A woman has shared her heartbreak after a neighbour made a cutting remark, despite working tirelessly to transform her space
One woman was juggling a full-time job with her gardening duties when her neighbour bothered her (stock image)(Image: PIKSEL via Getty Images)
A woman has taken to Reddit to express her annoyance after a neighbour made a harsh comment about her front garden. Writing under the username LumpyStarr, the gardening enthusiast titled her post: “Neighbours hate my yard.”
The green-fingered enthusiast explained how she’d been working hard to transform her front garden to include more wildflowers, all while managing a “full-time job”. However, not everyone – least of all her neighbour – appeared to share the same sentiment.
She disclosed: “I’ve been trying to make a native yard. I have several sage and monkey flowers, yarrow, coyote bush, etc. I also spread baby blue eyes and clarkia seeds. Miner’s lettuce comes up strong in late winter.”
The woman confessed she’d been fighting against different weeds and grass, handling the project completely by herself. She explained: “[I’ve been] living alone as a single woman for most of it (fiancé moved in last year) and working full time at a job that burns me out every day. It’s been a lot of work.
“Each year I think it gets closer to my vision, but it’s my first time home owning (bought in 2021), my first time gardening at all, and several family tragedies have interrupted progress at times. I’ve been learning as I go and my neighbours have seen me trying.”
Her neighbour assumed someone either died or she was renting her property(Image: Paul Bradbury via Getty Images)
Among the tasks she carried out were removing the grass to spreading mulch, planting bushes and watering them with a hosepipe all summer long since she lacks a sprinkler system, reports the Mirror.
“I watched some die, I replanted at a better time of year, I spread seeds”, she went on. “Many neighbours are encouraging to my face when they see me out there.”
Yet, a conversation with one neighbour left her feeling deflated: “But one neighbour who is kind of like the ‘neighbourhood watchdog’ just told me that people text him all the time asking if I have died or if I’m a renter and letting weeds take over.
“I don’t know why this bothers me so much. I live in an old neighbourhood and the crowd is of an older generation that prefers lawns, but like all this effort and people assume on a renter trashing the place or that I’ve died… really? It just hurts.”
She added: “No real reason for posting this other than to vent and hear if anyone has had this struggle. I’m going to keep trying to stay on top of grasses and weeds but damn. Everyone compliments me like crazy when the wildflowers bloom, but that’s only for like 2-3 months out of the year. It’s just disheartening.”
In the comments, she shared several snaps of the flourishing wildflowers in her front garden, which garnered a wave of admiration and encouragement. Fellow Reddit users chimed in with support and offered their own gardening insights.
Fellow gardening enthusiasts flocked round her for support(Image: Betsie van der Meer via Getty Images)
One user cheered her on: “You’re doing a very cool thing – don’t let haters give you doubt.”
Another provided a helpful suggestion: “Put a sign in the front yard – ‘pardon the weeds – native garden in progress!’ It’s worked for my son and DIL [daughter-in-law].”
A third admirer praised: “Your yard is gorgeous!” while another said: “I’d post a sign explaining that it is a native garden planted to support pollinators and increase biodiversity.”
An additional comment read: “Your plantings are awesome” before another fan jumped in with: “No matter what you do… Someone won’t like it.”
Following the outpouring of positivity, the woman updated her original post to thank everyone: “Thank you so much for all the support. I really appreciate the encouragement as it’s felt like quite a battle. All of your suggestions are great. Edging, irrigation, late season blooms, signs, etc.”
She also shed light on her neighbour’s background: “I should’ve also mentioned that the neighbor is a landlord that owns 17 houses in the neighborhood. He’s always been nice and respectful so I never thought he cared about what I did. He always left me alone.
“But you all make some great points about him maybe not being honest. And tbh it’s possible he is only concerned about his property values and the optics of a non-pristine lawn. Anyway, thanks again! I’ll keep the hope alive.”
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