Field Notes | Our summer of long, sweet grass | Seattle Times Newspaper

[polaris93]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/fieldnotes/2015438803_summer_the_pleasure_of_long_grass.html

Living in the city, it becomes rare to see grass actually grown to the point that it can set up a nice fat seed head.

Comments

[hannahsarah]

If you do that, you'll get a ticket.

In my first house, I got rid of as many non-native plants as I could, and did extensive research on planting native species in a xerophilic (not needing to be watered) garden. After the plants were established, they thrived in the hottest of summers without needing to be fussed over.

The aggressive wasps disappeared, to be replaced with busy honey bees, lazy bumblebees, butterflies of every shape and color, and entire flocks of hummingbirds.

Furry critters of all kinds were welcome, including the feral cats who would bed down in my nepeta plants at night. It was bright and cheerful, and almost everyone who saw it had to stop and smile. I even had a photographer from Sunset magazine stop by and ask if he could take pictures for an article submission!

Everyone loved it, EXCEPT for the asshole neighbors down the street, with their constantly mowed, constantly water guzzling, perfectly manicured lawn. The complained to the city about it, and the harassment began. I fought as long as I could, and then had to hammer out a compromise where I cut back 3/4 of the greenery, put in some paths and tried to make it look more like a cottage garden, and less like "nature". G-d forbid, your property look like it did before it became "civilized".

Nature has her last laugh, though. I drove past that house the other day, and it was a JUNGLE. Everything came back 10 fold, and has refused to be tamed by even the most persistent attempts to undo my work.

1212 S. Donovan St. will always be my little way of giving back to the planet. I really miss that yard.

[polaris93]

There ought to be a way of initiating a class-action suit against the city, backed by the EPA, to make sure they don't pull that sort of thing any more. The embarassment alone just might make them rethink their attitudes about such things. Talk about stupid human tricks!