Burned Out

[digitS']

No, not me! I'm always on pilot light, 12 months out of the year.

A neighbor down the road . . . She's real close but I have never met her. Often, she and the mother across from her are out, walking their little girls to school. What she isn't doing is anything in her yard this spring.

It wasn't like this in 2012. I bet she was out just about everyday in the mid-day heat. I'm pretty sure it was July because I was thinking that it was pretty late to be planting the big brick planter that they had put in.

Then, she didn't stop. Days she spent prying grass out from under the chain link fence around the front yard. Tuff work! The lawn was in bad shape. I thought for sure that they would put a new one in. Grass seed isn't very expensive for a small front yards.

Bad last year, worse now. I'm fairly sure it has been mowed once . . .the wild mustard is getting close to blooming! Big planter wasn't planted. Maybe, it will be planted late.

I feel sorry for her. After nearly killing herself out there in the dirt and heat, she may miss the season entirely. Do you ever feel like telling people, "Stop!"

Steve

 

[so lucky]

Maybe she is ill? Or depressed.
Sometimes there is a lot more coming into play than is apparent from a neighbors point of view, as you well know.
Lawn mower broken? Allergies?

 

[thistlebloom]

I think some people who get bit by the gardening bug just don't have good guidance and go out there gung ho to get things done, but do them backward or the hard way 'round and get the idea that gardening is impossible or way too much work for what you get from it.

Seasoned gardeners can get better results from less labor because we know more about timing and shortcuts and so on.

And as So Lucky said, there's always a back story to what is on the surface.

 

[baymule]

What about asking her? Maybe a word of encouragement would go a long way.

 

[digitS']

I'm thinking about going for a walk just about the time the moms get back after the opening school bell. But, what would I say?? I don't want to embarrass her by leaning over the fence with an "all your work last year has come to nothing . . ."

I do feel sorry for her just because I image that she burned out. And yet, she may be like the neighbor next door who had surgery on her shoulder. We found a way to keep her lawn mowed that year and she repaid us, not only for the gas but with a continuing interest in having a nice yard.

Yes. Could be a lot of things but we do see that burn-out quite often. I'm always looking for the easy way. "the most calories for the least effort" ~ I should put that in my signature.

Steve

 

[ninnymary]

Steve, how about you say you miss seeing her gardening?

Mary

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

Steve, how about you say you miss seeing her gardening?

Mary

I think this is a great idea!

 

[thistlebloom]

I have had clients who have me come once a year, in early summer when the weeds have a running start, and they suddenly realize that the lush greenness going on out there is rampant weed growth. Then they ask me to get it straightened out and they will "maintain" it. I tell them it would be a simple matter of getting out there for a few minutes every day with a scuffle hoe (or whatever) and knocking down the seedlings in the bed.

Truly, it would take only 5 minutes for most of those clients. They never do the maintenance. It's either a lack of interest, or they don't believe me when I tell them how simple it would be to keep it tidy.
Instead, I get a call when it's hot, the beds are ugly and I'm crawling around, sweat in my eyes, sweat running off my nose, digging big weeds out with a trowel. Weeds that have gone to seed, so next year will just be a repeat of the same.

I too have a lack of interest in jobs like those, and have "weeded" them off my client list.

Sometimes there might be a real problem that is somehow keeping people from gardening. Sometimes it's just laziness.

 

[Jared77]

I would make an observation about how you miss seeing her gardening too & then offer some kind of suggestion to help with her current situation. And not something that she may have to purchase, some kind of labor reducing technique or something that will help ____ look better.

That way you don't look like your being a know it all or someone who's obsessive about keeping up appearances and if you just bought & applied _____ you'd have a much better looking property. She may not have that product in the budget and labor saving advise is always worth a try.

Good luck.

 

[digitS']

It is probably because it's Memorial Day weekend that prompted me to post this. You see, I'm remembering a Memorial Day about 10 years ago when I had a different "big veggie garden." One of my neighbors there owned what I thought of as "the mansion." It had been the home of the original large property owner whose land had been subdivided by his heirs. Still, it was in a very nice location and lovely old, very large home.

The present owner is a retired military guy who went on to be a corporate manager. He and his wife had 4 children. All were in their late teens, maybe early twenties while I was on the other side of the fence, tending my garden that Memorial Day.

It must have been my day to run the sprinklers. When I showed up, it was raining but I turned them on. It seldom rains enough here to count for anything during the growing season. About 4 hours later, I was back to turn everything OFF and go home! It was pouring rain!!

During all this time, the neighbors were out getting their garden started for the first time that year. This is not unusual around here. Memorial Day is kinda traditional for planting a garden for lots of local folks.

What was unusual was that it was Mom & Dad and these 4 big kids in this flurry of activity, running a big tiller, getting in each other's way and absolutely soaked in the process! Hours.

The lady of the house was quite often out working on her front border. I almost never saw her in the vegetable garden during the 9 years I was there. Sometimes, the youngest daughter would come out with a basket while her mother pulled things out of the weeds, later in the season.

I talked to her husband exactly once. Strangely, it was about coming over and gleaning something I was growing. I thought it was funny that the property owner for my garden just happened to show up right after I invited the neighbor to climb over the fence. They talked, as neighbors do while I gathered an armfull of whatever it was and gave to him. I think he was embarrassed climbing back over the fence with it.

Steve