Fighting over front yard gardens, wild native plants, and you

You may recall the fight between two gardeners and the Village of Miami Shores in 2016[1]. The two gardeners were growing vegetables in their front yard which violated the Village's zoning code Sec. 536 (5): "Vegetable gardens are permitted in rear yards only."[2]

The case almost made it to the Florida Supreme Court[3] but the justices refused to hear it[4]. They were represented by attorney Ari Bargill of the non-profit Institute for Justice[5]. Florida State Senator Rob Bradley (R-Fleming Island) has taken up their cause this session, filing SB 82: Vegetable Gardens last week.

Relevance to Native Plant Enthusiasts

Ordinances restricting gardens in front yards reflect a reliance on outdated standards of landscaping that favor manicured green lawns that are ecologically sterile and provide little habitat for native bees, butterflies, and birds.  Ordinances and zoning codes restricting ecologically or nutritionally beneficial landscaping are often justified by "aesthetics", intimating that growing plants in your front yard for anything other than their ornamental value can be restricted by overzealous local governments.

Many of our members are native plant enthusiasts and grow native plants in their front yards to benefit native pollinators and birds as we, Xerces Society[6], and National Audubon Society[7] recommend to address our worldwide invertebrate decline[8][9]. Restricting the cultivation of plants in front of a house to those that serve no purpose other than to decorate is regressive. This arbitrary restriction enforces harmful norms that equate high property values with expensive, lifeless lawns that provide no food for people or pollinators.

Further research

Many of the least-protected plants in the world are not listed as threatened or endangered and are used for food, according to a new study published in the journal Ecological Indicators. Most food crops grown in Florida are not native, however, there are numerous wild plant species that are foraged for food, fiber, medicine, and decoration here in Florida and throughout the US and the world[10].

Growing heirloom vegetables and herbs that are suited to your area contributes to crop biodiversity, particularly if you save your seeds and replant them the next season. Additionally, growing native plants that are the wild relatives of crop plants maintains that important biodiversity that is highly sought-out when breeding disease resistance into domesticated food crops.

Conclusion

Local governments are currently allowed to restrict your ability to grow useful plants in your front yard. Senator Rob Bradley's bill would prevent local governments from restricting your right to grow edible plants in your front yard. If you support the premise of this bill, you can thank Senator Bradley and contact the Senators that represent you to encourage this bill through to the Governor's desk.

[1] Ovalle, David. 2016. Court upholds Miami Shores ban on veggie gardens. Miami Herald.
[2] Miami Shores Village, FL Zoning Code. Accessed 2018-11-27
[3] Fox35Orlando Staff. 2017. Supreme Court asked to rule on front yard garden ban. Accessed 2018-11-27.
[4] News Service of Florida. 2018. Florida Supreme Court turns down Miami-Dade vegetable garden case. Accessed 2018-11-27
[5] Institute for Justice. 2017. Florida Appellate Court Upholds Ban on Front-Yard Vegetable Gardens. Accessed 2018-11-27.
[6] Xerces Society. Bring Back the Pollinators Campaign. Accessed 2018-11-27.
[7] Krupp, Lexi. 2018. Yards With Non-Native Plants Create 'Food Deserts' for Bugs and Birds. National Audubon Society.
[8] Schwagerl, Christian. 2016. What's Causing the Sharp Decline in Insects, and Why It Matters. Yale Environment 360.
[9] Marchese, Halle and van Hoose, Natalie. 2018. Florida monarch butterfly populations have dropped 80 percent since 2005. Florida Museum.
[10] Mattson, Sean. 2018. Wild coffee plants, Christmas trees and chocolate's tree are surprisingly poorly protected. CIAT.

by Valerie Anderson, Director of Communications and Programming
Location: Florida, USA

Comments

Unknown said…
As an update:

The legislation has been amended to include a new definition of “vegetable garden.” When the bills pass, the new definition of a vegetable garden will be:

"A vegetable garden means a plot of ground where herbs, fruits, flowers, or
vegetables are cultivated for human ingestion."

When the bills pass, veggie gardens in front yards will be allowed.

Here is the legislature's summary of the bill

The bill prohibits the regulation of vegetable gardens on residential property by a county, municipality, or other political subdivision of the state, except as otherwise provided by law.
The bill defines a vegetable garden as a plot of ground where herbs, fruits, flowers, and vegetables are cultivated for human ingestion.

The bill declares void and unenforceable existing ordinances or regulations governing vegetable gardens on residential property. The provisions of the bill do not apply to general regulations not specifically regulating vegetable gardens, such as water use limits during droughts, fertilizer use, or the control of invasive species

This is House Bill 145 by Fetterhoff and Senate Bill 82 by Bradley.



January 28, 2019 at 2:17 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Florida Native Azaleas

Image
Piedmont Azalea, Rhododendron canescens. Photo by Lilly Anderson-Messec By Lilly Anderson-Messec While growing up in North Florida, I began to recognize the arrival of spring by the boisterous show of white, pink, and fuchsia blooms of azalea shrubs. The house I grew up in had large, mature azalea hedges with a variety of different colors and forms. Every spring, my mom would bring in vases full of them and my dad loved to point out the showy shrubs as we drove through town. I suppose I assumed these plants were native, but most likely I never gave it a thought. I didn’t differentiate a native plant from a non-native one because I didn’t yet know the importance of native plants as the basis of our functioning ecosystems. I was so surprised when I learned the azaleas I was so familiar with (Rhododendron indicum) are actually transplants from Asia! They are favored by the horticultural industry for their fast, vigorous, and dense growth of evergreen leaves and large, showy blooms. Curio...
Read more

Wednesday's Wildflower:Spanish Needle

Image
Spanish Needle, Bidens Alba Submitted by Donna Bollenbach, Suncoast Chapter Biden's alba , all photos by Donna Bollenbach Nothing attracts more butterflies and bees than a simple white flower called Bidens alba . Also called Romerillo, Beggar’s Tick, Spanish Needle or Monkey’s Lice, this Florida native wildflower is the third most reliable source of nectar for pollinators in our state. There would be many starving bees and butterflies if not for the Bidens family of flowers. More so, Bidens alba and its sister plant, Bidens pilosa , are both edible and have medicinal value. Yet, many gardeners have a love/hate relationship the plant, and some even consider it a pesky weed. Why?
Read more

Paradise Tree: Beautiful and Useful

Image
"The native Paradise tree is more useful than Google, and easy to grow." And how could any blogger resist leading off with this intriguing quote from the Key West Garden Club? I am a Master Gardener and a Master Naturalist, but I only know so much; so I always check out  statistics from experts before posting information about plants. I have a beautiful Paradise tree in my yard, it came from the raffle table at my chapter's program night about six years ago.   Paradise tree                Simarouba glauca For the first six years the little tree had a perfect, closed, cone shape; but just this summer I was astounded one morning to walk out and notice that my tree had changed. The canopy had begun to open up, there were open spaces between the layers of branches. It seemed to happen overnight. Proving again that a garden is constantly in motion, which is one of the fascinating things about o...
Read more