No More Evil Eyes, Puh-Leeze!

Every day I see at least one of you; a neighbor passing by; a runner, a biker, a family walking the baby in the stroller.  You look into my yard, a pit for my future pond, an oasis of sand with some weeds struggling to survive, and you sneer. You snort. You guffaw. You are disgusted with my front yard. Sometimes, while you are faintly within ear shot, I think I hear a muffling of "Why don't they do something with that yard?"   Well, did it ever occur to you that I have done something with this yard?   I've already spent more than five thousand dollars to get it here. I had to remove the berm and I had to get a new safety fence for the small children here. Please notice the high quality four foot vinyl fence. I did not get the cheap kind from Home Depot!  Then I spent more money to have a landscape designer draw some beautiful plans for my new garden.  One of the hardest (and most time consuming) things to  do was find a good carpenter to build the trellis. I had to line up six different people to do six different tasks in the yard. Then I provided a time table for the work and I lined every one up.  I spent more than a thousand dollars on that really beautiful trellis which lasted only ten days. You may notice that most of it is gone now.  Well, thank the City Manager for that.  The "Trellis Circus" completely derailed my project time table.  My project time table now looks like a baked potato from the microwave without holes poked in it.  If you ask the City Manager about the "Trellis Circus", I'm sure he will tell you that someone complained.  Keep in mind however that 1)  I wasn't finished with the yard. 2) Whoever complained doesn't live on this lot and 3) They don't pay my property taxes or my mortgage.  Furthermore, I find it disturbing that someone can "complain" anonymously, and have the power to veto what I do in my garden on my property.  Does anonymous live next door or a mile down the road? Apparently, unbeknownst to me (and possibly you) we live in a secret Home Owners Association.  If even one grumpy neighbor has nothing better to do than hate my yard, my plans are screwed and it's back to the drawing board. Is this your version of privacy? We moved into this neighborhood thirteen years ago because 1) We love the beach and 2) It's not a Home Owners Association and 3) It's an old-fashioned eclectic neighborhood.  Now, I know that there are an increasingly large number of people who moved to this neighborhood because of the new gentry millionaire club that's expanding here. I have no doubt that my front yard is an embarrassment because of how it reflects on their homes, but as far as I am concerned, if you are concerned about what my house does for your property value, than you are in the wrong neighborhood.  I didn't move here to impress anyone.  I moved here to live and raise my kids in peace.   This may seem crazy, but I really think that I should have the right to pretty much garden wherever I want and however I want on my property that I pay for. Furthermore, it might also behoove you to remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  You may think my garden is ugly, but I might think your house or yard is ugly too.  (This is especially true if you have St. Augustine grass in your yard. That stuff is a horror).  So I think it's best if we just agree that your yard is yours and my yard is mine. If some people can mind their business around here, I might be able to finish this project by August and catch the fall planting season.  So do me a favor, and stop the eye rolling when you pass by because no one is more disgusted with this yard than me.  If people had left me alone,  I would have raised beds now, and possibly an irrigation system.