Footballs over the fence

On one side I have the occasional ball comes over and I just throw it back. No problem. On the other side I have a dog that barks all the time and is really disruptive. I'd be grateful if I only had the balls situation!

These post are relatively old but give me some respite. I have always been good at returning the balls over fence but dared to complain about it nearly hitting a window. My house backs unto a youth home. Which is now active since covid. I felt very threatened and have had two balls over since which I return to the high street. At costs I am paying for a ball net because I don't want any trouble. I wish I had shut up! It's made me realise how vulnerable I am. I am.being unreasonable but balls never came over so much before!. So much so I am looking to sell up and move, putting up the highest net I can find without planning permission. Really worked myself up here, but I don't know what to do

We have this issue at the moment, I wait for them to ask, and return them...if it was 1-2 a day fine...but from experience he has 12 footballs! Several have disappeared as his Dad put up a second boundary fence and they've landed in the middle.

I used to throw them back until overhearing an argument between the lad 12, and his Mum where he said 'I don't need to go ask the 'stupid b***h always throws them back'. Now I push them to the side, he asks and has to make 3-4 trips to collect them all...

I had the neighbours kids playing football in their gardens all summer holiday last year.
The balls coming over was the least of the problem, it was more the football being smashed against the fence ajoinimg our small gardens. All I could hear was crash ! Crash crash! Sitting out in the garden was not very relaxing at all. Added to thst there was the yelling and the when the ball did come over then it kept landing in my fish pond nearly knocking my stone fountain over or landing on my plant pots.
Can’t wait for the kids to break up lol

Oh blimey! Done up like a kipper..
I never noticed it was an old thread

As this thread is a year old, it would be interesting to know if the OP has found a solution to the problem of errant footballs. I might add that she and any others with this issue should be very thankful that it's only footballs. My kids played hockey and cricket...

I sympathise. My neighbours razed their garden to turn it into a football pitch. We could no longer use our garden to relax in. Always waiting for footballs to rocket over the fence. The noise of it hitting the fence was awful, too. It was very stressful. We lost our Guinea pig and in searching for him, found about thirty balls in the wasteland next to our house. I asked them not to kick it into our fence, which caused real damage. My plants were damaged. The dog was traumatised. It was nerve wracking. I could never understand why they didn’t put up nets. We have boys on the other side who do play football too, but not with the determination that those on the other side do. It was like living next to a mini training ground where the footballs were like missiles. I don’t know what the answer is. But I sympathise.

I can't understand why this is annoying you ! They are only playing with the football, it wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

The kids next door to us will knock 3 or 4 times a day to get their ball back. It's really annoying as the ball damages my plants, lands in my pond and scared my fish. I also have 2 baby tortoises in the garden that I have ti bring inside if the kids are playing as it would kill them if a ball hit them. I can't sit in my garden if they are playing as you are likely to be hit.
I would never have let my son disturb otherwise that but they " love football "!!

We used to have kids playing in a field over our fence. Balls kicked over the fence were damaging our veg plants and it didn't help being jumped on when the boys climbed over the fence to retrieve their ball. I told them not to climb over our fence , due to the damage and the possibility they would eventually make the fence fall over. I said they could claim their balls back from the local police station. The boys used to start playing about 6am at weekends so I took their back back to their home and very noisily knocked up their parents who didn't appreciate being woken up at 6am.

Pattieb, I would hate it. It's warning to me to try to live in street of small bungalows where old people are more likely to be found.

I am in a semi and I did have a problem with a full grown man and his friends playing with tennis balls. Thank goodness they moved away!

One idea, if you can afford it, may be to get very high garden screening made of fine plastic netting. It is cheap but the high posts would be expensive.

MaggsMcG

"Shinamae" get yourself a super soaker it works better than anything else I even use mine from my bedroom window.

Great idea, can’t think why I didn’t think of it myself, thank you..?

Obviously some of you are not gardeners. When I lived in my previous property a number of children used to play in the back lane. Most of them lived elsewhere, but came to play football with friends and inevitably the ball would come over the back which was an 8ft fence.
Some of my plants were expensive to buy, but what I hated most was the damage done in Springtime to my perennial plants which meant that that particular plant would not flower that year.
In the end I decided not to give any balls back unless an adult came to pick them up. One did come and was quite understanding, and asked his son to play in his own back lane in future.
Thankfully after a few years, they all grew up and the problem ceased.

"Shinamae" get yourself a super soaker it works better than anything else I even use mine from my bedroom window.

Modompodom

I would have thought the 15 year old should be kicking a ball around in the local rec with his mates, not playing in the back garden.

... then, like me, you're in the minority!

I would have thought the 15 year old should be kicking a ball around in the local rec with his mates, not playing in the back garden.

My boys used to love football, and occasionally the balls would end up next door, and the neighbour used to confiscate them. However when her son was older and played football himself, his ball would often end up in our garden. We told him it was fine to just pop in and pick it up, but she made him ring at our doorbell each time which was so annoying!

pattieb

The family next door constantly kicks footballs into our garden. I know we have to give them back but tend to make them wait a while or ask for them back.
Some days there can be as many a three or four.
We’ve tried to reason with the neighbours but they just don’t see it as a problem.
They just say they are children and they love football. The son is 15 !

Why is this a problem?

Either chuck the balls back, or don't.

If the children come in without asking and damage your garden ask the entire family in one afternoon, and say that it upsets you that your flowers or vegetables are ruined by their balls.

Right now, neither you nor your neighbours understand the others point of view. Try solving that problem first.

My nieghbour's dog barks if I work too near our communal fence. I just say, clearly addressing the dog, "It's just me, and I am on my side of the fence, so you don't need to bark." it worked with other dogs, so I assume it will work with this one too.

4allweknow

I had a brother who was a professional footballer, played twice for his national team . Never allowed a ball in the garden, always taken to a park or allowed on his own when older. Dad always said no one can play football in an average garden, they can only kick a ball and those who do that, usually have very little control of the ball.

I think this gets to the heart of the matter.

Young children playing with a ball, throwing it to each other, or inexpertly playing 'football' and sometimes sending the ball over the neighbour's fence is completely different from a young teen male of 15 developing his 'football skills' by continuously kicking a ball against a fence or kicking it so hard and with such force that it frequently lands in someone else's garden. That kind of football should not be played in a small back garden where houses are built close together.

Parents can drive or take their growing adult male to a local playing field or the nearby park. Even if they would prefer that he disappeared into the back garden whilst they sprawled on the sofa in front of the TV. OK, a bit of stereotyping there, but let's no pretend that it doesn't happen.

Adult teens can be tedious with their needs and wants - ferrying them around and dropping them off to parties and then having to pick them up again. But that's what being a parent means... you can't always make it easy on yourself.

I have lived very peacefully alone in my house for ten years, with my nearest neighbour a lady on her own also, who never made a sound. Then she suddenly sold her house due to illness to a couple in their 30's with a 3 year old little girl who cries loudly for long periods. For the first couple of months there were 2 or 3 balls in my garden daily. It didn't bother me much. I just threw them back. But as time has gone on they have erected a second fence on their side 18 inches higher than mine, A double swing concoction, that is higher than the fence they erected and the latest purchase is of course a trampoline. Our gardens are small, as modern properties tend to be. They party regularly with no concern for other people and still the balls keep coming over. I don't really want to move but if the situation worsens, I might have to.

I have a neighbour who is tormented by kids kicking footballs into her garden. There is a grassed area, surrounded by 3 roads and one side of her fencing is on the remaining edge. There are legal conditions on the area prohibiting any ball games or cycling. Signs have been badly damaged, the company who owns and manages the area has taken them down and basically given up. The residents all contribute to the maintenance of the area. Her GD when in the garden has been struck by balls, cups of tea knocked out of hands, fencing broken. Door bell can go 5/6 times after school, kids wanting the ball back. Last year it was so bad during school holidays she starting telling kids a ball will only be returned to an adult to make sure the ball actually belongs to the person asking for it. (Older kids usually send the youngest kid to ask but the ball doesn't belong to them.) Of course adults moaned about having to get of their a..e and go get the ball. Some said they didn't have time to collect a ball, no thought about the neighbour who was having to answer door then go get the ball from garden. Got so bad the police became involved giving advice that balls should just be handed into police station say once a week and people informed to collect there. Stopped a lot of the problem but neighbour always on tenterhooks it will all start again with good weather and school holidays looming. Some folk have very short memories. Yes, you are obliged to return a ball, but there is no stipulation on method or timescale. If any damage incurred, whoever owns the ball is responsible for recompense. I had a brother who was a professional footballer, played twice for his national team . Never allowed a ball in the garden, always taken to a park or allowed on his own when older. Dad always said no one can play football in an average garden, they can only kick a ball and those who do that, usually have very little control of the ball. My two sons were never allowed to kick a ball in our garden. And this is not a deprived area by any means parents are just lazy - out of sight - out of mind and not bothering them! Try my neighbour's tactic, balls returned at end of day or end of week.

I am disabled and cannot throw balls back over fence I would have to move my car unlock side gate and then let them get said balls sometimes they lift a fence panel out when I go out

I used to tell the lad next door to just come in through the back gate and get his balls back. I didn’t mind the balls coming over but I couldn’t be bothered throwing them back!

We used to get footballs etc over the fence/hedge - didn’t bother us- just used to think back when our own three were of that age and no doubt, annoyed our patient neighbours in one way or another. The young chap next door used to pop round most days - I’d let him in- he knew where the keys were, to open the terrace door and access the garden - so he’d nip in , fetch his ball, nip back - relock the door - replace the key - always said thank you and nipped off home next door- no problem ? Now he’s grown up a bit - he’s not often kicking a ball about so it does stop eventually.

pattieB - set some neighbourly rules along the lines of live and let live. Example: I once lived next door to a family with boys who played football and the ball frequently came over. I had no problem with that in principle but in practice, the ball often landed in a flower bed causing damage to my efforts, once it broke a window in my shed, and on another occasion it hit my elderly mother who lived with us on the head as she was sitting in her wheelchair with a cup of tea causing pain and fright - not funny and not acceptable. I spoke with the neighbour, made it plain that when kicking the ball the boys needed to be aware of what might happen as a result of their boisterous kicking, and I took pains to photograph any ball that landed in a flower bed. Needless to say, the bill for the replacement glass and a few plants exercised my neighbour's mind and the boys were given some lessons in respect for others. The idea that kids can run riot in their own back gardens is fine with me but that's where it stops, they can't do it in their neighbours' gardens. I find the phrase "they're only children" quite misplaced, it extends to "they're only boys after all" in the situation where we see misogynistic behaviour towards girls. If kids are lucky enough to have back gardens then they can temper their activities so that they learn basic respect for other people. My own football-mad grandson who frequently kicked a ball into one particular neighbour's garden but was unable to get the ball back because the neighbour was rarely in and when he was in he told my grandson off in no uncertain terms soon learnt to that my grandson soon learnt how to control his football.