Despite one homeowner's dedication to lawn care, their HOA still got on their case about "weeds."
"My front lawn is pretty basic," they explained in their post, which appeared on an anti-HOA subreddit. "I have a tree with a small island of wood chips for a flower patch in the middle of my lawn. I spray weeds all around the area at least once a month and am planning on planting flowers/bushes next year once I get interior house repairs squared away and can dedicate time to a garden."
According to the Redditor, everything in their yard is carefully maintained; they've included just one small indulgence. "The small flower patch under my tree currently has morning glories growing in it," they said. "I remove all the weeds, but considering they are a flower that I have contained within the island, I keep them."
Morning glories are blue or purple flowers with a trumpet-shaped blossom. However, they're also called field bindweed because of their tendency to wrap around and strangle other plants. Many consider them a weed and remove them from garden beds — but others grow them on purpose, like the original poster.
At least, they'd like to be left in peace to do that, but their HOA wasn't having it. "The HOA is now sending me letters about 'uncontrolled weeds' which I'm assuming are the morning glories since I have literally no plants anywhere else that aren't grass or trees," they said.
They hoped to keep the morning glories despite their HOA's preferences. But if not, they had a backup plan. "If I'm forced to remove them, I'm tempted to replace them with milkweed and tell the HOA to f*** off because I'm trying to aid in monarch butterfly conservation," they said.
Monarch butterflies are a beautiful and iconic species that has become endangered because of habitat loss and human activity. To reproduce, they rely on milkweed as a host plant for their eggs and caterpillars. Many gardeners plant milkweed to help the species.
Many commenters thought the original poster should go with that plan. "I hate HOAs on principle, but morning glory vine is seriously invasive," said one user. "Five years ago a neighbor eight doors down planted it near her trellis; it has infested every yard between [there] and my yard."
HOAs across the country have been caught trying to prevent homeowners from implementing positive updates to their homes, such as installing solar panels and growing native lawns.
In this case, the person could also attempt to work with their HOA to make a change in policy happen.
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