When the yard police skip the hearing

[Warren]

That's an awfully prejudicial remark.

[Vox Humana]

It always comes down to this. I'm surprised that the thread lasted this long without personal insults or the inclusion of the term "Mc Mansion."

[G Henslee]

No problem. Dynamite it. While you're at it, use some to blow some space in that overly tight ass of yours.

[mailbox]

On reconsideration, I would have removed the reference to gated communities, but I was in a rush to log off and get to the office, so I didn't have time to reread and reflect. However, my remark about inapplicable standards would stand.

Indeed, had the government appeared at the hearing, one of my tactics would have been to ask if the inspector lived anywhere nearby, after establishing that there was no citizen complainant.

Anyway, I see this thread _is_ on the way to a common Usenet demise...

-- [e-mail] (Charles Packer) ungoogled: mailboxATSIGNcpacker.org

[G Henslee]

What do you expect. You had no reason for posting in the first place, 'cept to beat on your chest. Nobody cares about your threatenings to 'take on' city hall... pfft.

ps. better get that retaining wall fixed.

[Tiny Human Ferret]

But looking at the photo at

I would have to say that it does look about half reverted to the wild. Then again, I'm pretty old-school northern-euro in my aesthetics of a "well kept yard".

(realtime) would give you an ideal of the general aesthetic in my own neighborhood.

[G Henslee]

In other words somewhat neat and trimmed. Unlike that overgrown unkept vegetation and retaining wall of Packer's.

[Warren]

Picking a few of the obvious weeds and sweeping the sidewalk before taking a picture is an inapplicable standard?

[G Henslee]

This guy's property looks like crap. Period. I bet his neighbors just love him. So much they called in a complaint to the city about him.

He better fix that retaining wall he's so proud of before it falls over. Maybe if it did he'd finally clean that jungle.

[Doug Kanter]

I hope that wall falls on a dog.

[Vox Humana]

Oh, I agree. I think there are several issues here. First, there is the law. I detect that the primary issue isn't the yard, but whether code enforcement is valid function of government. I do think it is. The second issue is that when you post pictures to Usenet, you will get a complete spectrum of opinions and therefore, you can't get pissed off when people tell you what they really think.

[Travis]

Your picture is so low quality that it doesn't show much of anything.

[G Henslee]

Ole Parker's just chest thumpin'. Take a look at his webpage. You'll get a better picture of his 'conspiracy behind every rock' mentality. It's his right to do whatever and do it whenever he pleases on his property by gawd! Screw the law and the neighbors!

[G Henslee]

What it doesn't show (an overgrown patch of jungle weeds held in place by a failing brick wall) means something.

[Tiny Human Ferret]

There's also the issue of differing aesthetics. I live in a suburb of the District, and Mr Packer lives in a part of the District which has a rather different planning and land-use concept. For instance, the District has fairly small and rather squarish blocks, generally with fairly narrow street frontage when compared to the depth of the plots; also the District has alleys and my suburb hasn't any alleys.

Due to the urbanized nature of even the "bedroom neighborhoods" such as Mr Packer's, there's a tradition of letting nature flourish wherever it may, as a contrast to the asphalt and sidewalks. Also, the District is rather famous for its extensive Urban Forest, as well as one of the highest acreages of per-capita parks. My own suburb mostly has trees which have grown since the neighborhood was cleared and developed in the late 1950s. I suppose that the contrast and comparison I wish to make is that it's a lot easier to manage your yard's vegetation when it was placed there by design.

Given the local problem with the spread of "invasives", I suspect Mr Packer's yard will soon become home to the spreading "mile-a-minute vine" which within a year should overtake his property and pull all of the trees down onto his house, ending this discussion.

[Travis]

There is no need for a brick wall in mostly flat terrain.

[G Henslee]

You missed the point.

pfft...

[Vox Humana]

Nature flourishes in my landscape, but it wouldn't be seen as wild or unkempt by any reasonable person. Ironically, a "natural" look probably takes more thought and care than a rigid, formal design. Letting your yard become overgrown with weeds and calling it "natural" is like letting your kids run wild and celebrating their exuberance.

[Tiny Human Ferret]

Oh, it goes farther than that. After 9/11, the Feds started putting up barriers around a lot of real-estate. Mr Packer decided that it would be entertaining and enlightening to go around town taking pictures of the security barriers and the terrain they protected, and putting said pictures on the WWW, and then pointing said global InterNet to said WWW pages, via postings to UseNet.

This wasn't well-received.

[Tiny Human Ferret]

I can tell that you shop in grocery stores quite similar to my own. ;)

My own yard has a variety of native as well as non-native species. However, most of the non-natives are annuals and winter kills them off. Replanting every year is a bit of a hassle, but it prevents the yard from being overrun by ornamentals. BTW, I misspoke in the quoted text, above, there are a fair amount of rather large (100 years or so) trees such as white oak, poplar, ash, gum and hickory. (I have all of these forming a pentacle in the back yard, and call it the Grove.) Most of the underbrush probably was cleared, leaving only the large trees, and houses were built in between the large trees. Then grass was brought in, along with whatever other landscaping plants were added later on. To find the smaller native stuff has taken some time, as even the local parks are often second generation regrowth after having been cleared, farmed, and fallowed a few times since Colonial days.

An interesting site on the flora of the area is available at

is the "Maryland Native Plant Society". Vegetation in the District naturally was about exactly what you'd find in the adjacent regions of Maryland or Northern Virginia.