You bought a house without the money to maintain it. "riding mowers, leaf blowers, weed whackers, etc...you name it." Which of things did you not know you needed?

What do you expect your neighbors to do? Take care of your lawn for you? Have you approached your neighbors and explained that you are terribly sorry about the condition of your yard, but when you get on your feet financially things will improve?

I thought not. lol

BTW, what "help" did you expect to receive when you joined gardenweb and posted the above?

First off, take a breath....it's not that huge a deal. Go make some iced tea and some cookies and invite your neighbors over to offer ideas on how you can make your yard as beautiful as theirs. Then, talk about the plans and what you can do. You can make huge changes with very little money.. a few well placed geraniums at the corner store for 1-3 bucks each will add color and a bag or two of mulch at 2-4 bucks each will vastly improve a yard. Then.. make a plan and keep at it.

R

Yard sales are a great place to get gardening equipment cheap, just make sure it works before buying.

Just ignore them. You're doing what you can. There will come a time when the tables will turn. It'll be their turn sometime. And you'll get it done sometime. Just keep on keepin' on and being you. At least you care about your house. There are some out there that don't do any upkeep and don't care.

Russ is right, make some cookies & ask them if they have any idea which yard trimmings could be saved & planted as you can't afford much right now, Geraniums will root, let the stem dry couple of days & put in moist soil, they are not all that cheap out here but I took a little walk while neighbor was cutting his geraniums back, lovely purple lt & dark colored & asked if I could have a couple of stems, they are doing fine 10 yrs later. Gardeners really hate throwing away good trimmings & many things from Creeping Charlie to Jade plants, chicks & hens, overgrown iris clumps divided, even some of my roses were trimming, if fact I bought 3 roses 1 yr to make my mom a Mother's Day corsage like I always did only flowers were too expensive that yr ,so I could only afford the 3 in a vase at grocery store that had a nice piece of baby breath in with it, got a lovely red corsage out of it with the baby breath & some tulle & pretty bow mom loved, & took the 3 sweetheart rose stems, cut them again on bottom & put in moist dirt outside & rose grew & is now taller than I am & has masses of sweetheart roses. So take a walk around the neighborhood, tell people what you like about their yard & that you wish you could afford to buy plants but you are just getting established in their lovely town. Sure worth a try & gardeners love to share!

If your child is old enough, they can help in the yard. I remember having to "edge" along the side of our yard and home when I was as young as 6 and no power tools were involved.

If the neighbors are not helpful, look for a garden club. I had the misconception this was ladies that met at the local library to discuss roses... maybe some are, however one that I am now familiar with has several very thrifty and very knowledgeable women who would gladly share cuttings and advice. Another I have looked into recently meets at the local library and has some great presentations about what to plant for the climate, etc.

Also, if you do try the approach of smothering the neighbors with kindness you may try to do it without mentioning the single mom title. I have several friends who are single moms and somehow they always work it into a conversation in a way that conveys they are somehow entitled because of this status. If they are your neighbors they likely have guessed this already.

Sunnysmom, I agree leave out the single mom part, & remember they are your neighbor's so hands off the hubbies, doesn't work well to cause divorces in the neighborhood, 1 guy married his babysitter in ours.

Oh yea.. the lady that bought our last house kept going on and on and on about how she was a single mom, divorced, blah blah blah like she was entitled to help and discounts and we should give her stuff. I finally had to put my foot down and tell her she was going to own the home, not us. That meant she was buying into work, not services.

Leave it as it is, you are a nice person on a tight budget and want to find ways to have as beautiful a yard as they have.

Great idea on complimenting their flowers and asking if they have cuts you can plant. It will give them some pride in your yard because it has some of theirs.

R

" remember they are your neighbor's so hands off the hubbies,"

WOW. Where did that come from?

Incredible.

Did you read what I wrote, happened in my neighborhood, hired a sitter from down the block, divorced wife & married her, heard about it more than once from other friends, it does happen. SaltiDwag. As some of others above said, "leave the single mom out of your conversations" sounds like you are looking for a man! (someone else's hubby)!

Absolutely incredible! Says a lot!

Only ones talking here are us, OP does not seem to respond. Oh well, hope it all works out. I am sure they mean well and are just frustrated, not some man-hunting divorcee.

Update us with how it is going!

R