I understand what you're saying, but it reminds me of a conversation I once had with two of my former roommates when we shared a house on Long Island. They were all about decorating and design and color inside the house, but I remained indifferent. I liked what they did to the house, but could offer no opinions on making choices during the process, nor did I have any interest in the process.

The three of us outside was a complete reversal. I was excited about digging out the dead and dying stuff in our yard, showing pictures from gardening catalogs and websites of what I wanted to put in the ground. They said "ok, whatever you want to do" but really didn't show any interest in the process. They appreciated what I did in the yard just as I appreciated what they did in the house, but were just as indifferent about the process outside as I was about the process inside.

We all have our own passions.

:-)

~Christopher

When we moved into our house I wanted to take out all the ugly Laurels and non blooming shrubs and put in flower beds. My husband thought I was insane to bring bees on the property intentionally (He got caught up in a hive as a child and stung multiple times)- and our neighbor, who likes to rehab classic cars as a hobby, agreed with DH and wondered why I wanted to create a chore that couldn't be managed by riding a machine (mowing versus weeding)
--- I thought they were crazy to not want flowers. "Everybody likes flowers" I said. "Not really" they said.

I'm with you Lucille. TEAM FLOWERS.!

Some of my neighbors think I'm here to provide a floral heaven for their daily walk. Others think I should rip it all up and put in a tidy hardscape and palms with night lights shining up the trunks to the top. When I want to enjoy that, I drive through someplace in Irvine where the association has a list of plants you can have and they must be maintained a certain way by the association. One of my friends got put on notice for having some bare ground while she was re doing the back. She didn't want to have the new sod damaged while the equipment went back and forth. She bought some cheap pavers to get them to stop.

The latest thing to happen was a neighbor was walking a dog and it was off the leash. It ran right up and put its paws on me and began to lick my face while I was planting dianthus next to the sidewalk where my row of Pink Rosette is. The guy in his late 20s-early 30s ran up and grabbed his dog away saying he didn't want him on me getting any of my dirt on him. I was in clean clothes for a change with no soil on the sidewalk, just some empty plastic pots. Oh well.

I try to let the roses get tall so nobody will be annoyed at the informality closer to the house. People that come up the walk say " I had no idea there was all this variety ". But from the street it looks restrained to keep the peace. Then people say to me " I can't see the house!"

I had a tripod of sweet peas ripped out in the middle of the night ( probably by a realtor ) and people have said that they disliked the smell of the fish emulsion and the horse manure mulch.

There is a lady who wears tidy matching clothes and walks in the morning. I am sure she thinks I need a makeover and a lawn service. Some neighbors have made comments when I'm all dressed up and going out, that they hardly recognized me. Now that I do more Civil War events, they don't stare much any more when I'm doing some last minute watering in my hoopdress and bonnet.

I think the reason why some individuals do not like to grow flowers and would rather have a lawn is simply because they view flowers as too "high maintenance."
If you look at the photographs of the lawns, the blades of grass are all immaculate and neatly uniformly cut. You can't say that about flowers.

kittymoonbeam - I had to laugh about your comment on your neighbors "hardly recognize me" when dressed to go out - that's me too! Mostly they see me in muddy blue jeans, a t shirt covered by a very old painter's jacket (cheap and the most marvelous thick canvas material - my DH gets them for me at builders supply places - they come flannel lined, so I have two, one of which I cut the flannel out of), an old straw hat, & muddy gloves.

They do, however, comment on how much they like the garden - some of them have even hired gardeners to plant flowers for themselves!

Jackie

When I was growing up, our house was in a typical tract neighborhood, lawn in the front and whatever you wanted in the back. Lawns were suppose to be mowed and the general appearance of the front yard was suppose to be kept up. Then there were the droughts and lawns were replaced with alternative landscaping.

The house I live in is up a private driveway so I can landscape or in my case noscape however I want. The house had a lawn in the backyard that needed to be watered twice a day in the summer to stay green. I kept it because it was a place for my young son to play. The drought settled the issue and the lawn which was located around the roots of a large oak tree should never have existed in the first place. Most of my yard is oaks and buckeyes and other natural vegetation. I have left my mark in parts of the yard with things that I planted. The deer left the native plants alone and attacked my vegetable garden, agapanthas and roses. At one point my entire front yard was rose bushes. A rose was planted everywhere it could be and some it shouldn't. The deer reduced my roses from over 100 to 10. The space has been reclaimed by vinca which is all over the neighborhood. I do my best to keep the weeds under control and don't have a garderning service.
I really don't have a garden any more, it just a mess. I planted three new rose bushes next to three of the survivors and will have a mini rose garden If I can keep the deer away. That's about all I have energy for these days.

I have a neighbor who I lovingly call the ' Lawn Nazi'. She has a lawn service, a tree service, and chem-lawn sprays on a regular basis. She keeps the classic American suburban landscape: a few shrubs around the foundation of the house, an immaculate lawn (green, mown, and in-bounds) and 2 hanging baskets with ferns on either side of the front door. One time we had a huge storm that knocked down oak trees and power poles. The power was out for 4 days. It took weeks for the neighborhood to get back to normal.

Before the storm was really even over, I heard the sound of a leafblower. She had her lawn man on the roof of her house bowing off all the leaves. Within an hour there was not a single leaf on her lawn or a blade of grass out of place. Meanwhile, the rest of the neighborhood was in an absolute shambles.

I have a cottage garden and never spray anything stronger than water. She sometimes comes by and admires the roses or the iris and gives me what I know are genuine compliments, but she always manages to work something into the conversation about how 'English' my yard is.......

She is actually a very nice lady, but that 'English' comment is never a compliment.

It makes me laugh, every time.

How dare she use 'English' as a pejorative lol

I live in a small community outside Boise in the foothills. I think people in this desert area really appreciate a flower garden, and my eight years gardening here has been a happy, rewarding experience, in part because of the appreciation and kind comments I get from neighbors, friends, and passersby. There is never an implied criticism, but always great interest in what I am growing, even from some of the children out for a walk. This gardening passion of mine has been far more satisfying than my so called "career" ever was.
A few years back, I was out in front, messing about with flowers, when a procession of cars drove by. I thought to myself it looked like a funeral procession, but we live at the top of a hill and down the hill is just a turn around, so I knew it couldn't be a funeral. I kept at my gardening, and about thirty minutes later, here came the procession again, and all the cars pulled over in front of my house (at that point I thought about running inside and hiding). A whole bunch of eager people got out their cars, following their leader who was carrying a clipboard. She approached me and very nicely explained that she was a teacher of the university extension's Master Gardener classes, and she wanted to know if I would conduct a tour of my yard--right then and there. What a lot of fun--no time to get nervous or worry about advance prep. There were lots of questions and so much interest in all the plants. I was invited to join their class (never did), and they all piled back into their cars at the end of the tour. A few days later, I received the nicest thank you from the class teacher. Gardening certainly has its rewards--you just have to be ready for them. Diane

I stopped worrying about what others thought of me and my roses a long time ago when I realized that, for the most part, they were all probably worrying more about what people were thinking about them rather then thinking about me, lol! And I don't worry about what others are doing in their yards. Like mine, they own it and can do whatever pleases them. For me that's my roses and my messy, haphazard gardens. What ever floats your boat!

It doesn't bother me if people don't have a lot of flowers. What bothers me is people who don't care for their yard at all. Th first house in my subdivision was the model house complete with professional landscaping. The people who bought the house have destroyed the yard. They have allowed crepe myrtle seedlings and invasive honeysuckle to creep out over their front lawn, butchered a Japanese maple and let weeds grow to four feet high in the front yard. And this is the first house you see when you drive in. It makes me wince each time I drive by.

I happen to have an equal passion for indoor decorating and gardening. The difference between the two is that once the inside is done to your liking there aren't going to be many weekly or monthly changes. The garden, on the other hand, is constantly evolving and changing, and there's always something new to look at and do (or curse at!), which keeps it exciting. Just yesterday my husband and I built a safer shelter for a bunny that has decided to make her nest right next to the house, with scant protection from the sun or anything else. Now I just have to figure out how I can water that area without disturbing the family!

collinw,
There was a lady when I was a kid who grew a beautiful bermuda lawn and mowed it very close twice a week. Every morning, she swept the little bits of soil pushed up by earthworms the previous night with a broom and hosed down the street in front of her house. She was the only person I ever knew of who washed and waxed her garage floor like it was a kitchen floor. Someone told me her kids weren't allowed to go in the living room at all and had to eat at the kitchen table, never the dining room table. They were in Jr. High then. She grew sheared junipers and trained dwarf pines. When we went to her door on Halloween, she would critique our costumes. She gave out nice candy though.

Totally understand what you are saying. When my husband and I drive around, I always notice and comment on people's landscaping, and my husband (who is obsessed with getting the professional looking lines in the grass when he mows) always comments on people's mowing skills. I guess its nice that we both love working in the yard and will hopefully always have a nice looking yard!

On the other hand, sometimes when I'm talking to people who are familiar with my subdivision and I'm trying to explain which house I live in....they either say "you mean the house with all the dogs" (I volunteer with an animal rescue and we always have a houseful of rescues) or "oh ya, the house with all the roses." Both of which I don't think they mean in a positive way....but I really could care less. Dog & roses...that's what makes me tick :)

Tammy

Boy am I lucky!

Mom's place is on a street the realtor calls "Quirky" (he has flipped 2 houses on the street) Most have large yards and limited lawns. One guy has biblical scenes make with scrap iron and parts-a garage covered with old sports gear and a vintage gas pump. Others have goats and front yard weeds/veggies. And then several with random gardens that they tend-non of which are formal (guessing we are rather "English" hehe). Although one does have a "flower bed" in an antique bed frame. And most either have or want chickens.

I do feel bad for one lady across the street at the bottom of the property. We have a 100+ year old leaner shed, rusty vintage commercial roto-tiller, vintage ladders and vintage orchard sprayer sitting out looking rather....farmy I did plant/split hundreds of daffs and spread seed and other flowers so she has something nice to look at. She understands that it is just me and mom and we are working hard to clean it up (and it could be worse-we could split the property and build) I do know that she got the rentals next door cleaned up after calling the owner. Gotta thank her for that!

Dogs and roses for me, too....with some rock and roll thrown in.
To H@&l with what others think. A few years ago my friends threatened to throw me a surprise party....that could have been pretty bad in the summer. Would have involved rubber shoes and a mustache....

I am lucky, too, in that most neighbours have some sort of garden around here. Every garden has trees, apple trees or ornamental trees and soft fruit bushes. Some have more lawn than others, often the oldest people who can't tend too many flower beds any longer. They have kept one bed and tend it lovingly although they can hardly bend over while their children or grandchildren mow the grass. I can watch one of these gardens across the street from my kitchen window. The old lady has reduced the number of flowers from very many to about three varieties at a time that are the highlight in each season. I am sure she misses many that she used to grow but I should tell her how lovely her large oval bed looks from a distance with masses of purple alliums in early summer, phlox in summer and Japanese anemones in autumn.

Some of the non-gardeners grow annuals bought in flats, not my kind of gardening but their gardens are at least colourful and it shows that they take an interest. The neighbours have never complained of my gardening but they used to tease my husband and me when we first started to garden and were sure we would soon tire. We told them gardening is our shared hobby. And we don't keep a large motorboat in the garden like one of the newer neighbours or three cars in the front garden, two of which were wrecks, like the people we bought the house from. Or a kennel for two dogs that were never walked outside the yard. We earned much goodwill when we moved in only because of that.

I personally dislike the "green mustache" of boring foundation plantings. We used to live in an old neighborhood where most of the houses featured that. They all had carpetgrass lawns with one ash or oak out in the middle. I colonized the lawn into more flower space by dumping oak leaves (had lots) working outwards from the foundation beds & making big perimeters around the trees. Had the lawn area cut down by 1/2 by the time we left.

It always amazes me to see subdivisions with rows of huge, obviously expensive houses RIGHT NEXT to each other. To each his own, but for the price, I'd much prefer a small house with some yard space around it. Being able to have some flowers, vegetables & fruit trees gives me lots of pleasure.

Interesting comment re.folks in the desert appreciating flowers so much. That seems true here, too. The tiniest little houses have pots of geraniums & forests of other flowers stuck in coffee cans, nursery pots & every other container imaginable. I once knew someone who commented: "anyone who cuts down an oak tree should be sentenced to live in the desert for 10 years". There's a real appreciation for the value of plants in a difficult environment.

Growing on a public allotment has been an education for sure since we are all squeezed into a couple of acres of field with no fences, just narrow grass paths. Mr.Anal, at the other end of our allotment, is a maniac digger - his patch is exactly and perfectly rectangular, totally dug and flattened.....with many tiny horizontal troughs where he pulls a rake at a 90degree angle to the length of his plot. He hardly ever actually grows anything, just weeds and digs and admires his perfect soil. Next but one to me are Time Team - another family of diggers who have systematically sieved every particle of soil to remove stones, making gigantic heaps. There is an ever-changing group of lifestyle wannabees, seduced by media blandishments that you can run an allotment for 30minutes a week - obvs, this lot usually don't last a season and some of them come once, dig a bit feebly at the couch grass, never to be seen again. Then, there is Tesco man - who works for the supermatket chain in the buying dept. who rocks up with many new plants every week, plonks them in the ground (where they inevitably die due to lack of any further attention), adding more inappropriate bedding plants and veg seedlings - so far has failed to actually harvest or eat a single item of produce. Oh yeah, the lawyers, a married couple, 4 plots from me (but well within hearing range) who like to rehearse marital disputes for an audience of goggling allotmenteers - you have to avoid being cornered by either of them as they will engage in an endless tirade about each other as though they were in a court room (they have been married for 36 years!)
There is a fervent belief amongst allotmenteers that something for nothing is the only way to go - purses are only opened in an emergency - consequently, the site appears more like a rubbish tip at times. Obviously, my plot is the best - certainly the only one which features flowers and shrubs as well as vegetables and fruit - in fact, most of the other plots only grow veggies so at this time of year, it can be a dismal sight of weedy earth and old bits of timber, basically flat and dull. Nonetheless, on a sunny weekend, the site is full and it is hard to get much work done because there is a lot of gossiping, comparing (and silent judgement of each other's plot), seed swapping and tea drinking (I have a camping stove in my shed so we can make toast too). Various little rivalries , alliances and falling outs add to the general ambience....and of course, I am more than happy to stir the pot.
Gardening - so much part of nature....and red in tooth and claw.

@kittymoonbeam you probably get the same looks I get when I go outside in one of my hooped dresses. I feel like they are making sure they are actually seeing what they think they are seeing. Generally everyone in our neighborhood likes what we are doing to our property as anything is an improvement over what it was and the neighbor kids like to come pick flowers which tickles me and makes me happy.

Grace e

Interesting discussion. The tales of perfect lawns make me smile. My brother who lives in one of the priciest real estate towns in Canada; he's lived there since before it was trendy or pricey, and has watched McMansions spring up all along his street; has a wonderful term for the obbsesive lawn querk. He calls it "competitive lawning".

I am not a lawner of any type, though I have one that is trying hard to die on me. Drought for the past two years and a provincial herbicide ban for "cosmetic purposes" has given the weeds, mostly invasive species, a huge edge over any grass seed I throw down. But I shall try once again this spring to initiate some green in the burnt out patches.

My garden is what most would call "english style". Though here in Upper Canada, that is definitely not a perjorative. This is the land of the United Empire Loyalists going back to the time of the American Revolution.

We too get a lot of comments about our beautiful garden and how much people enjoy it. Interestingly, many of these comments come from people who live in low rent row houses a few blocks over. These folk definitely don't have gardens, or even yards. But they tell me that they love my garden, how beautiful it is and how they love to stop and look at the "flowers" when they walk by.

The summer before last, we had a bumper crop of tomatoes, beans, cucumbers and other vegetables and my wife and I put out a table at the front walk with produce and a free sign on it. People who were struggling to make ends meet were dropping by every day for our fresh organic produce. The steriotype i have often heard is that low income people don't eat fresh produce. I learned that summer, that if that is true, its because they can't afford it. They were so grateful that we would offer vegetables from our garden for free.

Cheers, Rick

@campanula I think the UK allotments are a fantastic idea. My elderly aunt lives in a highrise apartment complex in a large city. A piece of land was set aside years ago for anyone who wants a small allotment to garden on. What a treat it is to walk around these plots admiring the flowers, veggies etc. I can't imagine my life without gardens. Unfortunately the complex was sold and the new owners have given notice that they will be shutting down the gardens and building on that site.

To some degree it depends on how a person is raised. Children who are exposed to gardening will have more of an interest in it than those who just consider the garden as something to walk past to get into the house.

At my elementary school, many of the grades have school gardens which the children help with, and they love it. Elementary science classes can help with this exposure too. I taught elementary science, and we did a lot with seeds, making terrariums, taking apart flowers to find the seeds, leaf shapes, and plant experiments. I always liked that part of the curriculum because it lends itself to hands-on so well.

I don't hold it against anyone who doesn't wish to garden. They probably do something else that I would not want to do.

When neighbors compliment me on my garden, I feel happy that they enjoy it. It makes it worth doing that other people take pleasure in the roses, etc. I don't really like planting those giant sunflowers every year, but someone always says how much they love seeing them in the summer, so I always put 2-3 in for that reason.

I live in an area rife with gardeners, more than half of the houses on my street have lovingly tended gardens and even the one with a little vineyard in the front yard has a line of lavender and california poppies blooming along the road. Most of the gardens around here have what I'm starting to think of as a 'California English' look, Cottage style with low water plants. Some have more formal landscaping, and a couple use the front for veggy gardening, but the most interesting yard on the street is the one with a wingless plane sitting in it with some old cars as companions, I think the owner must be a mechanic or something.

When I first got my place the front was nothing but old junipers, some thin weeds, and a dirt footpath along the curb. My bf and I put in a curving gravel path and four flower beds and since then we've received many compliments and even a very nice thank you note from someone who appreciates the garden on her daily commute. The only thing I'm not too enthusiastic about is when people driving by honk at me to say 'hi' while I'm working, it nearly gives me a heart attack every time ;oP

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I tackled the yard (front and back) when I shared a house with roommates a few years back on Long Island (in Franklin Square). The landlord used to live in the house before he and his family bought another and moved, and had been renting it out for years after. By the time we moved in, the neighbors had formed their opinions about that house. While they knew the landlord's family well, they knew he left things sloppy, and his tenants offered no improvement.

When I started ripping out the dead shrubs in the front bed that had been there for who knows how long, I don't think they had high hopes for what I was putting in. The front of the house was all paved, except for an oval-shaped raised area in front and two small beds at the base of the stairs to the front door. I saved some pics of what I did to the front bed, taken during the second summer the plants were in the ground.

The two huge tropical-looking plants are Musa basjoo, a hardy type of banana. It doesn't produce edible fruit, but gives a nice effect with its leaves and overall size. When the first frost wilted its leaves, I'd cut them down and place them at the base of the plant. Then I'd run the lawn mower over dead tree leaves I'd collect (plentiful at that time of year) and mound them up around the base. The two main pseudostems would get wrapped in newspaper, and then I'd slip a plastic garbage bag (with a hole cut in the bottom) over them. I'd then fill the bags with more shredded leaves, and slip one more garbage bag upside-down over the top to keep the rain/snow out. By late spring, new leaves would start pushing on the garbage bags, and I'd remove the cover completely in late April.

The grayish plants at the base are three Artemesias of an unremembered cultivar. I let them grow big because they reminded me of sea foam on a beach (this being an "island bed", I made it into a "tropical island bed).

On the outside of each Musa basjoo and in the space between them I planted a total of 3 Hibiscus moscheutos with huge red flowers (I don't remember the cultivar, but they were bred by a now-defunct nursery specializing in them and Brugmansias, among other things). In front of the Musa basjoo I planted three Alstroemeria 'Sweet Laura' which, honestly, became hard to detect by the third year, but kept growing and flowering anyway. And I planted a 'Tropicanna' (aka 'Phasion') Canna next to the two outside Hibiscus.

Most of the rest of the space was filled in using annuals in flats -- I bought two contrasting types of plume-flowered Celosia. One was red-foliaged and red-flowered, the other was green-foliaged and yellow-flowered. Interestingly, as the following Springs would come, I'd notice that they'd seed themselves a lot -- and basically maintain their identity and placement. In other words, where the red-flowered ones were planted, only red seedlings were sprouting, and the same for the yellow-flowered ones. I'd clear enough away for the next round to be planted and just left the others to their own devices.

The first year, I got some compliments from passersby who caught me watering the bed. The bananas looked like Cannas, which were commonly planted in the neighborhood. They really took off, however, thanks to their gluttonous appetites for the organic granular fertilizer I kept working into the soil around them. They came in pots the size of bands for own-root roses, but by the end of their first year, they were 4' tall. By the end of their second year, they were 8' tall or more. When you wrap the pseudostems, you can maintain the height achieved the previous season, and they start making leaves at the top, leaving a bare "trunk." But what also happens is that the plant makes many "pups" around the base, such that there are lots of leaves lower down as well, giving the impression of a large multi-stemmed banana "shrub."

These pics were taken in the middle of their second summer. By that time, not only were passersby continuing to compliment the planting, I was also getting notes left in my mailbox asking for information on what was actually planted in there. Once, an Indian gentleman was walking by and asked how I managed to grow bananas in NY. He remembered them from India and really wanted to have them here. I remember some people stopping to sit on the edge of the bed and take pictures against it.

And the neighbors? Well, they certainly appreciated how the bananas blocked the ugly old car the landlord left dead in the driveway directly behind the bed. But the old couple next door (whose landscaping in front looked like a dentist's office, with tiny manicured shrubs and colored mulch) would tell me it looked "messy" or that it "didn't fit with the rest of the block." Oh, well.....can't please everyone.

:-)

~Christopher

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This post was edited by AquaEyes on Sat, Mar 23, 13 at 11:23

Hi Aqua, I grew up in Elmont, right next to Franklin Square. I know the type of houses and landscaping that goes on there. It's either dentist office, as you said, or full on guido landscaping with the spiral topiaries. I'm sure the newborns were talking about you! God job.

I don't have anything to add to this delightful discussion (I live in the country and can do what I please) but want to thank all of you who have posted. This thread has been really fun to read.
Melissa

Ugh, neighbors, not newborns, LOL. Darn autocorrect.

Like Melissa, I live in the country and just do my thing, but I wish that the people who do visit would appreciate, or even look at, my efforts more. People like the UPS guy, cable guy or window installer will comment on the great view, but nary a squawk about the garden. The only people who show appreciation are those who raise or appreciate old roses, and they're a rare breed.

That's a shame, Ingrid. My mailman now asks me questions about what to do with his roses. He and his wife bought a new home and he liked mine so much he planted roses in his garden. Now I'm his "rose expert", lol!

Because I'm on a busy street corner people often stop to talk and admire the roses and I do appreciate that. It's a nice feeling to know that they enjoy them too.

I wish you were near by Ingrid, I would LOVE to see your gardens

seil I'm kinda with your mailman thinking you're one of MY "rose experts"!

ingrid I'm in the country too. As long as I keep a narrow strip between my front fence and the road mowed the neighbors and the tourist (out to see our bucolic scenery and the country music stars homes) are happy. The house is far enough off the road that you can't tell the lush green weeds aren't manicured grass. Just the way I like it!

I wish I could grow more English garden plants. I really miss my perennials. I've planted 4 roses this spring and all are blooming like mad. We're having a cold couple of weeks in Naples. My challenge will be the next 6 plus months of humidity. I've decided I kinda like the bulbs and bromeliads as a substitute. We are blessed with some magnificent plumerias courtesy of a local friend/plumie expert, but I'm so happy to have roses again.

I wish I could grow more English garden plants. I really miss my perennials. I've planted 4 roses this spring and all are blooming like mad. We're having a cold couple of weeks in Naples. My challenge will be the next 6 plus months of humidity. I've decided I kinda like the bulbs and bromeliads as a substitute. We are blessed with some magnificent plumerias courtesy of a local friend/plumie expert, but I'm so happy to have roses again.

One time I was out front and a substitute mailman who looked like a mountain man or a viking came by and was asking about the roses. I could talk all day about roses so I gave him a tour and said if he wanted to stop by at the end of his deliveries, I would give him some roses to take home. We have a hard route that the postal service uses as a bootcamp to weed out new letter carriers ( lucky us ). He came back as I was digging out roots with my pick axe and I gave him a nice bouquet and he said " Whatta Wa-man !" and I never saw him since but I always laugh about that.

Success!! My neighbor who is a Lawn Person and OCD (the mowed lawn is totally flat, not a blade out of place) (and although I'm not getting into it here, has totally different politics from me) has just completed small two raised beds (perfect corners, painted lumber) in his back yard. That is to me, positive, he took out half the back yard to make a bigger driveway.
I'm anxious to see what he plants. I think he has not missed the fact that I am getting a lot of compliments on the picket fence and garden.
No matter what the incentive is, if anything I've done helps someone start a garden, that is a Good Thing.

Your picket fence and garden sound lovely.
Maybe you inspired him!

My efforts have been noticed by the neighbors. I just started working on the front garden at our rental a year ago, and have had some people stop me on the street and ask if I am the one planting flowers at our place. It's nice. I tell them it is a work in progress, but getting there. Basically, anything is better than what they had to look at in the past!

Today I had a funny occurrence. My across the street neighbor is redoing the grass in the front yard. Reseeding and repositioning pavers. I went to say Hi in my work clothes, including jeans that did some serious duty last season and this one, including digging two to three ft. deep trenches to remove big rocks and cement, moving small trees, and various other ridiculous tasks that resulted in giant holes in both knees. And, they are filthy beyond reason. They might as well be shorts on the front side! I knew they were past the point of being trash, but had not gotten any new ones. The upstairs neighbor commented the other day that she liked them, they were air conditioned! LOL!

Anyhow, as the across the street neighbor and I talked, she said "My mom lost a bunch of weight and I've got some jeans my mom gave me that none of us can wear, you think you can use them?" I just laughed and said, "Is this a comment on the state of my work jeans?!?" She was like "No, no, but none of us fit into them and if you can use them, great!!" I suppose not only the garden is getting noticed. So arae my tattered work clothes! Sad thing is, ALL my work jeans look the same, so I am sure I always look like I never change my clothes! Pft!

I love gardening neighbors!! The jeans fit, by the way. Just tried them on. I'm sure they will be knee-less in no time, though!

I have the same problem, Merl. I'm either digging in the garden, on the back of a horse or grooming a horse, so I'm never really clean and I'm always in grubby clothes. It's so funny to me to see the looks on people's faces when they finally encounter me dressed up. Most of them don't even recognize me the first time thy see me clean and in street clothes.

be kind! I think there are a lot of reasons why people may have boring lawns, and don't take joy in "flowers and bugs and dirt and sweat"

--they may be dirt-and-bug phobic. I am.

--different priorities for their time and money. boring and neat is far better than neglect.

--climate. Traditional lawns and flower beds in my area of the country are a no-go.

My neighbor is very neglectful as a gardener. Nothing ever watered, all browned and dying, nothing ever weeded. And to top things off when her hubby and her put in a raised bed box with landscape timbers they built it up against their front deck only three sided with the back next to the LATTICE, so all their soil keeps eroding away and they just keep dumping in more crap topsoil as a filler. Drives me nuts! I have to bite my tongue! lol