Home Garden Laws: Weeding in the Nude and Other No-Nos

Reader Contribution by Staff
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Home gardeners and urban homesteaders are constantly battling against outdated or limiting legislation. Even in a progressive community such as Boulder, Colo., nudity in the garden is no longer allowed under a new home garden law. Many cities and neighborhoods have garden laws, ordinances or other regulations that may limit where your garden is placed, how it is designed, what structures you can put up and even what attire you are allowed to wear while weeding your tomato patch. 

Also referred to as “local weed laws,” these ordinances are meant to keep negligent homeowners’ yards and lawns from becoming a hot bed of mosquitoes, rats or potential fires. These same laws have been employed to prevent homeowners from planting anything besides the most common grass species. Natural landscapers, home gardeners and urban farmers have been struggling against these laws since the beginning of their suburban applications.

Natural landscaping, or the use of native plants and low-maintenance caretaking techniques to support the local ecosystem and encourage biodiversity, is a natural enemy of the bright green monoculture lawn now accepted as the ideal. (To learn more, check out Make Your Lawn Naturally Beautiful). About 5 years ago, Laurie Otto’s yard — planted to ferns and flowers – was deemed illegal and weedy by local authorities and cut down. Determined to put up a fight, now the head of Wild Ones — Natural Landscapers, Inc., Mrs. Otto has helped to educate and advocate about the importance of natural landscaping.

Home gardeners can also get caught in violation of their local weed laws. City ordinances commonly stipulate that vegetable gardens shall not be planted in the front lawn. Also, laws often require any plant growth to be maintained below a certain height, such as 5 inches. While vegetable garden plants are usually exempted, this does not include any wild or native plant species — for example, wild onions — you may wish to keep around. Laws limiting the days and amount a homeowners can water their property can also affect how well garden plants will fare through drier months.

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