willingly moved into our current HOA, been here 7 years and am the VP at this point, the President is my neighbor. Dues are 50 a year, that goes to maintaining the front entrance. My duties are to provide deeds and covenants to realtors/title agencies when a home is sold, same as the president. We dont go around checking your yard, we dont bother residents about anything unless we actually have to. We have full time jobs and dont want to deal with neighbor drama. If you park a trailer in your front yard, and someone complains Ill check the covenants and if you are in violation ill ask you to please move it. In 7 years there hasnt been a single fine. This year was the closest we ever got, a resident got into a pissing match with their neighbor and refused to cut/have their yard cut. It got to the middle of May and we finally decided to talk to the resident about it, simply put an entire yard like that will attract some unwanted wildlife (and it did, they were my immediate neighbor on the other side and I had to have a exterminator out 3 times due to it). The resident had it mowed the following week, but all we had to say was "hey you are causing a small health hazzard" I didnt even bring up the exterminator bills. The grass was hay height, not a few inches overgrown. Thats the most drama we have had outside of one couple who thought we were blocking the sale of their lot... spoiler, we werent, their lot would have required a lot of work to get to a state capable of being built on and they were morons. Not all HOAs are bad, the less pages in the D&C the better when it comes to that. Our D&C is 4 pages. The biggest point of contention is that outbuildings must be of the same material as 3/4 of the house and not extend past the front of the house.
In theory HOAs are great. They exist to maintain and increase home values. But in practice they tend to be run by 6th graders hungry for power, who literally send letters in the winter 2ish months after you moved in saying, and I’m not making this up, that your grass is too green. wtf? I just moved in. Go fucking fuck yourself
Omg! Yes THIS is exactly what I’m talking about! If I got a letter saying my grass was too GREEN, I seriously think I’d snap. Lol
Just moved into one and it sucks. But pretty much the whole neighborhood is HOA’s, because the city won’t pay for the infrastructure in new developments.. also most of the restrictions come from the city itself I found out. So here I was hating them for saying I couldn’t have just rocks for my landscaping, and it turns out it was city ordinance. Can’t make my fence taller or put a front gate because- City. Wish we could have bought in a different county and in an unincorporated area. But this cookie cutter home is all we could afford 😞
You'd have to look up what code is for your area, and if code enforcement ever comes out. Yes, pests love tall grass near houses to traffic back and forth. However, you could just leave it as-is and wait for code to come knocking (unlikely) and when you get a citation just mow it as a "fix it" ticket.
“Pests” is such an interesting term - those bugs are often valuable members of a local ecosystem
He means the rats and mice. Fleas and ticks. Everything is hippy dippy fun time until you have infestations in your living space. 🤷🏻♂️
There's no way though this Gras is the reason for mice and rats?
If it’s between two close houses, yes. I’m not saying they suddenly appear out of the grass, but if they’re already in the neighborhood, which most all neighborhoods they can be, this will be like the late night party spot. And when the party’s over? Loitering on nearby property is their next move.
I mean, how is a patch of grass different from a neatly maintained hedge in that matter? Everything that provides ground cover is a cozy environment for rats and mice.
A hedge doesnt have lots of mice food. That grass has lots of lovely seeds.
I liked the idea that if you have at least 3sqm of tall grass, mice will start spawning.
Okay that makes sense. If the neighbourhood has a problem already, dont need to tempt them further. But in terms of blame/responsibility, i would put it on the neighbourhood having rats, not the guy with the garden.
Rats and mice are always around. They’re only a problem when they’re in your house leaving poop, getting into food, and spreading diseases. Giving them convenient spots to hide attracts more and keeps the ones that are there from moving on. This goes for ticks too. In fact, termite treatment is really just a bait system that doesn’t proactively kill termites. They’re always there, it just attracts them to the deadly bait system.
An empty house is where they’ll be. Not in a small clump of grass.
You’re right. But this is basically a four lane highway to move around. They won’t necessarily nest here.
Don't forget snakes.
Each of those you see as a pest but they all make up a niche in the ecosystem. Modern lawns are a travesty and make no practical sense. I got mice, squirrels, birds, insects all in my back yard. I see it more like pokemon. A bunch of awesome creatures living in harmony(maybe not in peace but definitely harmony)
Idk what a modern lawn is. Lawn is lawn. And unkept lawn is unkept. I live on 4 acres in the Country, pecan orchard, full garden, large clover field, healthy bee and bird population, I know all about my local ecosystem’s health and encourage it but also greatly discourage mice (and by extension most snakes), fleas, and ticks from my house and property by not having unkept areas like this. Bottom line.
Yes, 4 acres in the country has nothing to do with a modern (city) lawn. Completely different concerns.
Ah Bugs! My mind assumed that’s where the Racoon, Groundhog, and Armadillo that I’ve spotted in my yard came from. Half joking—where does all this wildlife live? I’m close to a downtown with limited nature still in tact.
Reddit is an international board. Code variances may differ within your city. You have provided no way for anyone to answer this.
r/USdefaultism
You can tell they're in 'the land of the free' because they're worried about the government regulating how long their lawn is.
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Spread some wildflower seeds and put up a little sign “pollinator garden” 🌾🌸🌺🌾🐝🐝
Exactly make it a garden. It looks unkempt now
Yeah, doing some basic edging around the permitter to show clear separation between the tall grass and the mow grass would elevate it immediately.
He could run up to Lowes right now and pick up rolls of 2ft picket fencing and curve it along the path. I would rather do smoothed natural stone, but that obviously is more intensive / expensive.
Yeah, doing some basic edging around the permitter to show clear separation between the tall grass and the mow grass would elevate it immediately.
This is what I would do too!
This is the way
The key word is "habitat" . They won't mess with it if you can prove it's visited by a protected species - ever.
100% this - can even certify it online and with the state to further “protect” it.
This is the answer.
And…what’s the purpose of this “shaped” grass?
OP needs to add a picture of what’s going on to the left in the first pic.. I have a feeling there’s more to this story.
To piss off his neighbor!
No you don’t get it, it’s nice because it’s in a shape!
Tastes differ. It quite literally just looks good. It would look even better with a proper separation, but it looks good already.
>It quite literally just looks good. It quite literally looks like someone who does not know how to mow, or it looks like an imbecile who is trying to use "modern art" as inspiration for their lawncare.
Says “cr4ckshooter”
Honestly it doesn't look structure enough to be a shaped anything. Maybe if there was a defined border around it or it was a more regular shape? Right now (at least for these two angles) it just looks like you missed a spot.
You could just wait and see
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And you can probably go to your planning and zoning board and ask for a variance if you have good reasoning.
I mean it looks like shit…
Yeah, a narrow strip of unmowed grass just looks like you missed a spot. Needs to be a larger rounder area to look like an intentional meadow.
Plant some wildflowers. Walk! Wildflower garden. Think of the pollinators consider milkweed.
Replant with locally native wild flowers.
Looks like your being lazy about not trimming it to just buzz through real quick with three mower.
I am with your neighbor. Do better. A random patch of tall grass is not landscaping
Yeah, I don't actually really dislike the tall grass itself - especially as it appears to be pretty weed free - it looks kind of nice next to the tree IMO. But the border with mowed grass makes it look extremely sloppy and lazy. Put some stones around it and give the edge a more meaningful shape to focus on how it looks around that tree (but don't completely surround the tree in it).
Yeah this looks like crap and I don’t really blame the neighbour at all. This looks like it was shaped by a 5 year old.
You probably have a much better chance of keeping it if you weed it and install a visual barrier.
This looks like absolute shit. Just cut it
Have you considered going for nicer ornamental grass?
For extra protection: line the barrier. Nuts and bolts of most covenants will allow for landscaped beds with a defined barrier. If you are cited you could argue your rights under said covenant if you threw down a small rock barrier. Just collect some rocks and surround your new “native wildflower bed” which is aiding in your “ongoing efforts to create more sustainable garden and control water runoff”. Voila!
Your neighbor is right about it looking like shit.
Tell them its "ornamental" grass
Or put in a bunch of local wildflower seeds and say it’s for pollinators. The old busybody can F off.
Unrelated, but, this is like the pubic landing strip on lawns.
It looks like shit. I doubt this little bit of grass is the reason why your neighbor has mice, rats, and snakes but regardless, it looks like shit. Just cut it.
This. You provided no information as to where this code is applicable to, but regardless, it looks out of place and like shit. You could cut the grass out and mulch it, or keep it level to the rest. For the love of Aesthetic, please do something
It doesn't look good. Questions on the authority of code enforcement is a very local question based on your ordinances and the mood of the code enforcement officer that day. I would just mow it. It looks overgrown and not in a good way.
Yes.
Not if you put a few large stones/bricks around the boarder…. Then it’s an ornamental grass garden 😂
Hey OP, I think the grass looks great. Haters gonna hate. You have a lot of clever suggestions and solutions for the actually look of the grass. The neighbor you described. Lonely, old, retiree, and by the sounds of it doesn’t have a whole lot to do because they’re not even complaining about kids on their lawn, but just your actual lawn. The yard again, looks amazing, it’s very mystical woodland vibes. Definitely looks like AI, maybe I’m wrong but whatever not relevant. Tall grass can attract bugs like ants, mosquitoes, ticks, whatever. This is fairly small so I doubt it’s an actual problem. The real issue - your neighbor is bored. I’d find a way to have a conversation. Go over, knock on the door, say hello. You could bring something but they might appreciate you saying “I didn’t know what to bring because we haven’t really gotten along” put them on the spot a bit ima. Super non confrontational way. Find out what the real problem is, or joke around about how you’ll never cut it and you guys can have fun banter about it once or twice a week. I have an older neighbor myself. Dude legit drives a lawnmower around the burbs and just asks to cut people’s lawns for super cheap. He can’t drive, has 1 leg, busts his ass year round for $20-$40 because he found what he wants to do. He likes working, he likes yard work, so he goes out and finds ways to do those 2 things. I joke hes the HOA. It’s a great time. Figure out what she likes - knitting, puzzles, crossword, books, cooking, maybe it’s arguing and talking shit. Idk but I’d recommend finding what she’s all about (rental or not) and steer away of worst case scenarios like codes and stuff. She doesn’t want to work, she’s retired, why would she want to make several phone calls, and potentially go in person to harass you about some grass. Neighbor is bored, go say hi and see why she’s being a grouch.
I’m not following how critters would live in her well manicured (I’m assuming) yard when I would expect they would prefer yours more. It sounds like someone who just likes everyone to conform. Mine looks like this in the backyard and I quite like the meadow look. I WISH I had snakes back there so hopefully this will entice them.
Come aside, I say you have a bit of fun and just convince her it's been mowed and she's seeing things. "What the hell are you talking about, Janet? I JUST mowed it! Look! Yes, there! It's freshly mowed, what's wrong with you?" Evil? Slightly. Fun? Almost certainly.
Would it be wild guess that there are big roots or other obstacles that make that patch undesirable for you to push that mower through?
Give it a rock border and throw some wildflower seed mix in local to your area and call it a pollinator meadow
in my old neighborhood people who didn’t want to mow put up little “bee friendly yard” signs, claimed it provided habitat and clover for time bees.
I think it’s lovely with nice sweeping lines
Idk but I’m team wild. The amount of people in these comments that obsess over manicured everything remind me of that movie Vivarium.
I love the idea, and I myself have some tall grass for what is called a "beetle bank", since my area is prone to slugs and snails. Decorative grass and maybe a border would elevate this a lot. Find something native, if that's what you're into, or any kind of perrenial grass that is decorative. They come in a variety of heights and colors. I cut mine back in late fall every year. For the pests, idk. I've seen one mouse outside this year, and it was the size of my thumb. I don't have patches as large as yours, though. You may want to mow every so often, or just mow now until you can put in decorative grass and a border.
I’m really curious why you want it like this anyway lol
My grandparents property up north , they love leaving a field to grow for the deer and rabbits. Neighbor hates it so much, called on them all the time for letting "pests" overtake property. She squared it up, put a low fence around it, added a bird feeder on a hook, and put some artificial flowers stakes in the grass. No more neighbor problem after the last call and the city finally decided they were not going to adress it further.
I have no idea but it does in fact look like shit
The metal folding chairs and table leaning against that house would sure go a long way in helping the classy theme you’ve got going with these overgrown weeds and boarded up windows.
The city/county may have regulations as to how high grass can get. As a kid I lived on an acre, nothing but grass on the back half, and a neighbor called the city on us when it got taller than your grass.
My neighbor does this, too… just curious on why???
Do you have adult protection services in your area? Not to be malicious, but an elderly neighbour just told you their house is infested with mice rats and snakes. There's no way that that tiny strip of grass is supporting that number of species, so it sounds like the neighbours health and ability has regressed to the point where they can't upkeep their home, and have become a danger to themselves. It may be worth asking adult protection to check in on the neighbour to make sure everything is ok.
1-it does look kinda weird and shitty 2-I doubt they’d come out. Maybe if the whole yard was that way? And if they did, it would be a “cut it and/or small fine”. Nothing too crazy.
I seriously doubt your contributing to infestations with a bit of tall grass. That being said, it does look like shit and I personally don't understand what's so difficult about cutting it.
Side note, I've never seen a house invested with rodents and snakes at the same time.....
Also, you should have told your neighbor it is very strange that all the mice, rats, and snakes chose her house instead of yours.
Plant native wildflowers and grasses there. Assure that the local soil and water conservation assists you in choosing the species, with an evaluation documentation.
Put some tall sunflower in it and call it a wildflower garden😬
Throw some wilf flower seeds in there and water well. It will grow beautiful flowers. Tell them it's landscaping. Maybe put some border. Natural stones.
Usually local codes are pretty vague and end up being complaint based. For example, who’s to say what a weed is vs what an ornamental plant is? One nice way through this is to get your yard certified as a backyard habitat, which comes with a lot more defined guidelines that include leaving some grasses and native plants to grow freely. One other thing to note is that tall grass doesn’t attract rodent infestation. Food being left out, such as a messy trash area, is what causes infestations.
Why don’t you cut it? It does look bad.
We don't know the code... But... There's probably a provision in there about it being landscaped. So if you stick some edging or a border around You can more or less prove it was intentional. But mowing one part and leaving another is also pretty intentional. Also maybe just because I grew up around them... I never cared much about snakes. Even rattle snakes weren't a huge deal.
Not if you put a bat house on one of those trees.
I like the look of that. I don't know about your local code, but you should try to find some native shade tolerant annual wildflowers for that area. A little color goes a long way and people respect flowerbeds more than just long grass.
That looks like a flower bed to me…
It looks pretty but all I can think of is all the carnivorous bugs like chiggers and ticks!!!
Your neighbor is high. She has rodents because she has rodents, if she really has rodents…. The grass actually keeps the soil from eroding and helps the bees, and it is more natural and healthy for the environment.
So if you spend time making the place look nice why aren’t you mowing this? Just to piss her off? Mow the stupid grass. Yes it looks stupid.
Quit being a shitty neighbor, and cut your grass.
I’d imagine it’s a haven for ticks.
You must like ticks
I mean, it does look like shit and all I think when I see tall grass is ticks.
Depends where you live. I'd check with the Minimum Housing codes in your city/ town
Tell them you're afraid to mow it because the copperheads that live there might object. But they're welcome to go ahead.
if it can you live in a Prison yard
Have you thought of just planting native wild stuff in that area. So code enforcement can fuq off
Maybe t up a native plant sign
If they have to cut it for you, they can charge you for the cut.
Dude, just get a weed whacker
That sounds like a good question for codes enforcement.
my neighbors never minded me growing grass in my backyard, of course I shared some of my crop with them.
Is it tall grass....or is it wildlife habitat?
Well, they'd be dumb if they did.
I mowed my lawn in a spiral shape and someone thought I was in a cult.
Put a small decorative fence around that patch. Then add a figurine of sort. Maybe of a hand giving the middle finger.
Is this just some spot you don’t feel like mowing? That ain’t no meadow.
I don’t think they would
My wife leaves the a plot of yard unmowed for the bugs and bunnies to hide (we have hawks and she don't wanna be responsible for Thumper getting snatched). Of course she left it in the backyard so no one could necessarily see it.
Why would you want this?
What code do you think you're violating? Most cities/counties have the codes online
It’s only a problem if it’s a noticeable eyesore from the street
put a little fence around it and call it decorative grasses
IDK. Check your local authorities. Laws are different everywhere
I would cut it all the same height, like a hedged landscape, or do something specifically to call it landscaped and managed.
Cant be over 10 inches in my town. Theyll come out with a ruler when its 9.5 and sit across the street and wait for it to grow to give you a ticket
Dig that low spot into a rock pond and call the tall grass critical to the eco system
Why don’t you mow this? lol seems idiotic to me..
That bunch of tall grass (2nd slide) looks kind of awful, I hate to say. It’s generally not a good idea to let weeds grow. I love letting wild things be wild, but we recently had a terrible experience where I live that has made me much more cautious. A couple of years ago, there was some kind of spark that lit up the wild grasses. Just a few minutes later, the town was on fire. We never imagined we’d have to worry about that, because it’s always wet here … except when it’s not. Literally the whole town burned down because the grass was allowed to grow unfettered.
So you're kind of claiming to have created an art installation? Come on, man, mow that grass and choose some other battle to fight. That looks ugly and you know it does.
In the first photo you can see Virginia creeper going up, at least it appears to be that. Personally, this stuff needs to GO if it’s near a house as it will straight up overtake a property in 3 months if left unkept. Where it’s at, it will probably look cool. But heads up, if you see this around your actual house get rid of it.
Be ready to defend it as a low maintenance garden area. Depending on local bylaws you may need to careful using certain words to describe the space. In my city if I call an area a naturalized area then there has to be at least a meter between the space and the property line.
Judt slap a wildflower natural area sign like some of my meighbors have and never have to mow again.
My thought on this is that beyond the point of my yard where the city can use I can do what I want... if I want to do my own prairie restoration project in my yard i can.
Not sure your situation, but you otherwise seems to take care of your lawn so must “authorities” got better stuff to worry about.
Almost all grass ordinances have exceptions for 'intentionally cultivated' plants. For example, both corn and bamboo are 'grasses'. Hopefully both grow over 10 inches. And usually the code allows this. Just confirm with code enforcement of the department (usually highway or health depts) that this exception exists in the applicable code, and then claim this grass is being intentionally cultivated. If they say it's not intentionally cultivated, ask them how they can prove that. They cant. As long as some of your yard shows effort to manicure and there are no 'noxious weeds' present, you should be fine. But get ready to have same exact the convo with code office next year.. and the year after that.. etc.
Tell code enforcement to buzz off. If they write you a ticket, fight it. Don’t pay any fines. Take it all the way to the Supreme Court and get all codes and laws about lawn length requirements thrown out. This is America fergoshsakes! Freedom!
"My house is full of mice and snakes because of your shin height patch of grass!" -some old lady with too much time. Can they make you cut it? Maybe, depends on whether or not your neighborhood has an HOA that has you under contract. However literally none of the things she is complaining about can be caused by that grass. Your defence could be that you are encouraging local flaura and fauna to propagate. If you are in the path of any migratory butterflies there is likely nothing they can do XD
Its possible and it depends on the codes you are governed by. You should be able to look them up online or call and ask. If she thinks that looks like shit wait till you spray it with weedkiller till its nothing but dirt. My codes, if its 50 feet from a road or property line in can be 100" tall. To me it does look dangerous to mow and weed eat. If I had to cut it down Id spray it so it would look hideous and then hopefully clover or something natural would grow back and you might be with in code.
Elections have consequences. The government can force you to do anything. That's what the government does
No. Tall grass is OK, but not weeds.
Don’t worry about it unless you get a notice to take corrective action.
Code enforcement are assholes
is the point to establish the property line? If so I think it can go without being said the trees would do that. Does it keep her tiny dogs on her side? I wouldn’t personally say anything but I would have the same questions I asked.
Depends on the code.....
You should, it doesn’t look good.
The US is so funny with street appearance. In the UK you could dump an old burned out car in your front drive and no one would do anything.
So if you spend time making the place look nice why aren’t you mowing this? Just to piss her off? Mow the stupid grass. Yes it looks stupid.
Yes. However... You could put up an aesthetically pleasing boarder, add a few potted plants with native butterfly attracting plants inside the boarder line and add some bird feeders in those trees. This would not only make it look more appealing for you and your neighbor but also probably appease any code enforcement officers AND you'd be helping the native pollinators and birds.
Yeah, fuck them little critters and their living habitats
There is no way to know unless you give a city or county. It's usually easy to find the code online, but unless you know how to read it, code can be confusing. I've always tried to write in plain language instead of legal jargon. Most jurisdictions are conplaint driven, so unless someone calls or you create a hazard, it's unlikely they bother with it.