How To Nicely Word "Stop Driving On My Lawn!"

[Miss A]

we have a house in the country with a 1/4 mile long driveway. The driveway curves around the house, but also continues straight to our barn, and in what I call our door yard we have a curved lawn that is edged by the driveway. My problem is that the DCM's are not baking out onto the straight driveway continuance like my DH and I, and every other guest we ever have does, but instead they are backing up a small amount and then driving over the lawn to get onto the main driveway. Because of this a significant portion of our curved door yard is now a muddy tire tracked mess. I have reflective stakes that will be put in around the edge of the lawn and we will have to reseed the lawn once everything dries out. my question is, do I make a statement in our may newsletter about being conscious of staying on the marked driveway, or do I let the stakes do the talking? I was thinking of this blurb: "Spring has made its arrival, and with it has come soft, muddy ground. This is a friendly reminder to please stay on the driveway when you are visiting our home. I ask that when you are backing out to leave you back to the left towards the barn so that you clear the curved portion of our back yard. When the ground has dried out we will be laying new gravel and repairing and re-seeding the areas of the lawn that need it. If we all make a conscious effort to remain on the driveway at all times it will help preserve our lawn for the seasons to come. Thank You!"


Too much? Too nice? Too nit-picky? What I really want to say is completely summed up in the sign below.

[gumdrops]

Sounds like we have very similar set-ups. It drives my husband crazy! He finally put up some reflectors around the curve to make them aware that they shouldn't be driving there. So far, 1 of the 3 reflectors has been knocked down and ran over! Our next step is to line it with landscaping rocks.

[Ac114]

I think what you have written above is nice and to the point. Why would anyone drive on the grass? Oh that’s right, it doesn’t belong to them so they don’t care. I had a grandparent back into one of our wooden light poles and knock it down. It lights up the driveway or you would completely miss it in the dark. They waited a week before they spoke up about it. I was so mad because I knew someone ran it over but no one knew who.

[DaveA]

That's about as nice of a way to put it. If that doesn't work go with the sign. ::

[Miss A]

Sounds like we have very similar set-ups. It drives my husband crazy! He finally put up some reflectors around the curve to make them aware that they shouldn't be driving there. So far, 1 of the 3 reflectors has been knocked down and ran over! Our next step is to line it with landscaping rocks.

We first used the reflector stakes to mark our driveway for winter because it is impossible to see the start of it if it has snowed any amount. We then marked halfway down, and marked the beginning of the sidewalk to our home. Partly for the parents to use as a reference, partly for my DH to use as a reference when plowing. But then someone ran over one of the fiberglass reflector stakes at the start of the driveway (About 10 feet from the highway). Seriously, how do you hit a 4 foot tall reflective orange stake?

I hate that people can't just use common sense when visiting someone's home. How hard it is to stay on the darn driveway?!? It is long enough and wide enough for multiple cars to use at once, there is absolutely no reason other than pure laziness to drive on someone's lawn.

[Miss A]

That's about as nice of a way to put it. If that doesn't work go with the sign. ::

:::::: If they don't get the hint after we stake it out, patch the lawn, and lay new gravel you can bet I will have one of those signs posted every 10 feet along my driveway, and they will no longer be able to pull around the curve and park close to the sidewalk anymore!

[Mike]

I agree with Dave. Sounds good, and yup, go with the sign if needed. ::

[boy_mom]

I had a similar issue, our front yard sloped to the edge of the road, and parents would just drive across the front of the lawn like it was a parking space.

When the time came to reseed, we put up stakes and then some rope connecting each stake. That Monday as parent dropped off i just reminded everyone that they need to stay on the street. I also reminded when the stakes went down.

[Josiegirl]

A few large boulders. If they don't see them then oops, how much will that dent in their undercarriage cost to fix?
Or you could install a nice looking white picket fence. Or a bed of nails.

[Miss A]

Mr. Mailman just dropped the stakes off this afternoon, they will go in the ground tonight, and the newsletter will go out in the morning. Fingers crossed they get the message.

[Michael]

Put traffic cones out at pickup and drop off.

[MyAngels]

When you hand out the newsletter you probably should also mention that they need to read it, especially the part about staying on the driveway, that way they can't claim ignorance because they didn't read the newsletter.

[Miss A]

When you hand out the newsletter you probably should also mention that they need to read it, especially the part about staying on the driveway, that way they can't claim ignorance because they didn't read the newsletter.

2/3 DCM's read it before they even pulled out of the drive this AM. One being the worst offender, the other being the only DCM I have who does not drive in the lawn. The third for left on the counter. The stakes were in last nigjt for 2/3 pick-up, and one DCM really struggled to not hit the stakes as she pulled out. Hopefully they figure it out quick.

[Play Care]

I was going to ask how the stakes worked. Having the same issue and it's annoying. A provider I know in my area had her DH line their whole driveway with stakes, and I'm considering it.

[Miss A]

I was going to ask how the stakes worked. Having the same issue and it's annoying. A provider I know in my area had her DH line their whole driveway with stakes, and I'm considering it.

We will see how the weather the DCM's. The DCM who is the worst offender had to pull in straight towards the barn this AM bevause another DCM was parked by the sidewalk. It will be interesting to watch her figure it out because she usually backs out, pulls forward a little, backs out at a different angle, finally drives on the lawn and then onto the driveway.

My DH was impressed with the stake placement (I put them in but we mutually decided we needed to take action against the driving offenders), but he was leery of me putting a friendly reminder in my newsletter. Once he read it he felt better, but he did wonder if the DCM's would feel we were trying to micromanage their actions. I felt that because this is our home first and business second, we have the right to kindly request that they treat our property with respect. I am looking forward to pickup though, to see if any DCM's are cool towards me because of the request or not.