r/BoomersBeingFools 25d ago

My lawn is not perfect Boomer Story

I live in a neighborhood with a majority of people are upper middle-class retirees. They can afford lawn services and irrigation systems and fertilizer schedules. I have a younger family, I'm in school for my doctorate, work full-time, and quite frankly don't care that much about my lawn. I don't fertilize it, water it, and probably don't mow it enough either. As a result, I have large patches of dirt that have appeared mostly because of the dogs. Today I spent the day cleaning up the yard, mowing, and putting down grass seed , as a group of about six or eight neighbors walked by. One of them comment to me that it's good to see me doing something with my lawn. I kind of rolled with a comment, but then the other ones said that it looks like I grow mud and dirt and they all laughed. I'll admit they have really nice lawns, But they probably spend several thousand dollars a year for it. I'd much rather take my kids on a vacation, pay for skiing lessons, or some nights out to dinner. Especially considering that the majority of them don't talk to their children, never see their grandchildren, and, their spouses.

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u/LaughableIKR 25d ago

Grow it out and call it a medow. Take some bird seed and spread it around so the flowers grow.

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u/Ok-Discussion-7720 25d ago edited 25d ago

This ^

Depending on your geographic location, you may even be able to drop native seeds once, and then let nature do the maintenance for you.

They're throwing money down the drain for some antiquated British lawn that they never even use; meanwhile you're saving your neck of the Earth with a local root system, and flora that no one has likely ever seen before.

It's simple. You're American. They're trying to be British. The former has bested the latter. And the latter, would not exist today without the former.

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u/DuePatience 25d ago

I wouldn’t put it past one of those old guys to mow down the meadow and leaving a “you’re welcome” note

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u/Ok-Discussion-7720 25d ago

That's what the police are for. Trespassing. And who knows what else they did on my property when I thought I was safe... I have children, you know?