Homeowner discovers genius loophole after city slaps them with unexpected fine: 'The most amusing thing to me…'

American cities can sometimes assume an adversarial position toward residents' private gardens, often acting in ways that recall the Army commanders of Catch-22. A recent Reddit post from a Detroit, Michigan, resident expressed frustration with these behaviors and went viral for the clever way in which the poster outsmarted authorities.

Instead of simply complying and mowing the overgrown grass lawn they inherited when they bought the home like the city demanded, the user (who claims not to own a lawn mower) merely dug out all the grass and then replaced the yard with wildflowers and other plants native to the area. 

Ostensibly, requests like these could make sense in theory. Cities understandably do not want overgrown plants taking up more space than they should, even in residential areas. But there is a difference between intrusive plants and those in well-nurtured gardens that just happen to be large, a difference the original poster cleverly exploited by simply rewilding their yard.

When looking to make a change with your garden, rewilding can be a great option. It restores ecosystems to their natural state, which can in turn create a healthier environment for pollinators and for humans, as pollinators protect our food supply. It can help mitigate climate change, even at the small scale of your yard. Plus, rewilding usually yields beautiful results!

The original poster provided more insight into their process, clarifying that this was not an overnight transition.

"This photo is 2 years after initial planting," they wrote. "My advice would be to come up with an overall plan for the entirety of what you intend the end result to look like and then proceed in stages. Do not run out and spend a ton of money on large established plants aside from potential keystone or focus pieces.

"What you want to do is source trays of plugs from local native nurseries, and seed from local native growers. Buying local is important because plants are regionally specific and buying a 5lb bag of 'native seed' off Amazon is not the same as seed grown for SE Michigan. Plant tightly, (nature abhors a vacuum) and if you leave dead space nature will fill it with things you don't particularly want. That's where you get 'pollinator gardens' that look like a weedy drainage ditch. Natural mulch is important, decomposition over time adds nutrients to the soil and also acts as an anti germinate in planted areas."

Fellow Redditors were effusive in praising this simple but effective trick. One wrote, "Land of the free, where a city can issue a ticket to you for not mowing your lawn into a dead biodiversity wasteland. Good on you for that malicious compliance." 

In response, the original poster joked, "The most amusing thing to me is about 1/2 the 'houses' on my block and the surrounding ones are burned out and yet somehow my 3 inch grass was unsightly."

Another poster praised the OP's new garden, writing: "Gotta love coneflowers. Not too many flowers that give you as many months of color a year as they do."

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.

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