Will gardening soon be outlawed in towns?

[happyflowerlady]

Sore metropolitan areas are starting to pass laws against the urban garden, claiming that it ruins the look of the neighborhood. You would think that they would just concern themselves with empty houses, unmowed lawns, and overgrown empty lots, but no, they also want to stop people from growing a small family garden now.
I can see where it might not be allowed to turn a home lot into a commercial-type of garden area, but I certainly think that we should all be allowed to grow any flowers and plants we want to on our own property. Many people actually mix flowers and vegetable plants together in their gardens, and I think the combination can be quite beautiful. Squash plants, with their huge green leaves , are quite as beautiful as a background plant as any other taller plant, and the fern-like look of an asparagus blend into any garden with a lacy grace.

http://www.realfarmacy.com/city-uproots-couples-17-year-old-front-yard-garden/

 

[Kansas Terri]

I worry about this also. A great many cities outlaw vegetables in the front yard, and many who allow it will harass anybody bold enough to try it. It would go hard for me if they did, as I love it.

It also reflects a growing intolerance in the USA culture for anybody who is the least bit eccentric, and this worries me also. I am a bit odd, as I am not really interested in status or expensive toys, but at least it is not illegal to be odd!

At least not yet.

If they do make it illegal at least I can say it will probably not come in my sleepy community until after my gardening days are over. And, I intend to garden for a long time yet, with the help of a scooter and a garage door opener and scraps of carpeting around the tomato plants to keep the weeds down. I strongly dislike the look of scraps of carpeting in the garden but not having a garden would be worse: if I get more money saved perhaps I can have raised beds instead. Big ones.

I think I will have a few years more to think things over!

 

[zigs]

Land of the free eh?

You could start a counter claim, if the government won't let you farm your own land then you want compensation for the lost crops. If everyone put in a claim they couldn't possibly pay it so they might back down, hit them where it hurts, in the wallet.

 

[Kansas Terri]

Land of the free eh?

You could start a counter claim, if the government won't let you farm your own land then you want compensation for the lost crops. If everyone put in a claim they couldn't possibly pay it so they might back down, hit them where it hurts, in the wallet.

Oh, that would be too easy!

What people are doing is to make it illegal, and then the homeowner has to fight it out with the government! Even when the government has no right it means a long and expensive court fight, and the government has the best lawyers! And, the government never runs out of money: they just raise taxes. Homeowners have limits to their funds!

There is a second problem: more and more neighborhoods come with a Home Owner's Association (HOA). HOAs are worse! They are run by just a few people who make the rules for the subdivision, and if they do not like gardens or big dogs or whatever they just pass a rule and then notify people that they have so many days to comply. I would not buy a home in a neighborhood that has a HOA, and I do not understand people who do. Oh, it is very nice that the dues everybody pays is used to run a swimming poor or that everybody keeps their lawns looking nice, but that kind of bossiness I could never stand!

Besides, I have pets and it would break my heart if they were made illegal. One on-line friend had 3 dogs, two of which were geriatric and in poor health, and her HOA passed a rule saying that people could only have one dog! Now, how could she find somebody to care for one or two beloved pets who need pills every day, and in only two weeks?

I simply cannot understand people who want less liberty in their lives.

 

[zigs]

Hmm, so not a democracy in the US, sounds more like a dictatorship to me.

That's terrible about the dogs

 

[claudine]

Gardens ruin the look of the neighborhood? It's a complete absurd!
I hope that gardening will never be outlawed in my city. I can't even imagine it, it would be awful. What I like the most about my city is that there are big gardens everywhere and old trees. I live near an enormous park and I love it.
As for dogs, I would never give my little Yorkie away. I don't care whether is legal or illegal to keep him. He is a family member.

 

[Becky]

That sucks, both about the gardening and the dogs

I can sometimes understand rules about not wanting to introduce foreign plants because it can disturb the ecosystem, but not allowing veg gardens purely for aesthetics is miserable. Personally I think they can look very pretty!

 

[Pat]

As more people have been encouraged to produce some of their own food to help with the economy this type of law makes no sense. In my area people have community plots to grow food if they live in apartments and to help supply the food pantries in the area with fresh vegetables.

This sounds like something that has not been thought thru and how it will really affect others.

 

[Shellyann36]

Unfortunately, the government here is becoming more like a dictatorship every day it seems. I do not care to live in areas that are considered to be in town for this very reason. Too many restrictions and demands from the city/town/home owners association. I would rather live in the country area.

 

[Kansas Terri]

The reason that is usually given is that a vegetable garden in the front yard would bring down property values. I never did agree with THAT! I also like the look of a vegetable garden, with its hidden gems!

 

[RedNeckCowBoy007]

Some HOAs are not bad, but I agree that many are stupidly restrictive.
However, as a general rule, with all the recent interest in "going green", I doubt that most cities would outlaw gardening within city limits; it would make them look bad to the EPA and such. I've also heard of a lot of urban community garden plots, as others have mentioned. If anything, I think this type of thing will be encouraged more and more in coming years.

 

[firelily99]

It seems to me that they (cities) would lose some of the grant monies that they can gain from allowing the urban gardeners to grow their veggies and flowers. I read an article recently about urban homesteaders in Detroit who have taken over abandoned neighborhoods and are now making those areas viable living spaces. The point is to get people to want to live in an urban environ and not deter them from it.

 

[Gardener]

That is really weird, as it is your property and you should be able to plant what you would like. There is no such rule over where I live, but I guess it's because I live in a small town. The situation in a metropolitan area would be quite different, I suppose. Regardless, this is a terrible idea, as there are so many others reasons that cities are suffering (homelessness, etc).

 

[Mariam]

I never understood people wanting to live in a place with an HOA, either. A lot of people do not understand how awesome having a garden is. They just care about making everything cookie cutter with a white picket fence. I think Zigs has a point with fighting back. If you give up to begin with, you will never win. Some things are worth fighting for! My right to my yard is one of them.

 

[headfullofbees]

I've been growing fruit and veg in my front garden for 8 years.

The only comments I've have have been positive, one lady passer-by even called me "inspirational", but then again, I do look like a bulldog chewing a wasp.