What???? I am so glad I live in Canada!

^Well, there was a couple from Ottawa who were also taken to court for having wild flowers in their front yard instead of a lawn. Luckily, they won against the city. I hope this lady also maintains her rights to plant whatever she pleases in her yard. Busybody neighbours are everywhere. Another reason to move to the countryside.

This is just ridiculous. Take a look at her front gardens. I wish mine were that neat!

Here is a link that might be useful: Front Yard Vegetable Garden

Years ago there used to be these discussions on the GW rose forum with Americans who live in planned communities. Apparently they're pretty popular down there. They weren't even allowed to plant one single rose bush in the front yard, or paint their house a different colour, put up a fence etc. I just thought, wow I would not fit in there. LOL.

That is absolutely rediculous. It's nice and tidy ( probably the neatest one around). So what if she planted edible flowers. Would that be OK? I remember a lot of people would have their front yards in potatoes the first year to get rid of weeds and work the soil.This town council needs one up side the head to wake them up.

You can click here and find his name to send him an email.
http://www.oakpark-mi.com/city_directory/page04.asp
This is what I sent him:

Mr. Krulkowski:
By now you're probably aware that your persecution of Julie Bass over her front yard vegetable garden has gained worldwide media attention. Her yard is neat and clean, and being used in an environmentally sustainable way to produce food. You and whoever else might be responsible for the decision to prosecute Ms. Bass are narrow-minded and petty and do no service to your community.

Gillian XXXXX
Manitoba, Canada

I have a friend who gets an annual visit from by-law. He grows all his plants in containers from 3" pots to 3' pots. Last year they replaced the front lawn and covered his driveway. In August he has the prettiest drive in town. This year they told him he couldn't have any pots on his property. His appeal got misdirected and he and his family were under considerable stress until publicity generated a more reasonable result. By-law has promised to return in the fall. Apparently, his "garden" doesn't look as good in the winter.

He does have other issues and pushes the envelope; however, the power of by-law officers is unbridled.

What I don't understand about North American society is why the appearance of someone's yard is any of the neighbours' business. I would never tell my neighbours what to do with their yards, short of not growing noxious weeds or putting sewage on their front lawn or anything that *directly* affects me. I may not approve of how they look after their yard but I would never interfere because I believe in leaving people alone if they don't hurt anyone. Take ljpother's friend, for example. Perhaps his yard is "ugly" in winter but that's HIS problem, not the city's problem or neighbours' problem. It's his property. I thought North American society was supposed to be 'free'. Stalin would be so proud.

I find it difficult to believe that there isn't room for compromise here. The garden boxes make up a fairly small part of the front lawn, the rest is either mulch or bare dirt, I can't tell from the photo. I wonder if the woman planted grass in the non-garden areas if that wouldn't solve the issue. I'm presuming whoever complained wasn't really complaining about the vegetables, they were likely concerned with the absence of grass on the rest of the lawn. I suspect both sides have now dug in their heels whereas a little compromise and common sense from all sides could solve this. My two cents.

Good news. The charges were dropped. It's a good thing. They were ridiculous anyway.

Here is a link that might be useful: No Jail Time - Charges Dropped

It must have been the scathing letter I wrote. ;0)

Gillian, I was getting ready to send a scathing letter, too, but I guess yours did the trick !

Well written, BTW

Lynn

Good Lord now they are going after the dogs! Somebody on city council doesn't like this lady.....maybe?

She did get her dogs licensed before the article was printed. It does sound like someone doesn't like her.

What a waste of time! Why in the world do they bother people like this, and real criminals get off scott free! GRrrr.... They should be applauding her for planting vegetables to eat...more people need to be doing this! If they really want her to have a more picture perfect yard, they could have asked her to plant either grass or shrubs or something in the front half of her yard. But really, at least she doesn't have a bunch of weeds growing.

One thing, Slimy Okra, about having wildflowers planted in the front yard, is that plenty of those mixes have flowers that are essentially noxious weeds. Not only does that kind of stuff sneak out and get into other peoples yards, but worse, it can get out into the farmers crops, ditches, etc. surrounding the cities, and become a serious problem for them to deal with. I think it is different if they are a carefully selected mix of native plants and non-invasive "wild" flowers. I always wince when I see stuff like baby's breath growing in people's yards. So I'm definitely not for "grow whatever you want", but I do understand where you are coming from...those controlled communities are completely bonkers. Why the heck would we want everyone's yard to look the same?!