Gardener fires back at HOA after being fined for lush garden: 'I gave them two chances to be nice'

One Redditor got in a battle with their homeowners association after being approved to grow food, yet threatened with fines for growing "perennials." The HOA wouldn't budge on their misunderstanding that perennials are food. 

"The plants you see are perennials … raspberry, strawberry, elderberry, blueberry, blackberry," the original poster emailed in response.

A few months earlier, the gardener received a notice from their HOA claiming they had violated their agreement by failing to empty their garden. The homeowner explained that they had cleared out weeds and all dead plants, but that since it was only November, they still had vegetables growing that hadn't been harvested yet. 

"I do not want to throw away food," the homeowner said.

When the homeowner persisted that they hadn't broken any rules, things got ugly. 

"I calmly explained what was still in the garden (and alive) and asked them for clarification on what they wanted. Instead of responding to that, they sent a second Notice," the OP explained. "I have been unrepentantly snippy since then. I gave them two chances to be nice, and they were not."

"With perennials you cut them low but you have those in your vegetable garden??" The HOA board member had responded, "When you got this approved it was for vegetables and there was no mention of perennials in the request."

What this HOA (and others like it) failed to understand is that a diverse vegetable garden can save money, increase the presence of pollinators, and improve the health of the air and soil — benefiting everyone in the community.

Dozens of vegetable plants, such as root vegetables, squashes, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, and more, can be harvested in late November or December. Not to mention, many vegetables are naturally perennials and have various requirements for pruning. Not all perennials should be pruned completely to the ground, and in some cases, this can be damaging. A healthy garden doesn't disappear in winter.

Some people may find plants' natural winter hibernation state to be an eyesore, but this is a critical season in a plant's lifetime. Many berry plants don't produce any fruit their first year and need to grow for multiple years to reach peak production. Digging up plants over the wintertime would be a waste of time, money, and resources. Also, exclusively planting annuals every year requires much more time, effort, and expense, and they often come in plastic pots, which creates waste. 

Should homeowners associations be able to determine what you grow in your garden? Yes 💯 Only if it impacts your neighbors 🏘️ Depends on what you're growing 🌼 Heck no 🙅 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

In the end, the OP reached out to board members for clarification. Once the entire board became involved, it was clear that only one board member had this issue with the plants, and it was resolved with the board asking for only dead perennials to be removed at the end of their life span.

Commenters sympathized with the frustration of the OP, particularly regarding the misconceptions about perennial plants. 

"Dormant, less attractive plants in late fall and winter is just how plants work. Expecting them all to be cut to the ground is silly if that's not the recommended way to care for that plant," one Redditor reassured the OP.

"They appear to not understand that your perennials are in fact 'food,'" said one comment. 

Another Redditor agreed with this idea, saying, "Plenty of food crops … are deciduous & should be left alone like deciduous trees are. HOA doesn't seem to know much about gardening."

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