Homeowner shares stark side-by-side photos showing contrast between their yard and their neighbor’s: ‘This is just … garbage’
A Reddit user was frustrated after moving into their first house in northern Canada, only to discover their neighbor’s yard had been cleared out for a gravel lot.
“He completely cut his side of the plot and just put gravel on top,” the new homeowner wrote. “He doesnt even build anything on it, just rides an ATV in circles maybe once a month?”
“He was annoyed I didnt cut my lawn as often as he would want to. I had to remind him its my house my rules,” they continued.
The poster also shared a comparison photo of their natural yard, which they described as a “fully grown forest with mature trees,” a look that is becoming more popular and even has constitutional backing north of the border.
“Though lawn naturalization has been recognized as a constitutional right for decades in Canada, cities are still playing catch-up with their bylaws,” according to the CBC.
Native plants are the grasses, trees, flowers, and vines that occur naturally in a region without the help of humans. Since these plants have lived in one area for thousands of years, they are super well adapted to the region’s moisture level, soil, weather, and native wildlife. Thus, they require far less maintenance than traditional turf, saving homeowners money on lawn cutting and watering.
Plus, native plant yards help pollinators such as bees and butterflies, which support our food supply, and reduce the amount of carbon pollution a household produces, making them one of the more straightforward ways an individual can support a healthy ecosystem.
“Lawn naturalization is easy because it’s right at your doorstep,” said Nina-Marie Lister of the Ecological Design Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University. “If you have a lawn, it’s an easy place to start and it shows immediate results. … It’s something very tangible. When you dig in the sod, you turn it over, you plant something else, you see the result. So it’s a very rewarding thing to do.”
The CBC also reported that naturalizing even just a few lawns in a neighborhood “could be huge” since it would reduce the urban heat island effect and provide a more diverse habitat to support biodiversity than turf can.
“I mean, at least it’s water wise?” one commenter wrote about the gravel lot. “This is so ugly, I’m so sorry. I’d definitely be putting up and planting things to increase privacy and decrease my view of that.”
“Is that parking?” asked another Redditor, to which the original poster replied, “He parks maybe 3 car and a boat there. But they are just cropped in the picture. They already occupy their place. This is just blank garbage that stays like this 24/7.”
Another user praised the poster’s lawn: “Nice, the way nature intended.”
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