Haahaaa. Cute.
I'll walk you through what wrong with this picture:
See the lillies growing down at sidewalk level? The flower heads are about at 30 inches. fine, they are flowers. All that growth behind it? 18 inches tall, each plant. Putting out runners everywhere. Keeping the hillside on the hill, and not eroding onto the sidewalk. I paid for this plant, there are govt building in my city that have them growing on the shady side of the building. He has about $300 worth of mulch around a few plants neatly spaced 24 inches a part in a 4 tier terrace (you can see a bit of it on the right)
I'll admit, I'm a law abiding rebel. I like my plant life thick and lush and just as wild looking as I can get away with- because that is beautiful to me ( I grew up in the woods). What is beautiful to him is order, severely imposed order.
This is the insult to injury:
The name of this work is "Chaos: Organized". Its by a sculptor friend named Brian Mueller. It lives in my yard becuase A) Brian had no where to store it, B) I really liked it and C) I knew it would piss off my neighbor- and there wouldnt be anything he could do about it.
I am not going to let anyone cow me or deter me from doing what I like when it harms no one else. "The best revenge is living well".
The City's official policy is "You can do what you want with your yard" there are no restrictions on landscaping (although you cannot get away with letting the weeds grow and calling them wildflowers.) I just had to prove to the right person I knew what I was doing.
When I'm sure the coast is clear, I'll take a pic of his magnificent work. I have to say, his craftsmanship is flawless. His taste, I believe, in certain parts of the country, would be called "high cotton"- thats southern for nouveau riche. At least I havent covered my yard with the tacky yard kitsch that is popular in my dad's neighborhood!
It would really have to get ugly for me to do that, 'cuase I really hate pink. 
