Three photos of my yard

[noamnety]

All of these photos are from today, the first two standing in the same spot, but turning 180 degrees. Before I post these, I'm going to quote part of undergroundpanther's thread:

Core Principles Of The Democratic Party:
5. Natural resources of our country and the world are held by individuals and institutions, public or private, in stewardship. As a democratic society, we must conserve and maintain the natural environment as a sacred trust owed to those now living and those to follow.

conservatisms CORE principles:
#4 Property and freedom are inseparably connected.

Basically this says, If you own it, you can do whatever you want with it. Other people who don't own it have no say in what you do with your property, lest their objections interfere with owners' or plunderers' property owners "freedom."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x972374

When we bought our house, the entire lawn looked like this:


Piece by piece, we are converting it to this:


That doesn't show the vegetable garden or the fruit trees. This is how the pawpaws I planted look at the moment:


I'm puzzling over which values each of these photos represent. My gut tells me the second and third photos should represent core democratic values - stewardship of the land, restoring it to something that supports the natural ecosystem and grows food locally without chemicals, thereby reducing fuel consumption and destruction of the land. My gut tells me that first photo of the lawn that destroys rather than supports the ecosystem is NOT representative of the core democratic principles.

Local government policies tell me I'm wrong. I think I may be technically violating an ordnance with the meadow. Some cities (not mine) have ordnances against growing your own food - which means my pawpaws (also a native plant) are illegal, although a nonnative species like Japanese Maples which are harm the ecosystem by replacing native plants is legal.

Something has gone wrong, politically, when communities don't even just rule by benign neglect, allowing everyone their own freedom in maintaining their yards, but actually mandate destruction of the ecosystem, and punish those who are acting as responsible stewards of the natural environment. Something is wrong, politically, when people are outraged at the idea of a meadow on a suburban lot, but don't show an equivalent amount of outrage when a community mandates lawn that are 6 inches tall or less.

[MADem]

1. Put a little stone path, a bench, and a couple of lawn statues out there, and next thing ya know,

it ain't a "meadow" it's a "flower garden." Yeah, it's a compromise, but it'll get the bums off your back.

I have a backyard that's clover, wildflowers, and cultivated flowers (tulips, crocusi (?), roses). At one end we have the toe-may-tees.

It doesn't get mowed. No one bugs us about it, because it looks like a "flower garden."

[Warpy]

4. The last place I had a garden

was in a trailer park just before the drought started. I had veg in a side bed, then converted a huge front bed to NM wildflowers.

I'm looking forward to getting this place set so that I can do something similar with the back yard.

I hate lawn grass. It has no place in the desert.

[MADem]

5. I hate mowing and the like. And the "natural look" looks good--all you have to do is

put in a load of color, mix it up, make it interesting, plant stuff that isn't an attention-whore or a a waterslut, and you're off to the races!

My clover is spreading like mad--all the half blind baaaastids in the neighborhood think it's grass, and I have a backyard as green as Ireland! Well, the latter half is true, anyway!

Life's too short to push a lawn mower, IMO.

[Warpy]

14. Agreed, as long as it isn't a fire danger

which it is outside the city, and it doesn't provide habitat for rodents and rattlesnakes.

My garden will be tamed somewhat with raised beds and paths, but the flowery part will be wildflowers, not fussy English plants that were never meant to grow in a desert.

[MADem]

15. Well, I'm surrounded by manicured lawns in my 'hood.

Our front lawn is traditional (large area, though) plantings, and just a bit of regular grass--it's a small amount relative to the total land area--just enough to suggest a lawn, really.

It's the backyard that's clover and flowers...and it looks pretty good, and stays fairly low (the weed whacker takes down any high spots, but none have manifested, yet, and it's almost June!). No rattlesnakes or rodents amongst the clover here, fortunately!! The terrier and the mongrel would let us know if that were the case...

We're the only oddballs with terraced land and stone walls and a bit of a wild backyard...We're not in the desert, though, either, and get plenty of rain most years...

[NavyDavy]

2. great post, very nice yard I live in the desert in NM

and its hard with this sandy soil to grass to grow but I worked all fall and winter prepping for spring.....my grass is popping up everywhere, so that alone was worth keeping my yard geen.....my backyard is full of desert plants.....i now have corn, jalapenos, cucumbers, green beans, eggplant, onions, sweet basil and carrots......

I know this wasn't the point of your post.....I get the msg....but I wanted to share cause you look like you done alot of work on yours..


thanks for the post....

[noamnety]

6. a bit about grass

which maybe you know, but others might not.

It's recommended that turf grasses - which is what we think of when we think of lawns - get 24 inches of rain per growing season - an inch of water a week. That's way more than most of the US receives. So that's not just the matter of supporting an ecosystem, it also becomes a political issue related to water usage.

Clumping grasses, however, form roots that go deep into the soil, rather than forming a shallow mat that depends upon a constant supply of water at the surface. Prairie grasses, grasses like little bluestem, can withstand drought, and is native to places like Texas. Some kinds of native grasses stay short, so they don't need to be mowed, or they grow slowly and require less mowing.

St. Augustine grass requires 60 - 120 inches of water a year. Buffalo grass is native from Montana to Mexico, and requires 12 inches of water a year.

[wildhorses]

3. great post, thanks k&r

so thankful i live in the country:kick:

[Crunchy Frog]

7. How can there be an ordinance against growing your own food???!!!

:wtf:

[Clark2008]

9. There's ordinances against having small farm animals in my town.

I can't have chickens, ducks or goats.

I think a goat would be cool for lawn maintenance, myself. Or fresh eggs from the back yard? How nice - but, nope, can't have them despite living on a acre of land.

I can fully understand the city not wanting us to have horses or cattle, but small farm animals? As long as one meets land requirements? :shrug:

[Honeycombe8]

12. Were you planning on killing the small farm animals for food? Or you mean...

you were going to use their milk and eggs for food? I can see why the city wouldn't want you slaughtering animals.

I guess they figure if people started keeping all those animals, things owuld get out of hand, unpleasant odors would become a problem, waste products from the animals, noise, etc. We have a limit on # of dogs, even, for that reason.

I wouldn't mind having a few chickens, though. Fresh eggs. Yum.

[MADem]

16. When I lived in UK, the sheep mowed my lawn. AND fertilized it with sheepshit pellets!

It was the greenest thing, too.

All I had to do was close the farm road gate, open the gate from the field, let them chomp until the grass was 'mowed' and then shoo them back to the field and close the gate to the field and open the gate from the road.

Way easier than mowing!!!

[noamnety]

10. It seems crazy to me

But a fair amount of places have ordnances stating you can't have vegetables or fruit trees or anything edible in front of your house or to the side of it. Some outlaw any edible planting at all.

"An Interior Lot owner may not plant flower beds or vegetable gardens or otherwise modify the landscaping. Owners of Perimeter Lots shall have the privilege to plant flower beds and /or vegetable gardens in their Limited Common Area if they are properly maintained." http://fairwaysofoakridge.org/

Crest Mountain in Asheville, N.C.: "The following are precluded: Outside clotheslines or clothes drying ... window air conditioning units ... vegetable gardens ..." http://www.alternet.org/environment/51001?comments=view&cID=644940&pID=644650

[hfojvt]

18. no outside clothes drying? Or window air conditioners?

Must be symptoms of white trash or something.

As far as water requirements, I find that grass will stay green even in fairly dry places like SD or Kansas if it is not mowed down to a half inch stubble. Perhaps the longer grass collects more dew. But also I think much of the grass in my Kansas yard is the clumpy kind.

I just noticed that Asheville's ordinance does not seem to prohibit me from seeding my 'lawn' with blackberries. Probably they do though, have a stipulation saying that only trees and bushes like lilaks are allowed to grow over 8 inches tall.

[noamnety]

19. I dropped that phrase "white trash" from my vocabulary

I grew up using it, but not so long ago, a year or so ago, someone pointed out the implications of having that qualifier "white" on there, to distinguish it from the "normal" (nonwhite) kind of trash. That kind of stopped me in my tracks. Haven't used it since.

The larger point I'm getting from your statement, though, is one of commodification and class, where the destruction of resources is the way to prove one's status in the community. It's very troubling to see that written into law as a requirement of community living.

[tech3149]

8. The perversion of the well-manicured lawn is an attempt to emulate the rich.

A fancy lawn has only one purpose, to feed the ego of the owner. My parents still live in the same place my Dad was raised. The "yard" was three major components, garden, grape arbors, and raspberry bushes. It fed the family, provided wine for the weekend, and a few dollars for new clothes. That fancy grass does nothing but waste your time and labor with no benefit.

You're right, something has gone wrong. We've allowed a homoginized, white bread view of the world to determine what is acceptable behaviour in the community.

[noamnety]

13. homogenized white bread view, yep

I've been saying for a while our vision of lawns echoes the conservatives' vision of what our communities should look like - everyone looking the same, everyone speaking the same language (ironically imported from abroad, just like our lawns), everything growing "straight."

[dionysus]

20. i don't see what's wrong with maintaining a nice lawn

it shows pride in ownership that you care enough to maintain your property

[Honeycombe8]

11. The wild grasses...we have an ordinance that "grass" can't be taller than

12 inches, so I would be able to grow only native grasses that are shorter than that.

I think I'd get a citation, anyway. There was an article in our paper about some fight going on in a suburb where a homeowner turned her yard into a native sanctuary. It had an unkempt look (naturally - that's the point), so the neighbors got all upset and had her cited numerous times. Finally the city council got the neighbors to relent, and let the neighbor have her sanctuary with some mild modification.

Your yard is beautiful! I wish I could have a piece of land like you have. In the city, it's difficult. But I could have a corner area like that, I supposed.

[illinoisprogressive]

17. gorgeous. My garden had to be moved as they tore up half the front yard

redoing the street.