Plus last year they had a rat infestation that spread to our other neighbor. Probably from their nasty yard. It's like a rat sanctuary.

Arghhhhhh.

I'm so sorry to hear this, I had been thinking your neighbourhood was so nice, well I know it still is, and it's just one neighbour, but it sort of lets everyone else down I think.. and with them not being friendly either and somewhat anti-social with everything.... Like you we just try and get on with everybody, we are lucky here now, but twice in the past we have had bad experiences going on a long time, and we moved those two times, because we considered we had 'neighbours from hell'.. it cost us a small fortune one way and another, we even sold one property at well below the market value just to get out as quick as we could...

However, I know it isn't going to be like that for you, but hopefully they will sell up and move on at some point. I find that people usually do if one is patient.

What annoys me though is that, you are improving the look of the whole area, not only your garden, but anyone who is nearby can benefit from what you are doing, and it might increase the value of their own properties, including your neighbour, yet they give nothing in return...

Well maybe if I keep improving our yard it will continue making their house worth more and they will sell and get the heck out of here.

Since they have little kids, probably not. But I can dream.

The weed whackers and weed pollen cloud just pushed me over the top today. Argh.

I really empathize, Cori Ann. I had a neighbor in Alaska that didn't pick up if garbage blew out on garbage day when their cans were emptied. I'd have to go pick up after them, since I couldn't stand it. Their big dog also came on our property and attacked and killed our small dog. I really regretted not buying their lot before they did. I was so happy to leave them behind.

Thank you both for the empathy. That's really what I needed I guess. That and to just rant.

They fixed the rat problem. Probably because their next door neighbor complained. So at least that's done.

Now it's just their yard. We are in an unincorporated area so I'm not quite sure of the tidiness laws to be honest. I think it is time for me to look it up.

Sheila that is just heartbreaking about your dog! I am so terribly sorry!

It's such a horrible, helpless feeling to be in this situation. If you try to talk to them, you've made enemies and things will get worse. There should be a nuisance law in regard to the dogs barking but there again it could backfire. I'm so sorry for the stress this is causing you. I know what it would do to my peace of mind. You work so hard to make your place beautiful and this is so terribly unfair. How do the neighbors on their other side feel about this, assuming they have any?

The neighbors on the other side feel the same as me... probabaly worse because the rat problem spread to their house before it was resolved. We commiserate together.

Joking - for a little while, place a few rat traps at your boundary, and see if they get a message... sounds awful.

Our county government has people who will investigate complaints of residents who don't keep their properties reasonably clean. Perhaps your county does also. The city of Charleston also has livability ordinances with a special livability court to help neighbors resolve disputes that could otherwise get very ugly.

Obviously, if your neighbors might be involved in illegal activities- cooking meth, building bombs, child or spousal abuse, you would want to contact the sheriff. But if it's simply that they have no clue about how to keep up their property, there may still be a way to anonymously complain to authorities who can visit the property and explain the concept of maintenance to your neighbors. It is quite possible that they really have never thought about how their actions- or lack thereof- affect those living near them.

Much sympathy for your plight- I hope you can find a solution soon.

Virginia

PS Not sure which county you're in, but Alameda Co. seems to be hip to some livability issues: https://www.acgov.org/edenareavision/principles.htm

So sorry about your neighbors. Glad the rat problem is solved (shiver). We have a neighbor who called the "city" about another neighbor not mowing their grass. That swiftly solved the problem.

Cath

Cori Ann, so sorry you're having to put up with this. When the neighbouring house here was sold, the young fellow who bought it let it go to weeds, but at least he was pleasant! I well remember watching his weeds seed and blow over to mine. Very annoying. But I didn't have to put up with yapping dogs and rudeness as well.

I hope you can resolve some of it, but as others have said, confronting them may just make things worse. At least, none of it is personal, and believe me, that's the last thing you want.

Trish

Thanks everyone. I think I'm just going to get a weed torch. My neighbors already think I'm crazy anyway. Most of the property line we share is fenced, but there's this 20ish ft area that is just weed central (from their weed garden) and I'm tired of pulling them up through the riverrocks. Total pain

Burning the weeds... and burning a solid line across the property line we share... gives me a wicked smile. It is a fun idea.

I guess at least their weed lawn is chopped down now.

I feel much better after ranting. Thanks for listening and empathizing everyone.

(((HUGS))) Glad you feel better. Rant anytime you need to. I've dealt with rude neighbors, yappy dogs that just won't SHUT UP, and trashy yard neighbors - but not all at the same time. That would drive me mad too!

My sympathies! Horrible neighbours are just so awful. We had it really, really bad at our old house; it is such a relief to have finally been able to move!

Yes, most of us can certainly sympathize! I'm sorry you're dealing with this, and it's hard to ignore things like this when you work so hard on your own property. At least there's a good fence. My neighbor across the street is on disability, and something of an alcoholic I gather. The house isn't too terrible from the outside, aside from needing a good power washing and one boarded up window. What bothers me is that he has a collection of bright red, Target shopping carts that he uses to collect recyclables and transport them to the recycling center for the deposit. I wouldn't mind so much if he kept the carts reliably on the side of the house, out of view, but he regularly leaves them right square on the front lawn or his driveway, and of course they're bright red. Sometimes he abandons the carts here and there on the side of the street, to return for later I suppose. At times, he keeps other sorts of metal recycling in front of the house. Especially annoying was a refrigerator that sat out there for several months. I eventually made a comment to him about it "do you need help moving that?" and he got the hint and it was gone within the week. The only saving grace is that he is very nice and friendly, and does occasionally take the hints that I drop. My dream is to one day buy the house and flip it, or maybe retain it as a rental property. I have already visualized what I'd plant on the property, so I can look across the street and see something pretty from my front windows. Patience is key!

-Chris

Cori Ann I hear what you are saying. We have a neighbor who never cleans up the yard. Then one Sunday morning they started up the riding lawn mower at 6 am. Someone called the city about their untidy yard and they got cited. Find out if your city can help you. The dogs barking would also be breaking a noice ordinance in our city and if my neighbor's dog barked like that I could complain and they could be cited.

When I had a problem I call the city. Yours probably has blight and maintenance ordinances. I know mine does. When my brother had his heart attack and couldn't mow for a while I got a citation after only three weeks. The lawn wasn't even 6 inches tall. But I hired someone to come mow it until he was back on his feet.

Thanks for all your help and advice on the ordinances everyone. It's a little different in areas that aren't incorporated, as we don't really have a city, but we do have county wide ordinances. I looked them up and they can let their weeds get 18 inches high.

I bet another one of my neighbors complained and that's what prompted them to even chop down the weed lawn the past few times... since they were probably about 2 feet high.

There are noise ordinances too for the dogs. I honestly feel really bad for the dogs. They're totally neglected.

Our ordinances are pretty lax since it's unincorporated, but I did find it really funny that there is a specific ordinance about not keeping shopping carts in your yard. That one made me laugh out loud after reading your story Chris.