Rant: That time a neighbor told me my native plant garden looked 'messy'

Last spring over by Maple Street, this older lady stopped while I was pulling switchgrass and pointed at my wildflower patch. She said it looked like I just let the weeds take over and asked why I didn't plant normal flowers like petunias. I tried explaining that native plants need less water and help the local bees, but she just shook her head and walked off. Has anyone else had a neighbor criticize their garden for not looking like a manicured lawn?

2 comments

2 Comments

henryt1813d ago

Man that "normal flowers" comment gets me every time. I had a similar thing happen with my neighbor when I first put in a milkweed patch for the monarchs. She straight up said it looked like I was "growing a field" in my front yard lol. What worked for me was I started putting up a little sign that said "pollinator habitat" and it actually made people stop and ask questions instead of assuming it was neglect. I also edged the garden beds with some bricks to make it look more intentional, like I planned it that way. Now some of the same people who complained actually have their own little native patches going.

morganmartinez13d ago

You know, I'm going to push back a little here. The problem with these "pollinator habitat" signs is they sometimes just give people permission to let things go completely wild without any real thought to the overall look of the neighborhood. I've seen it happen. One guy on my street put up that exact sign and then just stopped mowing his entire front yard. It wasn't a garden, it was knee-high crabgrass with a few sad dandelions. Edging with bricks is smart, but a sign alone doesn't make an unkempt yard look planned. There's a middle ground between a perfectly manicured lawn and something that looks genuinely abandoned, and I think some folks skip right past it.