One homeowner was frustrated to the point of tears after their efforts to cultivate a low-maintenance, eco-friendly yard were sabotaged by another party.
They posted about their problem in the r/NativePlantGardening subreddit, saying: "Our community landscaping company went against our request and tried to work on our front yard and ran over 14 of our stonecrop sedum plants we were using to try and make into a native front yard. We're looking into seeing if we can pursue damages through our HOA. I'm crying internally."
The photos that the original poster shared with their complaint showed tire tracks running from the yard to pavement as well as plants crushed and torn up. While there was still a good amount of greenery left, the damage was undeniable.
It wasn't clear whether the homeowner had difficulty with their homeowners association regarding the choice of native plants for their yard, but it is fairly common for fans of unconventional yards to run into resistance over this issue. HOAs are often more interested in making neighborhoods look uniform than they are in saving homeowners money or protecting the environment, as native plant lawns do. However, homeowners can get their associations to see the light by working with their neighbors to change bylaws.
Also, native plants can be surprisingly resilient, as commenters reassured the OP in this case.
"Stonecrop sedum, also known as live forevers. They will come back even after that type of destruction," one user wrote.
"You can literally break off a piece and cover it in soil and a new plant will start," another commenter said.
"My son used to grow sedum professionally. The way they propagated that stuff was literally taking a power knife thing down the crop rows, lopping off basket after basket of cuttings," a third person explained. "... My point is that sedum is really tough stuff that's hard to kill. I doubt your landscaper truck tires did yours any lasting harm. I would still be very angry in your place, but your plants are almost certainly going to be fine."
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Should homeowners associations be able to determine what you grow in your garden?
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Yes 💯 
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