<div dir="ltr">I love seeing so much interest from planners in more naturalized landscape approaches! You might all be interested in following Ben Vogt, whose efforts at growing and maintaining a prairie yard in a typical subdivision got him a lot of experience in addressing these concerns. He even has tips to avoid getting fined by the community/HOA: <a href="https://www.monarchgard.com/thedeepmiddle/simple-ways-to-avoid-fines">Monarch Gardens</a><div><br></div><div>"Cues to Care" are integral to the acceptance of these efforts, and as noted by others can be hard to define. </div><div><br></div><div>Research from UMASS by Susannah Lerman and her team indicates mowing every two weeks is ideal for maintaining lawns at a "respectable" (to your neighbors) level while allowing growth of plants supporting birds, bees, and other insects. Unfortunately, the links to her easy to share graphics, etc seem to be broken, but maybe a hunt through her publications will offer good info:: <a href="https://research.fs.usda.gov/about/people/sblerman#products-tab">Susannah B. Lerman, Research Ecologist, USDA.gov</a></div><div><br></div><div>An article from PENN cites <a href="https://www.pennlive.com/life/2022/08/bee-lawns-a-lazy-mower-way-to-help-pollinators.html">Minnesota Extension/UMN Bee Labs</a>' 4-inch mowing height recommendation, but when I mow our lawn to 3" my husband doesn't think I've cut it at all! </div><div>(The struggle is real, even for Landscape Architects!)<br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><p><strong style="font-size:12.8px">Rebecca Bachand</strong><span style="font-size:12.8px">, RLA, </span><span style="color:rgb(47,57,65);font-family:Arial,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,sans-serif">LEED AP®</span><span style="font-size:12.8px">, ASLA</span><br></p></div></div><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><div style="font-size:small"><p style="margin:0px"><u></u></p></div><div style="font-size:small"><p style="margin:0px"><font size="6"><span style="font-family:impact,sans-serif;color:rgb(255,153,0)"></span></font></p></div><div><p style="font-size:small;margin:0px"><a style="color:rgb(17,85,204)"><font color="#999999">781-686-4486</font></a><br></p><p style="font-size:small;margin:0px"><font color="#999999"><img width="96" height="68" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4yGWQJU32Uvfu9yiMH5LRO31somW6TDPbIdSDmsL_hfG-rPw7wcxf9XIOcqPZfmf6eAKMQtRLM"></font></p><p style="margin:0px"><b><font color="#0b5394" size="2">RBLA Design LLC</font></b><font color="#999999" style="font-size:small"><br></font></p></div><div style="font-size:small"><p style="margin:0px"><a href="mailto:rebecca@rbladesign.com" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">rebecca@rbladesign.com</a><br></p></div><div style="font-size:small"><p style="margin:0px"><a href="mailto:rebecca@rbladesign.com" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank"></a><font color="#999999"><a href="http://rbladesign.com/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">rbladesign.com</a></font></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial"><i style="font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;font-size:10pt"><font color="#666666">Massachusetts <b>WBE</b><b> </b>Certified</font></i><br></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif"></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial"><i style="font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;font-size:13.3333px"><font color="#666666"><b>DBE </b>Certified in Massachusetts, Rhode Island & New Hampshire</font></i><br></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:rgb(11,83,148)">Member of <b>CREW Boston</b></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Jul 4, 2024 at 7:51 AM Harry LaCortiglia via MassPlanners <<a href="mailto:massplanners@masscptc.org">massplanners@masscptc.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><u></u>
<div>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I would certainly hope that
no government entity would infringe upon my right to grow the
grass on my very own property, as tall as I need it to be, prior
to my harvesting it for personal use.<br>
</font></p>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I cultivate my grass to a
certain length to be as effective as possible in my garden bed
as my primary mulch, thus preventing evaporation as much as
possible. (So many communities are under to water conservation
restrictions these days!) <br>
</font></p>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Although I guess I could
bring my home grown vegetables to the ZBA Hearing when I ask for
relief of any grass height zoning limitation. </font></p>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Does anyone have a Grass
Height Setback Variance application I could use?</font></p>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Have a great day
celebrating the Independence of our nation and our inalienable
right to sarcasm!</font></p>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">H. LaCortiglia</font><br>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Georgetown P.B.<br>
</font>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>On 7/3/2024 3:40 PM, Jeff Lacy via
MassPlanners wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
Are we talking about private property? A homeowner’s little patch
of the earth? I can’t see any legitimate role for government here,
especially if the only complaint is appearance.
<div>Jeff Lacy <br>
</div>
<div>Rural Planning Associates </div>
<div>(413) 230-9693</div>
<div><br id="m_3649324168817766872lineBreakAtBeginningOfSignature">
<div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
<blockquote type="cite">On Jul 3, 2024, at 3:18 PM, Nate Card
via MassPlanners <a href="mailto:massplanners@masscptc.org" target="_blank"><massplanners@masscptc.org></a> wrote:<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">I don't know what it would look like, nor of
any precedents (as far as regulations go) but I suspect
you could establish an approved ratio of mowed to un-mowed
lawn, essentially requiring some degree of cues-to-care,
like mowed borders or pathways. Or perhaps waivers to the
current regulations could be issued for households
submitting a plan for some level of lawn conversion, to
promote long-term pollinator support.
<div><br>
<div>
<div>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><b>Nathanael
Card </b></div>
<div style="color:rgb(34,34,34)">M.S. Ecological
Design, 2024</div>
<div style="color:rgb(34,34,34)">The Conway
School, Northampton, MA</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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</blockquote>
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