'AITA for telling my neighbor to stay off our property because of his 'gift?''

"AITA for telling my neighbor to stay off our property because of his 'gift?'"

I 29 F and 31M husband have a front yard with a short gate. It doesn’t block the view, but it’s still ours, you know, property lines and all that. My husband likes to keep the grass long. I don’t love it, but It’s not a hill I’m willing to die on.

Enter our neighbor: an older gentleman in his 60s, apparently convinced he’s Santa Claus, Lawn Edition. Without asking, he hired someone to come onto our property and trim the entire yard. He paid for it himself and later told us it was a “Christmas present.” We were flabbergasted. Totally, utterly, jaw-on-the-floor flabbergasted.

We live in Latin America, so I like to think he was coming from an old-school, “help your neighbor” mindset rather than malice. But here’s the thing, property is property. A gate does not mean “all you can mow.”

My husband was furious (he has a short fuse), so I decided to handle it. I thanked the neighbor politely, explained we appreciated the thought, but told him very clearly to never do anything like that again without asking. Now he’s going around telling everyone we’re ungrateful. Sure, okay. Apparently, saying “please don’t touch my yard” is the height of cruelty. So, AITA for setting a boundary on our own yard?

NOTE: Our yard isn’t just grass, the neighborhood hens love foraging in the grass and the wildflowers bring in bees and butterflies. The trimmed yard got rid of the flowers, bees and butterflies.

My husband loves this little ecosystem and has a stronger green thumb than I do. I am not too nature-y so I don’t really care for it. We tried to pay the neighbor for the work despite this upsetting my husband but he refused.

Here's what people had to say to OP:

Ladymistery said:

People are insane. Unless you asked or agreed, it was not a gift. It was him deciding that your lawn wasn't what HE liked, so he made it that way. Especially since it wasn't just a lawn - it was a bit of an ecosystem. NTA.

Silver-Culture4427 said:

NTA. Nobody should be making changes to someone else's property without prior consent.

Aeoniuma said:

NTA. He didn’t do it for you he did it for himself because HE likes it short.

Dogmother123 said:

NTA he wanted the lawn mowing. It was a gift to himself.

TheQualityGuy said:

NTA. Today it's the lawn. Tomorrow he paints your house. The day after, he takes your car. Your property, so he should have offered it to you, not barge in & do whatever he likes. Where does it end?

nostraferatu said:

NTA. Longer grass is typically healthier grass. If anyone else comes on your property, call the police.