For the past three years, my next door neighbor has been actively harassing me for petty and perceived violations. The City requires that you mow a minimum of once every two weeks (and they cannot require more) and your grass must stay under seven inches. When it rains here in the Midwest, it can grow pretty fast, jump from three to 7 inches in a couple of days (and of course, there are always weeds that will suddenly put up twelve inch flower heads overnight). as soon as it hit 15 days, if there was one clump of grass or weed that tops 7 inches, I got cited last year for high grass. Last year I got monthly notices for this.
This neighbor also decided last year to report me to the safety inspector for storing "junk" in my yard- when I called the inspector to ask about the violation, He apologized, saying that because he had a complaint he had to inspect and write a citation. He asked me to verify that the "rusty metal thing" was indeed sculpture, and told me that he had looked over at the neighbors yard ornamentation and thought "what the hell's the difference?" Towards the end of the season, I was cited for high weeds and weed trees in my back yard. although I cut down the overgrown wildflowers in my backyard,I received a visit from the abatement crew who mistakenly cut down all my forsythia as "weed trees".An appeal to a neighborhood organization for mediation between myself, the city and my neighbor did not yield any results last year
For years this neighbor has tried to advise me on how to landscape my yard, and has gone over the top with his own: terracing, carefully placed plantings, concrete lion sculptures in the easement, and ornamental lighting. (most people dont have this much lighting at christmas) I like plants that you can plant, they grow to a given height, and need no pruning. they may flower, they crowd together, rub elbow to elbow and cover up the dirt, thus keeping the hillside from eroding onto the sidewalk. I am not the only person in the neighborhood who intentionally plants tall wild looking plants, but the others have not been cited- I've asked them. . This year I have been very careful to keep the grass mowed, and when I received the "High weeds in front of property" citation. I decided to try to find the right City employee and make amends.
A meeting with this person today was quite fruitful. He acknowledged I had the right to grow what I choose (that are not weeds). He acknowledged the similarity of my Indian coralberry in height and growth pattern to the sage up the street. He requested that I just keep them trimmed at the sidewalk, so they did not look overgrown. A neat edge will give the appearance of being "intentional". No problem!
I was going to load pics, but apparently photobucket didnt receive my mobile messages and wont let me upload today, for some reason.
Perhaps another day.
This neighbor also decided last year to report me to the safety inspector for storing "junk" in my yard- when I called the inspector to ask about the violation, He apologized, saying that because he had a complaint he had to inspect and write a citation. He asked me to verify that the "rusty metal thing" was indeed sculpture, and told me that he had looked over at the neighbors yard ornamentation and thought "what the hell's the difference?" Towards the end of the season, I was cited for high weeds and weed trees in my back yard. although I cut down the overgrown wildflowers in my backyard,I received a visit from the abatement crew who mistakenly cut down all my forsythia as "weed trees".An appeal to a neighborhood organization for mediation between myself, the city and my neighbor did not yield any results last year
For years this neighbor has tried to advise me on how to landscape my yard, and has gone over the top with his own: terracing, carefully placed plantings, concrete lion sculptures in the easement, and ornamental lighting. (most people dont have this much lighting at christmas) I like plants that you can plant, they grow to a given height, and need no pruning. they may flower, they crowd together, rub elbow to elbow and cover up the dirt, thus keeping the hillside from eroding onto the sidewalk. I am not the only person in the neighborhood who intentionally plants tall wild looking plants, but the others have not been cited- I've asked them. . This year I have been very careful to keep the grass mowed, and when I received the "High weeds in front of property" citation. I decided to try to find the right City employee and make amends.
A meeting with this person today was quite fruitful. He acknowledged I had the right to grow what I choose (that are not weeds). He acknowledged the similarity of my Indian coralberry in height and growth pattern to the sage up the street. He requested that I just keep them trimmed at the sidewalk, so they did not look overgrown. A neat edge will give the appearance of being "intentional". No problem!
I was going to load pics, but apparently photobucket didnt receive my mobile messages and wont let me upload today, for some reason.
Perhaps another day.
