Alexandria Gazette Packet

Some may remember that driving at night once guaranteed a windshield full of splattered insects. Or sitting outside in the evening promised the romance of tiny flashing lights as fireflies sought out mates. In times past, summer skies were adorned with many beautiful, large orange and black Monarch butterflies flitting toward native flowers. 

Some people are willing to do more than note the passing of these serendipitous moments that mark a time when we enjoyed a healthier ecosystem. You will find several of them volunteering to restore natural habitats around us. Lauded for the significant number of hours they spend working as volunteers in area parks, volunteers are recognized for their leadership and work in managing invasive plants in public places to encourage native plants. Yet too often these same community heroes run afoul of their neighbors, homeowners associations (HOAs), or jurisdiction zoning departments when practicing the same plant principles at home. In cultivating natural meadows in their own yards, they often are chided for the same principals they practice in community public lands to acclaim.

Avril Garland, follows natural landscaping practices, without mowing, fertilizing, or use of pesticides, and has had recurrent or not fully resolved compliance notification communications with Vienna ’s Zoning 

 

Native Plants over Turf Grass: Established Science

Well recognized in the national conservation community, Dr Doug Tallamy, who heads University of Delaware’s Entomology & Wildlife Ecology Department, a native plants guru, is author of several books on healthy ecology and how individuals can make a difference. He has written encouraging us all to move toward reducing lawn turf grass and planting native plants. His studies have shown that “every square foot dedicated to lawn is a square foot that is degrading local ecosystems.” Many homeowners have heard his message and would like to follow his suggestions. However they find themselves up against outdated rules in place and enforced by municipal zoning departments or homeowner associations. Those entities have been slow to change rules and zoning codes and adapt to this new information and the dawning importance of our local ecological systems to the planet.

Eco-friendly Gardening Not Universally Accepted

Consider the experiences of a few in Northern Virginia who have sought to establish a better natural environment on their properties. Jennifer Pradas lives in an Oakton townhome community with an HOA. She regularly volunteers at her community’s Blake Lane and Borge Street parks. She shares, “I don’t grow grass, so I don’t use lawnmowers, leaf blowers, or any other machine that spews out toxins and greenhouse gases. I don’t use fertilizers other than my own compost, so my soil isn’t leaching excess nutrients into the water system, which would exacerbate the pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. I rarely water my backyard, so I’m not adding to the water shortage. I don’t use pesticides, so I’m not killing insects or other creatures that may be harmed. … So what is so outrageous about my yard?” 

Pradas’s HOA bylaws include no restrictions on her choice of backyard landscaping if surrounded by a fence. Yet, contact from her HOA President, suggested the HOA might tighten their bylaws to deal with her “native weeds” saying, “You are not on a farm where you can choose to have a wildlife habitat.” The “weeds” the HOA president referred to are Coral Honeysuckle, Bee Balm, Blue Mist Flower, Wild Cicely, Spiderwort, Penstemon, Iron Weed, American Poke Berry, Milkweed, and Wingstem — all native wildflowers. Pradas can look out her window with delight in seeing Monarchs, bees and hummingbirds enjoying her garden; 

recognizing that “insects are disappearing eight times faster than other animals.” 

Clearly native plants, like Pradas’s, and their growing habits are not understood by all, though growth of meadows is a recognized landscape method exempted from Fairfax County Zoning grass height codes, and encouraged by the Northern Virginia Soil & Water Conservation District (NVSWCD). 

Another frequent volunteer, working at Difficult Run Stream Valley Park, who we will call Emily S., arrived at her Oakton home one day to find a letter on her door from Fairfax County Zoning. She was given two weeks to mow or be mown at her expense. The Oakton resident had been the recent recipient of an NVSWCD VCap grant which helped her remove grass in her backyard to create a meadow. The grants provide “financial and technical assistance for installing projects to address erosion, poor vegetation, and/or excess stormwater runoff, to those who wish to use environmentally friendly practices. The purpose of the program is to help improve water quality in our region.” Emily says she tried unsuccessfully with Zoning to determine what species had triggered the mow notice. She says, “There is anxiety in Fairfax County for those acting against the ‘green grass’ esthetic, or leaving stems standing [for wildlife], or any longer grass allowed to grow instead of cutting it every week.” Although Fairfax County ordinance for residential property permits growth of grass and lawn up to 12 inches in height (FC Section 119-3-1), Emily’s property appeared to draw attention due to a stony verge with intermittent weeds at the edge of her front lawn where no curb is provided.

Vienna resident, Avril Garland, is the IMA (Invasive Management Area) site leader and a long-term volunteer at Accotink Trail, who also volunteers at Southside Park. Her home property includes a variety of native plants. Garland says, “My favorite is fleabane, but I have to say that each bud in my yard is eagerly watched. Each flower, for me, is a magical improbable burst of color, especially, Black-eyed Susan, Pink Cone flower, Wood Aster, Evening Primrose, and Goldenrod.” 

By extensive use and protection of native plants at her home, she has received warning notices from the town. Adding to Garland’s wish that she be permitted personal choice to allow her plants to grow as she chooses in her own yard, are her concerns for protecting her plants against deer predation. Her use of make-shift fencing, cages, and tree branches, to discourage or re-direct deer, have added to what some consider an unkempt look. Garland justifies her measures as less costly and necessary since the town has not addressed deer mitigation. She complains that deer, in small groups, regularly walk through her front yard grazing, and spend time in her backyard, even though it is fenced.

Garland is up against a more restrictive vegetation ordinance in the Town of Vienna. The grass height standard is three inches, and the ordinance states, “Owners of property within the Town shall not allow grass, weeds, and other foreign growth thereon to exceed six inches in height within 100 feet of any street or adjacent property line.” (Article 2, Section 13-7). The notice she received indicates, “The property owner has not completed “the regular periodic mowing of grass, trimming of borders," or "removal of weeds, pruning of all plantings as necessary to maintain vigor and appearance …” Further, the notice indicated the materials Gardner uses to form a fence against deer are considered rubbish by the town. Vienna zoning director, David Levy, says he knows Garland is plant knowledgeable and “is well meaning” and hopes that the town’s warning “non-notification” will provide time for her to deal with the unmanaged growth and avoid a code violation citing. Garland enlisted the help of several friends in the naturalist community. A group spent a morning removing plants and trees, adding and enlarging pathways, and mulching in hope of bringing the yard into compliance. 

Not far away, another Vienna resident and active native plant advocate, Dr. Maryam Dadkhah, also practices native planting in her yard. She has not been cited by zoning but is anxious that her tall plants and their dense habits, best for their growth, may face censor. She is following Professor Tallamy’s recommendation to make gradual changes to reduce the turf grass; also a concession to her husband who likes the look of grass. She has tall meadow plantings in portions of her side and back yards. She also has a major problem with deer predation. She recently added costly, tall fencing and reinforced her existing fence line, using plant cages and Prickly Pear plants to discourage deer in her front yard where fencing is not possible. 

Vienna Police Chief Jim Morris acknowledges the challenge the town faces with its large deer population and their predation of landscaping. While he says deer traffic accidents are not occurring, likely due to the town’s low speed limits, police often receive complaints about deer crossing roads and damaging landscaping. The town council, with police support, will address deer management in a work session planned for Sept. 30.

Conservation Advocates Seek Ordinance Changes

Dadkhah recently addressed the Vienna Town Council, quoting Dr. Tallamy’s suggestion, "We need to find ways for nature to thrive in human-dominated landscapes ... In the past, conservationists worked exclusively where people weren't; now we need to save nature where people are." (Nature's Best Hope, Dr Tallamy). Dadkhah said further, “Unfortunately, Town of Vienna “lawn code” is not clear as to what is permissible and what is not. Even an anonymous complaint can trigger a citation for someone with native plants in their yard. Here is my question for us as a community: In 2024, do we want to ignore the biodiversity crisis and global warming, and focus on an aesthetic ruling set for us in 1800s aristocratic Europe? Or do we want to catch up with the rest of the world and change our zoning code to embrace new scientific trends?” Dadkhah invited council members to visit her yard and see what native plantings and meadows are like on a residential property.

Local entities could better define approved plantings and do more to adopt and condone conservation landscaping. Conservation landscaping includes changing turf grass areas or bare soils to incorporate environmentally sensitive design, low impact development, non-invasive native plants, and/or integrated pest management. The purpose is to create a diverse landscape that helps to protect clean air and water, and support wildlife.