Tenants use of yard and shed (apartment, lease, rental, house)

[InfoPlease32]

My landlady has us doing the yardwork in exchange for use of the patio and shed. If we pay rent for the house are we required to do the bush trimming and weed wacking or just cutting the lawn? In the lease she says 'lawn', but in conversations she says bushes, weed wacking, 'turn over the beds,'in the front yard meaning turn over the soil, etc.

[BirdieBelle]

It sounds like she expects you to do the complete yard work job in order to keep the house looking decent.

If your lease doesn't SPECIFY beds, shrubs, etc, sure, you could push the issue with her. Up to you to decide if it's worth it.

[Diana Holbrook]

There's more to keeping up a yard than mowing the lawn. If she wants you to keep it nice, keep it nice. Seems like you should want it to look nice too, if you live there.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

If part of your rental agreement is that you maintain the yard, maintaining the yard involves more than mowing. Weed wacking around the edges is included in the mowing job.

You sound very unhappy there. You need to rent an apartment where someone else does the landscaping and you have your own electric meter and pay for just the electricity you use.

Personally, my tenants mow and water, but I do not allow them to prune because they do it wrong. Your landlord does not feel the same way about as I do.

[Lacerta]

I consider tenants who rent a house to be responsible for normal day to day things. So watering, weeding, mowing, and minor shrub trimming. Big things like tree trimming, sprinkler winterizing and repair, and fence repair are owner responsibility.


So as you can see, every landlord expects something different. This conversation should have taken place when you signed the lease, but now you need to get on the same page with the landlord. What is and is not expected in your circumstance is between you and the landlord, and what the lease says is important.