Earlier this year, a homeowner asked Reddit whether he had messed up by choosing a unique, all-natural lawn care method that his wife hated: a goat.
Lawns are getting more and more pushback from owners tired of rising water bills, polluting lawn chemicals, and, of course, endless mowing. Some residents choose to replace their lawns with native plants or low-maintenance xeriscaping. However, those who live in HOAs don't always have those options because the association dictates the appearance of their front yards.
This Redditor said that was the case with his home.
"This week was the very first week this year that I would need to cut the grass," he said. "The HOA is very strict about it. We even have little flags at the front of the yard that the grass isn't allowed to get taller than."
Sadly for this Redditor, he couldn't tolerate mowing.
"I hate cutting grass," he said. "Hate it, hate it, hate it. The sound of the lawn mower makes me wish I could take my ears off like Mr. Potato Head and lock them in a box."
He also mentioned that he disliked the smell and that mowing irritated an old shoulder injury. Worse, his wife wasn't willing to do it either.
That was when the Redditor got creative. "Just so happens I know a guy who owns a goat, and I offer him $20 to bring it over to eat the grass for me," he said. "The goat eats the grass, we keep her away from the neighbors yards, goat goes home."
He also clarified that his HOA rules allowed him to have the animal there temporarily, and the Redditor loved the result.
"It was great!" he said. "Way better than mowing."
Unfortunately, his wife disagreed. "Now my wife is mad," he said. "Some of the neighbors saw the goat and think it's hysterical that we had a goat doing yard work for us." He then asked Reddit whether he was in the wrong.
Commenters loved the goat story and thought it was a smart solution. Some even pointed out that this is a well-known trick.
"You picked the more environmentally friendly (and adorable) option," assured one commenter.
"Our town uses a herd of goats and sheep to clean the overgrowth in the drainage canals," said one user. "They come in the summer and you can track where they are currently on our town app. I think this is a great idea for lawns."
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