Does it count if the social intercourse consists of sending out search posses for neighbors lost in the high grass that hasn't been mown since last summer?

Interesting- I've had more contact with people since I put my flower beds in the front yard and spend time out there tending them. I haven't seen anyone stop my husband while he's mowing to talk.

Good point - a lot of people probably stay away from mowing neighbors to avoid the noise and fumes.

I'm curious though. Is there any semi-rigorous research that shows what particular garden features are attractive to neighbors and possibly correlating with appeal to potential homebuyers (apart from the general impression that elaborate or "busy" schemes discourage non-avid gardeners)? To use the sometimes overdone analogy to indoor furnishings, I am turned off by expanses of white rugs in homes for sale. Similarly, I'd expect lots of people to be wary of huge stretches of lawn, pristine or not, due to the work involved.

Studies abound from places like HIRI and Hoovers. The reports are available online -- if you care to pay. Prices range from thousands of dollars to $30 for a single page report on a narrowly focused subject.

I'm not so sure that it's the existance of lawn, per se that attracts sociality, but, rather, the absence of barriers and obstacles that would give either a tangible or symbolic message of "go away." Front gardens enclosed by picket fences and gates, no matter how charming, don't invite casual entry.

But a broad expanse, unencumbered by structures, makes the transition from street to garden/yard more fluid and thus inviting. I's the visual sense of access that attracts people.

My property doesn't have a front yard, nor any lawn. The house faces sideways to the street, and the "front" garden is a forest of shrubs and perennials. But ther is a wide swath of pea gravel to one side of the house, abutting the sidewalk, where I've put a picnic table and benches, and a garden bench in the shade of a bamboo thicket. If I sit at the picnic table with a book and a cold drink, I can almost guarantee that one of my neighbors will stop by while walking the dog or strolling with a child.

I'd also be inclined to say that other spaces with open fronts or broad access points, such as a streetside stoop or farmer's porch where the homeowners sit every evening and watch the world go by, is a draw for neighborly chats and stop-bys. Broad stairs or extra rockers invite passersby to set a spell and relax.

Outdoor social interaction in my neighborhood seems to revolve around basketball hoops.

When I first moved into my neighborhood, social interaction most often involved being panhandled for spare change, or giving directions to the local rapid transit station 2 blocks away. There were also hookers on the corner 3 blocks in the other direction, and it really felt like urban living, even though Berkeley is pretty suburban compared to San Francisco, where I moved from. The neighborhood has greatly gentrified the last 15 years, although it has also become more interesting as there are at least 10 different nationalities and languages on just my block. I seem to have become familiar to many more people than just my immediate neighbors by virtue of fact that my front garden has devolved into a nursery, and there is no more visible driveway or lawn anymore, and people know me from periodic yard sales to get rid of excess plants. Our neighborhood is also a sort of cool California kind of friendly, we all say hi, wouldn't hesitate to help each other in a disaster, but all live pretty independent lives that seldom intersect outside of being neighbors. Works for me, seems to work for them.

Mowing lawns here is usually either with a push mower, (if by the homeowner), or yard service company, who usually only speak spanish or vietnamese. Lawns per se don't seem to ellicit either much praise or interest, and more and more neighbors are eliminating them all together. The weather here in evenings is not all that conducive to outdoor hanging out, either, as the cool breezes off the bay and wisps of fog don't encourage sitting out on the porch in the evening unless one is wearing a sweater or sitting next to a fire pit. So social interaction here is pretty much a weekend during the day thing, when people are out gardening, or off to hike or mountain bike or headed for the beach with the dogs.

On the otherhand, I have found that having a beautiful mature 'Marina' Madrone tree is very conducive to complete strangers asking what that tree is, followed by, do you sell any of your plants?

Well then... I guess I'm dammed to eternal solitude, because there is not a blade of grass on the horizon,(metaphoricly speaking) for me or the garden I live in :)

Luckily I manage to keep unwanted neighbours at bay simply by making sure I always have my back turned at them whenever they are in their yard.

I have an extensive lawn and no social life on it ever since I am a loner and generally prefer solitude in the garden as well as everywhere else.

My neighbours in turn paved almost the entire tiny area of their yard and happily sweep it every other day with a brush. Yet they have a busy social life (mostly consisting of visits of incessantly talking family members who cannot keep their voices down, while conversation focuses around gossiping about whoever is not actually present there).

Ours is the mystic vs. hot-blooded earth mamas case, I guess ;-)

OK... having not read the original research... here's my $0.02 =)

It's not having the lawn itself that leads to social interaction, it's actually being outside while neighbors are walking past. Although... it helps if you live in a neighborhood where neighbors feel comfortable talking to one another instead of avoiding eye-contact at all costs.

In my neighborhood, it's the people who walk their dog who know the most people. In fact, people aren't known first by their name... it's by their dog. For instance, "the woman whose dog walks her" or "the guy with the fluffy white dog". The folks walking their dogs will often wave (or stop depending on the person) if someone's out front... typically mowing the lawn (or something lawn related).

-Stephanie