It’s at all times a good suggestion to provide the reward of courtesy to your neighbors. Even when they’re not the sort to fly right into a yard rage, they’ll nonetheless respect a little bit kindness within the backyard.

What do the essential tenets of neighborliness require? Maintain your yard tidy (dazzling horticultural shows are at all times welcome, however not necessary). Mow your grass (you probably have any), rake the leaves, and take a look at to not go away stuff  like bikes, toys, and backyard instruments littering the garden. A very good rule of thumb is to think about the way you’d like your neighbor’s yard to look, after which apply it to your individual. Oh, your requirements aren’t that prime? Then attempt imagining your self as a discriminating individual with a penchant for orderliness and good style.

Metropolis gardeners, you’re not off the hook. The neighbors whose home windows overlook your yard or balcony could also be a tad jealous of your outside area. In the event you can’t invite them over for a barbecue, a minimum of hold your outside area wanting respectable (and, OK, enviable).

For backyard etiquette insights we talked with Melissa Ozawa, the previous gardens editor at Martha Stewart Dwelling (and now the director of content material and communications on the Good Earth Venture). Ozawa herself tends a small outside area in New York Metropolis and likewise gardens upstate in Columbia County. Listed here are 10 common sense good-neighbor ideas:

Respect Property Strains

Prune your bushes, shrubs, and vines so that they don’t encroach in your neighbor’s area. “And hold security in thoughts,” says Ozawa. “Take away any huge branches that look broken or diseased—a storm may make them extra precarious, and it’s higher to be protected than sorry.” Trimming overhanging branches additionally helps forestall your leaves from falling right into a neighbor’s yard—and also you don’t need your leaves within the neighbor’s yard.

Plant Natives