Not allowed to have a front yard garden...help?

[snarfywarning]

So, in my development we are not allowed to have food gardens in the front, just lawns, ground cover plants, roses, stuff like that. Well, we think lawns are wasteful, so we have just been letting ours go, it is about 50% weeds right now, and my development manager just got all pissy at us because weeds aren't lawn. Im like "But its green! And well kept weeds! We mow them and everything!!" and she is like "Get rid of it.."

So we are just getting rid of the lawn, LOL. I was thinking of making an herb spiral in the front, since I think I could slide with that... but then I still have a space about as large as a minivan that I have no idea what to do with. It needs to be easy to care for, no pesticides needed, and can live through the Oregon winters. Bonus points if it is a useful plant. :P I can't put rocks, it has to be "green and living"



I live in Oregon, Zone 7B, and we just started this whole gardening business.. so I am 100% novice!
:

[Joyster]

I'm seeing opportunity for a huge herb garden. Many people wouldn't know a basil plant from a hosta and many herbs can be bought as ornamentals. You can add some lovely healing herbs like chamomile and echinacea and just go to town.

They won't allow rock gardens? What kind of monsters are they?

[wholewheatchick]

Not much help here, I just wanted to say how AMAZING it is that you are getting rid of your lawn! DH and I think that lawns are one of the worst inventions ever, and we can't wait to get out of military housing so that we can eliminate ours as well. Maybe if you planted a few douglas fir trees, and put a bench in (not sure what your budget or the rules are like) you could take up some more yard space and still make it look really nice to appease the manager.

A lot of the herbs will die during the winter, so try to choose perennial ones that at least have some green on them. Rosemary is the only one that comes to mind off the top of my head. Maybe it would be better to plant ornamental juniper and keep it low to the ground as a groundcover? I found this website: http://www.floridata.com/ref/J/juni_con.cfm This variety is originally from Japan, so it would work well for Salem.

Enjoy Oregon; I miss it so much!

[Rebecca]

Are you allowed to petition your HOA or do a presentation at the next HOA meeting so they know you aren't just going to let your yard be an eyesore and instead you'll maintain a beautiful and useful space? Mixing in some ornamental kale and cabbage would be lovely and would last well into the fall.

[cristeen]

Most people wouldn't know a lemongrass bush from another ornamental grass. Rosemary and lavendar are both bushes that can get fairly large. Whatever you do, don't put mint in unless you want a mint lawn.

Does your Oregon winter involve snow?

I'm assuming you own? Is this the HOA president, or just a manager? Because generally speaking a manager doesn't have that kind of say so, but the HOA president/chairperson does. If this is just a manager, I'd take it to the president, and let them know that you'd like to do something more eco-friendly like a victory garden or a drought-tolerant "sitting" garden.

Regardless, I would look through the copies of the HOA rules you got when you moved in - if it is not spelled out in there that you are required to maintain grass in your front yard, or that you cannot grow non-ornamentals in your front yard, then they don't have a leg to stand on, and I'd take it to committee.

Oh, and don't forget that rock isn't your only alternative. We mulched our front yard after putting in two jasmine plants. It looks lovely (if a bit unfinished around the edges), and eventually the jasmine will take over.

[langdonslady]

You mean there are still "lawn nazis" and "front-yard fascists" in progressive Oregon!?

How cruddy! Have they never heard yet of "food not lawns"?

That reminds me of the "bans" on clotheslines. How did America get to a state where We the People have relinquished so many basic liberties, especially what to do with our own property, and most especially, being barred from self-sufficiency? This is madness in the most backward form.

[langdonslady]

Oh, and I would be just rebellious enough to grow dandelions and burdock and plantain in my "lawn" and harvest them for food just out of spite even though I hate dandelion greens.

Those assinine orifices.

[philomom]

Well, I have picky neighbors on one side so I can't get rid of the lawn entirely. What I have done is edged with the patio blueberry bushes. Used strawberry plants for groundcover and added herbs into my borders. So far, so good.

[sniffmommy]

We are in Oregon too

with a bit of the same problem with our HOA.
NOT TO WORRY MAMA! There are TONS of plants that grow in our zone that can be considered ornamental as well as being edible. (Kale, strawberry, artichoke, rhubarb and asparagus to name a few)
you might try to push the boudries too by having containers for your vegetables. That way they are not "in the yard".
I've had lots of luck learning about gardening from going to library and looking at all the books available.
Flowers are not wasteful. Some can be eaten by humans, but all provide pollen for bees, and buterflies...and we can all use those!
Best of luck!

[lmonter]

Do strawberry plants look to garden-y for the lawn police? They're definitely ground cover, and some varieties stay nice and low (harder to mulch 'em, but still). Or are blueberry bushes or raspberry canes not "pretty" enough? Those could be nice border plants.

Otherwise, I'd say go for it with herbs. And just tell people it's all ornamental. You could get away with big rosemary bushes (I saw some as big if not bigger than my Britax carseats over in the Fremont district in Seattle in December!), chives, thyme bushes, maybe basil as the season comes around, etc. Chamomile, calendula, marigolds, whatever floats your boat. I've seen neat ideas how to make pretty herb garden layouts, just check out books from your local library to get some jumping off points. Will probably look better than anything a landscaper around here would do at any rate. There's also creeping thyme I've had my eye on for a while... it's stays really low to the ground, and spreads out decently I've heard. Smells good, too.

Mint planted near the edges of your property could nicely tick off your neighbors at some point if that's on your to-do list.

[snarfywarning]

We also are not allowed to have clotheslines... xD

We live in a gated manufactured home community with really strict standards. Moving isn't an option, as we barely make enough to pay space rent here. My neighbors don't care, but the manager drives through the court a few times a month and checks off on a list what you are doing wrong. I got in trouble for having my cat outside!!

I think I am going to do all the herbs in my herb spiral, and I would probably get away with a few heads of Kale, some good flowers for the bees (good point, Sniff!)... and the rest just good ol non water intensive moss...

I think I will draw up something for the next HOA meeting though, someone just did that with the gate, since it was taking too much money to repair and keep running, so threy have it open for more hours during the day. I will bring the Food not Lawns book and some pamphlets. Good idea.

[talk de jour]

Huh. Around here most lawns contain a decent amount of clover, etc because the development is old and they take over. If you really do mow, I don't know why they give a crap.

[talk de jour]

Also, if you mow, how do they know the difference between grass and weeds? it's certainly not something visible on a driveby.

[snarfywarning]

Well, it is pretty ragged grass to begin with, mostly crabgrass, with huge patches of bright green clover in the middle. I can see our horrible lawn from down the street!

[avendesora]

I think that blueberry bushes are pretty. However, raspberries look more like weeds to the untrained eye.

I'll be the odd one out here. If you are just letting your lawn go, without using it for vegetables or a lawn, then you are bringing down the property values of those around you. It will be harder for them to try to sell their house if there's a very unkempt-looking yard in the near vicinity. There is sometimes an agreement in neighborhoods (ie, an HOA) that helps to guarantee that the neighbors won't pull down your house price by having a egregiously unaesthetic property. That's the original spirit of an HOA, anyway. Try to work with that if you talk with them.

Tomatoes and corn aren't aesthetic, I'll agree. Herbs, cabbage, blueberry bushes, pansies, etc., are all pretty options. You could probably get away with some lettuce tucked in, as long as it didn't look like row-crops. Sunflowers. Or, study what plants are particularly tasty for wildlife - a butterfly garden, perhaps? What will help feed the bees that are diminishing? You can use your garden to support local wildlife, if not for yourself. We have a local ecological trust that sells native plants once a year - those would be easy to put in and they'd maintain themselves.

Good luck,
Aven

[p1gg1e]

Id do some landscaping , and a small amount of zosia (sp?) grass. So bushes mixed with blueberry bushes , ditto the kale , also amaranth is really pretty and tall. Oh and ground cherries

[HydeParkB]

Chard (rainbow or red) can be very decorative. It's very hardy here, too. If you like the flavor, I would include that.

Good luck fighting the good fight!

[PaulaJoAnne]

I think you should show the films this family has.... www.pathtofreedom.com
Paula

[naturemama1]

How about some fruit trees? We have seven trees along the front of our house (pears, blue plums, apricots, and cherries) and they thrive with very little maintenance. A few fruit trees, neatly surrounded by mulch, might look purposefully decorative enough to satisfy your HOA, without all the care and environmental baggage of a lawn.

[belltree]

Have you thought about planing a decorative vegetable garden? Something like this for instance:
http://www.sunset.com/garden/fruits-...0400000011585/

Also creeping thyme, looks lawn like, but is not, and it will have cute purple blossoms.