Would you Lend a Stranger/Neighbour Your Lawnmower?

PasturesNew

I have a lawn. LL says to phone him and he'll be over to cut it... thing is, I don't like to. I have to be in, so time has to be arranged, then he wants to use the electric, so I think "what if he wants to come in", so it means gutting the place. It took him 3 hours last time, he's not done it for a year ....

Now, there is a neighbour over the road who is houseproud and very neat and tidy ....

If I went over there and asked, do you think she'd lend me her mower? Would £20 be fair to pay her to borrow it?

It's long grass, would that be wrong to just go at it with an electric mower anyway?

She's out there now ... nearly finished her front lawn.

PasturesNew

Well, I bit the bullet, went over there and asked.

She said no, grass is too long. I need a petrol strimmer on it first.

Dammit .....

Note to self: Never have a lawn.

mrbadexample

How well do you know the neighbour? To be honest, if it's not been cut for a year, it'll need to be a damn good electric mower to get through it.

If it's electric, you'll have to plug it in anyway...

Can't you arrange it with your landlord, and tell him you're much too busy working to let him in the house, but you'll plug it in for him?

mrbadexample

Fair play for asking...nothing ventured, nothing gained, eh Rodney?

stilernin

If you were happy to offer £20 you might be able to hire strimmer/mower. Once it is under control and you look 'responsible', your neighbour may well have a change of heart.

shellsuit

How come you don't cut the grass yourself?

I'm not having a go, just can't understand if it's your lawn, why you don't have to tend to it.

ETA : I'd lend a neighbour our lawnmower, hedge cutter or strimmer and I'm positive my neighbours would do the same for me if mine weren't working.

Elsewhere

Why not buy a strimmer? You can get one for just over £20!
http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.204-6282.aspx

PasturesNew

mrbadexample wrote: »

How well do you know the neighbour? To be honest, if it's not been cut for a year, it'll need to be a damn good electric mower to get through it.

If it's electric, you'll have to plug it in anyway...

I know it needs plugging in, the thing is, I have to be here to open the window and plug it in.... I am a private person and am anxious when others are about, so I'd be on tenterhooks from the minute he arrived to when he left.

mrbadexample wrote: »

Can't you arrange it with your landlord, and tell him you're much too busy working to let him in the house, but you'll plug it in for him?

I don't understand this bit... I have to be here to plug it in. I don't want the interaction.

PasturesNew

mrbadexample wrote: »

Fair play for asking...nothing ventured, nothing gained, eh Rodney?

I was proud of myself. I can't "just ask" people things, ever... it's taken me about 18-20 months of seeing her and her mower to pluck up the courage to ask.

PasturesNew

shellsuit wrote: »

How come you don't cut the grass yourself?

I'm not having a go, just can't understand if it's your lawn, why you don't have to tend to it.

ETA : I'd lend a neighbour our lawnmower, hedge cutter or strimmer and I'm positive my neighbours would do the same for me if mine weren't working.

Because I don't have a lawnmower, or a shed to keep one in. I live in a studio/aka bedsit.

Landlord opted not to pay the service charge for the grass to be cut, I can phone and he'd come and do it.... but it's also his busy season in his business and I'd feel an obligation to completely gut this flat and put everything away entirely just in case he wanted to come in and as I live alone I have stuff "to hand". It's so small it's a pain to keep putting things away just to get them out again, and the clothes cupboard isn't big enough, so I put a lot of clothes on the sofa and the airer is out 24/7 because once stuff's dried there's nowhere else to really put it ... except on the sofa.

And, I just think he might think it untidy. It's just necessary in a small space. If I put clothes away they get crumpled, if I don't they won't. So it makes sense ... but if he comes in ... well, I'd have to tidy everything away and squeeeeze it into cupboards.

Not got a lot, place is dinky.

Also, arranging a time/date for him to come in advance might be tricky if it's raining (which, let's face it, it often is).

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

If you see the council mower guys come round, offer him a tenner to go over the lawn.

I bought a lawnmower for 20p at a local jumble sale a few weeks ago and while its not the rolls royce of lawnmowers it does the job. Good luck