Woman 'hurt' by neighbours' comments after filling garden with wildflowers

A woman has taken to Reddit to express her disappointment after her neighbours criticised her front garden. The disheartened gardener, who goes by the username LumpyStarr, titled her post: "Neighbours hate my yard."

She detailed how she had been working tirelessly to revamp her front garden with more wildflowers, all while juggling a full-time job and being single.

She explained: "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."

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She admitted to struggling with various weeds and grasses, and doing it all on her own. Providing context about her living situation, she said: "[I've been] living alone as a single woman for most of it (fiance 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."

She revealed that she had put in a lot of effort into her garden, saying: "I've dug up the sod myself, laid mulch, planted shrubs, and watered them with a hose all summer because I don't have irrigation. I watched some die, I replanted at a better time of year, I spread seeds."

She shared that many neighbours were supportive when they saw her working on her garden.

However, one particular neighbour's comments left her feeling disheartened. "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," she said.

She expressed her frustration, saying: "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 I'm a renter trashing the place or that I've died... really?"

She continued: "It just hurts. 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 comment section, she shared a couple of images of the blooming wildflowers she planted in her front garden. The images received plenty of praise and support.

Other Reddit users in the comment section encouraged the woman to keep going and shared some gardening tips and tricks. One individual commented: "You're doing a very cool thing - don't let haters give you doubt."

Another suggested: "Put a sign in the front yard - 'pardon the weeds - native garden in progress!' It's worked for my son and DIL."

One person chimed in: "Your yard is gorgeous!". Another added: "I'd post a sign explaining that it is a native garden planted to support pollinators and increase biodiversity."

Another complimented: "Your plantings are awesome."

One more remarked: "No matter what you do... Someone won't like it."

The woman later returned to her post to express gratitude for the supportive responses. She said: "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.

"I should've also mentioned that the neighbour is a landlord who owns 17 houses in the neighbourhood. 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."