If you want good neighbors, you鈥檒l first have to become one yourself. Master these seven techniques, and even you (yes, you!) can win the approval of your entire neighborhood.
1. Good neighbors bring cookies
Whether you鈥檙e new in town or haven鈥檛 kept in touch, a delivery of freshly baked goods is a perfect way to break the ice and let neighbors know that you鈥檙e thinking of them.
If cookies can keep Santa returning year after year with a bag full of loot, then surely they can train your neighbors to do your bidding. Consider the following scenario.
鈥淗oney, somebody鈥檚 robbing the neighbor鈥檚 house again.鈥�
鈥淲ait, Janet. The ones who brought cookies yesterday?鈥�
鈥淓xactly. This time I鈥檒l call the cops.鈥�
2. Good neighbors rarely gossip
If your neighbor seems to know the dirt on everyone within a two-block radius, you can count on them to keep tabs on your personal life as well.
The next time Nosy Nellie gleefully describes the contents of the Rickenbacker鈥檚 trash again, move the conversation along by refocusing the conversation on her. 鈥淪o, what are you growing in聽聽this year?鈥�
You aren鈥檛 in high school anymore, so preserve relationships with your neighbors and avoid the gratuitous gab fests.
3. Good neighbors share phone numbers
For such a connected age, you should really question why you don鈥檛 have your neighbors鈥� phone numbers. After all, what if they receive your package by mistake? What if the house floods while you鈥檙e on vacation? Worse yet, what if you need a babysitter?
If you feel uncomfortable bringing it up, ask during one of your cookie deliveries (you are following rule number one, right?) or right before a trip. Jot down your name, number and email address on a piece of paper and ask if your neighbor is comfortable sharing theirs.
4. Good neighbors help before they鈥檙e asked
The neighbor who says, 鈥淟et me know if you need anything,鈥� probably isn鈥檛 going to help whenever you actually need something. You, on the other hand, are a good neighbor and genuinely want to help out.
To get ahead of the meaningless small talk, anticipate their needs. If they have kids and you鈥檙e comfortable babysitting, tell them up front. If they鈥檙e clearly struggling to mow聽聽during a heat wave, ask for the best time to stop by with your lawnmower.
5. Good neighbors are tidy
Even if you lack self-respect, respect the sensitive tastes of others and clean up your act.
Keep the ironic lawn ornaments to a minimum. Keep trash receptacles hidden in the side yard, or better yet, the garage.
Whenever you鈥檝e finished gardening or landscaping for the day, put away your tools and bags of unused mulch. Rake the leaves and clean up grass clippings and all the other stuff your dad used to bug you about.
And if it鈥檚 not too much trouble, pressure wash and聽听辫别谤颈辞诲颈肠补濒濒测.
6. Good neighbors mow the lawn
An unkempt and weedy lawn is embarrassing for your neighbors, so it should be embarrassing for you as well. Keeping it mowed every week or two is a good start, but it will take more than that to win the approval of the locals.
Trim the edge of your lawn regularly, fertilize on schedule and keep weeds to a minimum. Keep your foundation plantings simple, neatly trimmed and topped off with mulch.
If your neighborhood allows it, go the no-lawn method by planting swaths of low-maintenance, drought-tolerant ground covers. Crucially, don鈥檛 overdo it on the sprinklers 鈥� especially when it鈥檚 raining.
7. Good neighbors communicate
That old 鈥済ood fences make good neighbors鈥� quote had to come up at some point, right? A good neighbor must respect boundaries. That said, they should also be crossed when the fences themselves start losing pickets and falling over in a storm.
Even if it鈥檚 technically their fence, you might not be happy with the shoddy workmanship and resentment that you鈥檒l have to live with when they get around to fixing it themselves.
Address shared interests like fences, drainage ditches and troublesome trees ahead of time so that you can work out a plan that both parties can agree to.
Oh, and don鈥檛 forget to bring cookies.
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