I’m looking for a more academic level discussion on this, not just a “haha fuck landlords lol” discussion. I’m truly looking for the way to most benefit self, whether it be community improvement to self benefit or purely self or something else.
Does improving your lawn improve the value of the property by landscaping and doing other tenant approved activities price a unit out of rentability and move it to ownership?
Does it give your home owning neighbors a cookie so that they want milk, and then they start demanding laws get passed that make sure rental units have to be a certain standard and then it becomes more expensive for landlords to maintain and they can’t raise rent because it’s maxed out based on demand not tangible improvements, so then they are forced to give tenants way to lower the rent by appreciating the value of the tenants work (I.e. rent reduction if you mow the lawn)
Does maintaining something you don’t own make you value things you do own more or does it give you a negative view that nothing you have is yours to keep?
I’m interested in the tangential conversation too.
Edit: to be clear though, my landlord is a small time landlord, has maybe 10 properties. They’re not a blackrock type landlord. Honestly, seemingly decent landlord. If I was given 100 fucking points to use on fucking landlords over, I’d rather distribute 10 fucking points to 10 different landlords to fuck over instead of giving them to my landlord. It’d be different if I had a black rock style landlord though. I just want my lawn care plan to be academically sound for a brighter future.
Ultimately that’s up to you isn’t it? If the exercise is what’s best for you then the ownership and class solidarity stuff is just a distraction. It sounds like it’s more of a home even if you’re renting than a place where you keep your stuff. So do you get a kick out of being a conscientious neighbor? If not that is neither expected or owed by you. If you don’t like yardwork above and beyond is not required, the bare minimum is fine. Conversely you’re not really adding much to the world going above and beyond either. Your landlord’s property appreciates so they can raise your rent later. The neighbors only care if it’s not being maintained at all and starts affecting their property values. None of which you can really do much about.
All that really matters is if you like the activity of yard work.
A few thoughts:
- Many landlords will insist on having a gardener included in the rental cost because they want the place maintained.
- If a gardener is not included, it’s expected that you keep things looking decent, but they might not even want you doing upgrades because it’s hard to be sure you’ll do them right.
- If I were renting a home, I’d look for one that isn’t going to take huge amounts of yard maintenance.
- Having chosen a place that seems reasonable for me to maintain, I’d try to stay on top of it because I like living in a place that looks nice, and it seems rude to my neighbors to let everything go to hell. A lot of folks also really enjoy taking care of a garden.
Regardless of the circumstances of your responsibility to the landscaping, !fucklawns@lemmy.world
Tbh, I almost added into the discussion of adding natural pollinators like clover into the discussion but thought it might add complications.
If you’re landlord is cool with it, clover is great. It will spread though, so dont do it if its a sticking point. It also needs just as much sun as grass, although not as much water. Shade clover is not really a thing.
Look into red clovers along with the more standard white. Its a nice way to add pops of color.
Do you like a nice lawn? If so…maintain it. If not…don’t.
The real question comes down to your landlord. Do they expect you to maintain it? Did they put something in your lease about it? Are they willing to pay someone to maintain it, if you don’t? Or will they just kick you out, instead?
Some landlords expect you to take care of the property, so it’s good to make sure you aren’t expected to, before you just let it all go to shit and get yourself evicted.
