To sit in shared garden?

[sunop]

I live in a flat.
It's a upstairs flat and downstairs is a man.
There is a front and back garden.
The back garden is huge and never gets used.
The man doesn't touch it and I've only moved in a few months ago.
Would you use it?
I was thinking of asking him if he minds if I plant a few flowers and get a table and chairs (which he is more than welcome to use)
My friends have said as it's a shared garden between 2 of us they wouldn't use it BUT
With this situation and lovely weather I really want to sit outside rather than being stuck in.

Absolutely use it. Good idea to post a wee note so you're on the same page

This reads like a poem.

Use the garden.

Sounds great!

Maybe phone rather than note at the moment!

you could always sit in opposite ends so you keep your distance

Yes, of course you should use it!

If you only moved in a few months ago you can't really say he doesn't use it. He may well use it in summer.
Have a conversation about it, but don't assume he isn't going to use it.

If it were me I’d be desperate to use the space and would have endless plans for it hatching in my head 😂
I would speak to the downstairs man first though, just out of politeness and to avoid any ill feeling which could cause future problems.

I would speak to him first and also check to confirm it's definitely a shared garden. A lot of flats have the garden belonging to the ground floor flat. But your plans sound lovely and if it is shared, I'm sure he would have no reason to say no

Of course I'd use it. I don't understand why one wouldn't, or more particularly, why your friends say they wouldn't ?

Check who garden belongs to, when I was in a flat, the nearest half was mine, the second fenced off section was the neighbour’s.

If its definitely shared then use it. Have you actually checked that?

And for the sake of good relations I agree probably best to check quickly downstairs is okay for you to do some plants and furniture