In my neighbourhood, a short walk from downtown Sudbury, there has always been a wide variety in front yards. Some are immaculately groomed, some are scruffy. Some are green lawns, some are dominated by trees, flowers, or vegetables. Some are play areas for kids and family pets, some are seating areas, some are mostly just to look at. This variety is part of what makes the neighbourhood so walkable – there is always something interesting to see along the way.
A growing trend in the neighbourhood is to replace entire front lawns with garden. Many more native plants are being used, and there is a wilder, more natural feel to many of them. I get a lot of pleasure from these gardens as I walk around my neighbourhood, and I know others do too.
Recently, I learned that someone in another part of town had a visit from a by-law officer about her own work-in-progress transforming her front lawn into a wildflower garden. A neighbour had made an (anonymous) complaint, and the by-law officer deemed her yard ‘unsightly’. You can read Rachael Charbonneau’s coverage here.
That event made me think of all sorts of things: shifts in what society agrees is within an acceptable norm and how ‘catch-up’ happens or doesn’t happen in regulations; relationships among neighbours and what it means to be part of a neighbourhood; the balance between individual and collective rights and under what circumstances society agrees one should trump the other; the reasons behind anonymity and the consequences for the possibility of dialogue and compromise among neighbours…
My own experience, in my own neighbourhood, and in regreening schoolyards and other public spaces, is that naturalized areas are becoming generally accepted as positive, and even beautiful. Resistance and disapproval to naturalization, once common, has turned to enthusiasm and approval.
The recent complaint against a wildflower garden in Levack, and the by-law’s officer’s judgment that it was ‘unsightly’, shows that that change of attitude is not felt by everyone. But overall, a shift is happening. Have a look through these photos from one small neighbourhood for one piece of evidence of that shift – and maybe some inspiration for your own front yard.
