Homeowner shows off dramatic side-by-side photos comparing their yard with neighbor's: 'He was annoyed'

A neighbor's decision to give up on their yard frustrated a homeowner whose flourishing natural lawn provided a great contrast.

They took to an anti-lawn subreddit to vent.

After moving into their first house in Northern Canada, they were unnerved by their neighbor's yard. A picture showed the bare remains of what was once a green space.

"He completely cut his side of the plot and just put gravel on top," the Redditor explained. "He doesn't even build anything on it, just rides an ATV in circles maybe once a month?"

Lest you think the OP should mind their own business, the same neighbor had previously complained about their yard.

"He was annoyed I didn't cut my lawn as often as he would want to," the OP related. 

A second picture showed the night-and-day difference between the yards. The OP described it as a "fully grown forest with mature trees," and you can see huge splashes of green and yellow from trees and native plants, as well as some pink from wildflowers.

The OP said the barren landscape of their neighbor "almost makes me like grass lawns again." They clarified that the gravel space isn't used for parking as all of their cars and a boat are kept in an unshown area.

The comparison sparked a discussion on the benefits of maintaining natural lawns. Native plants, which are well-adapted to local conditions, offer numerous advantages beyond aesthetics.

They require less maintenance, support local wildlife, help reduce the urban heat island effect, and maintain soil carbon levels. Even partial lawn replacements can yield substantial benefits for homeowners. 

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It's likely the OP's neighbor gave up on a conventional grass lawn that required significant upkeep because it's not well-suited to Northern Canada's climate. As the CBC detailed, natural lawns are backed constitutionally, but city bylaws and local attitudes are still catching up.

Visitors to the Reddit thread reacted to the OP's neighborly troubles.

"This is so ugly, I'm so sorry," a user wrote. "I'd definitely be putting up and planting things to increase privacy and decrease my view of that."

Many users pushed back on the OP interfering with their neighbor's yard. One commenter did combat that line of thinking.

"I want to agree with you, but nature isn't a dead thing that we should be allowed to dump 5 tons of gravel on," they wrote.

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