Helpful Advice Please
 

Hello everyone, me & my husband just moved here a little over a month ago from Ohio. My question is that our neighbor on one side is a "snowbird" & apparently won't be back until November & he does get the lawn mowed but the weeds are growing so high. I already had to pull the ones that are next to the garage. I hate to complain but I thought property owners are supposed to keep up on that ? Thanks in advance.

Take a photo and show it to the Community Standards office located at 984 Old Mill Run. If it is a violation, they will enforce it by contacting the owner. Note that the website for a lot of Villages management information is "districtgov.org".

Worrying about hurricanes, a failure of the A/C system, and weeds top the list of snowbird concerns while away. No matter how hard we try to keep our weeds under control when not there during the growing season, it’s a loosing battle. We try to never not get to our house for longer than a two month absence, so our weeds never get totally out of control, but they definitely start to look unsightly. Our yard never looks better than when we leave after spending the winter and early spring. If your neighbor isn’t there for several months, without having a service keep the weeds under control, I can see your dilemma. You’re stuck between reporting them to community standards and potentially getting off to a bad start with them, and having to look at the unsightly weeds. I would suggest trying to contact the neighbors directly and explaining the situation to them. Best of luck.

weeds are the worst. . . My mom's house went from having a nice lawn to all weeds in a month. . .

stupid design Mother Nature, what were you thinking!

Good suggestion to contact the neighbor. That’s being a good neighbor. Don’t turn them in as the first step!

Weeds grow up quickly in Florida. They can be a problem for a snowbird or sunbird who owns property here. First, it’s not easy to get someone to spray or pull weeds. I know because we are a sunbird and spend a month or two up north in the summer. Sometimes you can work with a good neighbor to do it for you. Of course, you make it worth their time. A snowbird might be gone six months or longer. Additionally, some lawn companies will take care of the weeds but my experience is most don’t want to fool with weeds. Weeds are a problem you have stay on top to get it done. I always get a “house watch person” , friend or neighbor who has my number and a key when I’m gone. Things can happen even if you leave for a two or three week vacation. Sometimes a mowing company will just suddenly go out of business or your air conditioner goes out that’s when you really need a neighbor or a house watch to have your key and phone number. You can check around your neighborhood to see if someone has this neighbors number and have them called. Some people are very “private” until you get to know them better and you mentioned you just moved to The Villages. Good luck.

I’d not turn them in. You want a good long term friendly relationship.
I just pull the weeds that might get into my yard. I can wait a few months for the neighbors and talk to them.


Since it’s been only a month they may have a service - with the rains a lot of yard services are behind.

There’s a lot worse things than weeds. If you can wait until you meet them, work it out in person.

Have you talked to other neighbors? If this isn’t an ongoing issue wait.

Contacting the neighbors is best advise. If you do not have any info does any of your other neighbors have it?

I don't disagree with contacting the owner, if possible. But, don't you think it would be good to know if they are violating any rules before doing so? What is the rule for weeds in your yard? I don't know, but Community Standards should be able to advise the OP.

If you can contact the neighbors, let them know their weeding service hasn’t been at the house in a few weeks and they may not want to pay them.

Keep community standards out of it.
Follow the advice of posters to resolve it with the neighbors.

Your neighbor has his lawn mowed weekly and that will take care of the weeds on his lawn. You are worried about some weeds next to your garage that the lawn mower didnt get? And youre only here a month?

Welcome to Florida

Can you post a picture? We are gone most of the summer, and the weeds in the rock beds are a nuisance but rarely grow "so high". Curious how bad it really is and if it's worth causing strife with the neighbors over.

Are you are assuming that they have a weeding service? Most people don't.

I don't agree. I would like to know if their property is violating any rules before I contact them about it.

may want to try to contact owner first.

“IF” as you mentioned they have a lawn service, the landscaper may not be showing up weekly while they are absent, BUT charging for a weekly service.

Difficult for homeowner to flip expense of violation to the landscaper

Quite the conumdrum ...
 

Our neighbors are



Our very kind neighbors contact us when the weeds are out of control in our otherwise low maintenance frontage. We then prompt our property manager that the routine yardman he employs has neglected to provide service. However, it seems that is a far too common occurrence over the past 7 years of ownership. It is sad but true that the yardmen are not trustworthy unless supervised. This year, we hope for compliance by requesting the fellow(s) to send “before” and “after” photos.

Only time will tell.

Some posters have suggested contacting the neighbor. I recommended taking a photo and showing it to Community Standards. They can determine if the neighbor is violating any rules or deed restrictions. They may tell you that there is no violation. In that case, contacting a neighbor, who is out-of-town and who the OP doesn't know, about something that is not a violation, would not be the neighborly thing to do. Even if there is a violation, you don't need to file a complaint, if the neighbor will correct it. My opinion.

Please try to contact your neighbor first. If they won’t do anything is one thing but just turning them in to community standards is not a neighborly thing to do

Take a pic and send it to him and suggest the company he has doing the lawn is not doing in his absence- this happened to me (Deans) and I appreciated the notice - be careful of scammers when being a snow bird!!

No, I actually am assuming they don’t have one,
but the technique suggests to the snowbirds that they should have one or at least let’s them know in a nice way the weeds are too high.

They are more considerate then neighbors who spray round-up (with a little cancer cookie for you and the animals).
There are many medicinal "weeds" that are benificial to humans. Some are great when dryed for teas.

The Federal Government says that Round-up does not cause cancer.

Then just how do the weeds get picked?

Most people do it themselves. I use Round-up with a battery operated sprayer. Very convenient.

:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl: Yes, perhaps they are developing a weed garden for tea.

My neighbors appreciated that I contacted them about their weeds, especially because they were paying their yard service people to keep everything under control.

Turns out one contractor simply wasn't doing their job.

My wife and I are one of the first to move into our neighborhood of 103 homes. We have an email list to keep everyone informed. We all shared our email and phone contact info.

We all work together to help everyone in our neighborhood.

One thing that is sometimes troublesome is when contractors don't do the work they are being paid to do. Contacting the neighbor directly let's them know to contact their servicepeople.

If the neighbor doesn't take any action, that is when you get the district involved about noncompliance.

Work together with your neighbors!

I do realize this can be difficult when your neighborhood is not organized as we are here in our area of Marsh Bend. Our neighbors are great!

We had a weed person who just stopped coming. It took a while to find another so contact your neighbor and see if that’s what happened. It is very hard to find someone reliable. We just have stone!!

I have found that most lawn services do not pull weeds.

Or look up their contact information on the Couny Assessor website, and send the picture. Maybe they will appreciate a thoughtful neighbor letting them know about a problem.

I have had issues with Deana during the snowbird season while they knew I was home.
Going to change to a different company when this contract ends. Not sure who yet.

Playing by the Rules
 

I see so much "advice" to contact the neighbor first before "escalating" to the district. Why is my anonymous reporting a violation to the proper, established authorities being a bad neighbor? When I purchased my snowbird property (here full-time now), I knew the rules. I did my due diligence and hired personnel to make sure all was well with my property. No "good neighbor" had to reach out to me or to the proper authorities about weeds in my yard. I handled it knowing that doing so made ME a good neighbor.

When I'm driving through residential areas with my golf cart and see a violation, does it make me a Karen (and I hate that term, but it defines the vitriol expressed towards those who complain either justly or unjustly) to report it? Remember, we're all in this together. When one property slips, others will follow. If you don't want to play by the rules required to live in a planned community (such as a district or HOA), then don't purchase there.

I know. I know. It's a double-edged sword. But if you've ever had a neighbor that destroyed the value of your property (or your quality of life living in it) by the way they cared for (or behaved in) theirs, you can appreciate the value of those rules.

As far as opinions about mowing solving the weed problem, tell that to those around the property where all the seeds are getting blown around. Weeds need to be controlled before they seed. Waiting to mow will not only NOT solve the problem, but exacerbate it.

A civil society - if we can keep it.

{my two cents}

Now I'll wait for the ridicule and death threats. LOL!

Will you keep a 3-ring binder of all those you report, separate sections for your residential (village) area and any other area?
Geeez……..

dont be so saucy Jim ;)

My neighbors on one side are also snowbirds and they hired someone to "watch their house" while they're away. The person that they hired didn't take care of their weeds, so I texted them to let them know. They asked the person "watching" their house to abate the weeds, but the person never did, so I pulled the weeds in the island on their lawn and around their lamp post, then sprayed those two areas. I spray my flower beds for weeds every week, so I now spray the two aforementioned areas in their yard too. It only takes a couple of minutes extra per week. If it's not too much trouble for you, that might be better than reporting them . . . You'll be a good neighbor and keep the neighborhood looking nice.

I would just buy a can of weed killer and kill the weeds that are on my property. Turning in a new neighbor won't help for a long term relationship.

As a good neighbor, why don’t you contact him and let him know that the weeds are getting out of hand. That’s what our neighbors did when it happened to us.

My next door neighbor and the neighbor across the street are snowbirds. They are nice people and great neighbors so when I spray for weeds in my yard I spray the weeds in their yard. I volunteered my help, they did not ask, and they have done me favors and appreciate my efforts to keep their yard in compliance. It takes me all of 20 minutes to do my yard and theirs.

I simply spray or pull my neighbors weeds on my side when they're gone so I don't have to look at them when I'm spraying my own. Takes only a few minutes and problem solved.
If you want a good relationship with them, and you do, just do that for yourself and for them. Vinegar, salt, and dawn dish soap kills weeds and is nontoxic

I solve the problem with minimal effort. When I trim my yard, I trimmed the neighbors bushes. When I hit my yard with Roundup to control weeds, I hit my neighbors also. Maintains a good relationship with my neighbor and controls the weeds without a lot of effort or expense.