Park and Planning’s own “Edenic plot”

How strongly do you feel about your front yard? Is it a reflection of you and your family; the landscape equivalent of putting on a clean shirt in the morning?

As we’ve said before, there are rules for life in suburbia, some written and many more unwritten. And lately, some of the more obscure written rules about front-yard vegetable gardens are being read and interpreted, not always in favor of cucumbers. As this New York Times article points out, one neighbor’s “suitable” groundcover is another’s eyesore.

And as we’ve pointed out before, there are plenty of personal and community benefits to front-yard  vegetable gardens. In fact, some communities, like Santa Monica, encourage digging up the lawn for a more food- and environment-friendly landscape.

In Montgomery County, they’re legal by code. Typically, it’s HOA covenants that restrict them. One of the progressive pushes we made in the Zoning Ordinance rewrite is for more forms of urban farming and local food production.

Community Gardens, Farming, Animal Husbandry, and Farm Markets are allowed in all zones – albeit with some restrictions in the non-Agricultural/Rural zones.