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Cyclists parking bikes on my lawn

(83 Posts)
Thegrandmarniter Sun 25-Apr-21 14:10:17

I live near a Millennium Greenway. I cycle or walk on it almost every day. However I don’t like it very much when cyclists from elsewhere stop outside my house, park their cars outside my living room window and then lean their bikes against the tree on my lawn, or walk across my lawn or mend their bicycle chains on my lawn.....Need I go on. I have put a little sign against one of the trees saying , ‘Private Garden, please keep dogs off the grass’ because, of course I have found little doggie dollops by the tree as well. If I go out and ask them politely to get off my garden they usually do but I’m a bit upset today. There were a group of 6, standing outside my window, a bike propped against each of the two trees and a third being mended on the grass. I politely asked them to move. One actually started laughing, another muttered something about 1st world problems, a third tried to make a joke about thinking it was a patch of Council grass. The final straw was when one said, ‘Oh, you’ve got a sign here, you haven’t cut the grass so I didn’t see it.’ Exasperated I said that maybe I’d get my bike out and follow them home and park on their lawns. One said, ‘If you did love I’d invite you in for a drink.’ The implication that I was being unreasonable was clear. The incident has left me a bit upset and shaky. Any advice Gransnetters?

Alexa Sun 02-May-21 21:58:07

Elegran wrote:

"That would just encourage the dogwalkers to drop more bags of doggy-do, and the bike and car parkers to believe that it is just waste ground and not someone's front garden. Not helpful."

True. So here is an opportunity to set up a little wayside cafe make nice cycling and doggy friends.

Mollygo Fri 14-May-21 18:44:56

I wish I’d had GN to advise when I had a similar problem. My ground-floor flat had a low wall vert close to the front window on which groups of people would sit and chat, play music etc. despite the ‘please do not sit on the wall’ sign in the window.
The only thing that stopped them was vaseline on the wall which brought callers saying,
“Did you know your wall is all greasy. It’s ruined my jeans.”
Pots of prickly plants would have been more entertaining.

M0nica Fri 14-May-21 19:15:58

We had a problem years ago when we had an open plan front garden and covenants that said we could not put up a fence or hedge.

I planted a spaced row of roses, each in its square of dug land with a bit if grass in between so it wasn't a hedge. I let them grow large and made sure they were thorny.

It worked.

Thegrandmarniter Tue 25-May-21 12:01:02

Thank you so much to everyone who replied. I’m costing chain link fencing as we speak. Also, since they were wearing club jerseys, I’ve emailed their cycling club which I found online. I know no one was physically hurt and no actual damage was done but it was 6 men being unpleasant to one little me. They wouldn’t like their mothers to be treated that way. Their behaviour was not ok so I’ve made formal complaint. I’ll let everyone know if I get a result.

MelBB Thu 27-May-21 17:06:48

There definitely needs to be a psychological barrier. I'd recommend holly as it's prickly and no one will stuff any rubbish in that or attempt to lean on it etc. Do keep it below 4ft for security. Otherwise, have you seen the type of wooden posts farms have with the wire? Subtle, wonderfully rustic yet stylish and no one could get their bike through. Or, trellis is good too. It can't hold weight of a person, for example. Can you trll I used to do home security assessments, haha!!

Nancy0 Wed 02-Jun-21 00:09:57

What about warning sign re plants that might cause allergic reaction?? A little bit of itching powder??? If the warning sign is there......

Hellogirl1 Wed 02-Jun-21 12:20:42

I don`t know the name of the plant, but whilst walking along a path through some gardens in Turkey, my husband accidentally brushed against a plant near the path, and he started to bleed, it took several hours to stop bleeding. Sounds like an ideal plant to deter future visits.