Personally I think it looks nice, I would have put it in my (fenced) backyard though where I spend most of my time. While I think HOA's and cities can go WAY overboard on their ordinances, I do believe there should be some guidelines in a neighborhood where homes are close together. I worry about a fountain in the front yard - especially if it's deep enough where young children could get hurt.

Is America a free country anymore?

Doesn't a homeowner have the right to control their own home and property? Paint their house their favorite color and plant their favorite plants?

Some of my neighbors do not keep their house the way I would, but it's their house. I take pride in mine, let them take pride in theirs. Cities and evil HOA's need to mind their own business and leave each to their own. Their responsibility needs to be keeping the public safe...from ACTUAL dangers...not bad taste.

In a word.....no. Yet, we see that as people are crowded more and more into 10 ft. dividing spaces in their homes, that cookie cutter yards, are being demanded, to appease the restless natives.

The answer? Less people, with much more space between them. Something that absolutely will not happen. End of story.

Apparently they're are lots of areas that control your house colors and yards. Our son and his family live in Humble and are having a go around with the HOA or what ever it's called.

He wants to paint the exterior of his home a few shades darker beige than it is now - they said no. He also wanted to make some changes on his driveway, change the color and add a pattern - again no and the same for his patio out back. Told him it's time to sell since they yet haven't been able to make some residents mow and clean up their yards.

debndal, that was my first thought. I used to have just a small 300 gal pond in the front yard by the front door with lotus in it. Neighborhood dogs used to get it from time to time and tear things up, but when a new neighbor with little kids moved in, I thought it was time to take it out. I miss it though because our house faces east and that was the only nice place to sit in the evening.

I think Benjamin Franklin knew his stuff. "Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

"If you don't like your neighbors yard, then the best way to change his mind is to become his friend."........that's my saying.

Well, isn't that just too bad this guy has invited wildlife into his yard. Maybe the toads and frogs will sing the neighbors to sleep. I have neighbors who probably aren't thrilled with all my landscape in my frontyard, but more people like it than dislike it. I don't think it should be such an issue since he is beautifying his yard. At least he keeps it maintained unlike some people who allow weeds to run rampant, don't do any edging and end up attracting unwanted rodents. Yeah, we have one of those two doors down. The city has been there numerous times with a crew to mow and edge the front and back. Their rotten fence is all but falling down and the gate is hanging on one hinge. They have a lein on their house by the city too because they haven't paid any of the fines for non-compliance for the upkeep of their yard. Oh and the owner lives in California, but her daughter occasionally will drive in from the east coast and stay at this house to make it look like someone is living there. I would rather have a neighbor who spends money on his yard than what we have and I don't live in a HOA - wouldn't want to. I let the city handle that house.

I have a neighbor 3 blocks over whose entire front yard is small white landscaping rocks, the golfball-sized ones. That's worth a council mtg, not this other in Mesquite.

Fence the water features in(or fence the whole yard) so kids don't get hurt/drown. Other than that I don't see any overgrown weeds,rodents or trash. PJ

This is an outrage! That yard is perfectly lovely and very unique. Mesquite is not known for its loveliness, the neighbors should be singing his praises for breaking up the tract house monotony. I couldn't believe that idiot - the frogs are keeping him awake at night! I suppose he prefers the sound of traffic. grrr. PJ is right - he should put up a 12 foot fence and let his neighbors enjoy that view instead.

Yes cities should have some control over a few things...

1) Make nurseries and big boxes quit selling JUNK/INVASIVE trees and shrubs.

2)Make it a requirement that all trees are grown from rootmaker seed starter and liners or something similar (air root pruning) because I have seen so many trees with terrible root system. They won't live very long this way and makes it very easy to get blown down because they aren't completely entrenched in the ground.

3) Make everybody plant trees the RIGHT WAY in the RIGHT SPOT! And MULCHED the right way! I'm not talking about homeowners but the contractors building whatever all over places. For example, at my wife's high school that has gone through renovation and I've seen oak trees planted directly under the power lines! Then there's the volcano mulching!

I could go on and on...

what is volcano mulching?

I think the yard is lovely. I do not think cities a/o HOA should have that much power. I have a good friend that lives in an HOA that told her that the flowers she chose were the wrong color. They left a citation and then...overnite ripped them out and left them on her doorstep.

This is a perfect example of why we moved out of Mesquite and into the country. We got tired of the nannies in charge.

"You don't want to live next door to someone who has a lawn that's out of control," said council member Greg Sowell.

I saw absolutely nothing "out of control" about that yard. In fact, it appeared as though the owner took great pains to keep it well maintained. I also agree about fencing it in, but that would have been my first thought considering the litigious nature of our society.

Yes they are going way to far. They need to go after matters that count toward making lives better.

I would welcome him as my next door neighbor. The one's I have now do not mow the side yard letting the weeds grow up to 3 feet and the front is a mess with bushes and wild vines that don't get tended to and barely any grass just dirt, so when it rains the dirt rolls into the street making a mud puddle in front of my mail box.
Then we have a new neighbor that does not take care of their yard letting the grass and weeds grow tall and weeds taking over a rock bed. They weren't in the home but a few months and got a ticket for grass being to high.

There are 8 houses on my street and only 3 are taken care of. This makes our home value go down.

I don't care if my neighbors yards are landscaped looking like a magazine cover but they could keep grass mowed and CLEAN the yard up.

It's maddening at what all is going on today.

Barb, your neighborhood must have changed quite a bit since I saw it :( . I remember it being really nice!
Lou, yer livin in a dream world man! :)
Ronij, imagine piling mulch around the trunk of your tree like a mountain rather than flat and away from the trunk flare.
Prairie they limit fence size...can't win for losing!!! PJ

. . . got another one for you -- another neighbor a couple of blocks away regularly plants artifical flowers in the beds around the two trees in her front yard - i wouldn't mind a neighborhood nazi leaving that stuff on their front step :-)

I always kinda feel sorry for ppl who "plant" artificial flowers.

Aargh! This is absolutely nuts. I gripe about some of my neighbors, who turned their beautiful rolling wooded lots into standard suburbia, i.e. no trees, and lots of flat grass lawn. but I wouldn't dream of actually complaining to the city about it.

A friend in Plano has a vegetable garden in the unfenced portion of his back yard - right next to the alley. He got an order from the city to cut his tall "weeds". He called the inspector who refused to believe that tomato plants could get that big.

This kind of thing really makes me angry. Code enforcement for yards was not implemented as a way to police aesthetics. It is for noncompliance of things that can cause damages or present a hazard to neighbors or impeded city and utility workers who might need to come onto the property to take care of city business...like read a meter etc. NOT to set forth a hierarchy of the type of plants you can or can't have or how much grass, rocks etc. should be in the landscape.

If the city originally allowed him a permit to install the water feature then they can't just go change the laws for the whole city because a few people decided they didn't like it after the fact. It is glaringly prejudice to change a law because of one incident (whether it relates to race or not).

The councilman stated the new ordinance would be for yards "out of control". This yard is not out of control; it is exactly the opposite. It has been carefully planned out and built and maintained...that is hardly out of control. The reporter should have challenged that reasoning and asked councilman Sowell to explain what it was about the landscaping that caused it to be "out of control" or a hazard to the neighbors or the city.

As for people who are worried about their "property value"...LOL Yeah, let's all pay the city HIGHER taxes on our houses because the city has declared that all the yards need to be immaculate clones of civic idealism...careful what you wish for people.

As for people worried about kids... Young children should never be left unsupervised and all children should be taught not to go into other people's yards or trespass onto another neighbor's property without permission, period.

As for the frog man...his special brand of environmental anti-intellectualism makes him a perfect character for the sequel to IDIOCRASY.

Mind your own business, teach your children proper social behavior, don't force your opinions onto others, live and let live.

PJ, It has changed new people moved into three of the 8 homes on our block. One has 2 young boys that run all over the place and 2 of the new neighbors with dogs let the dogs out and they run around pooping in my yard grrrrrr, Maybe I should let BO run around freely make them all run back inside LOL.
He's a Rot/Lab big dog. Once 2 kids knocked on our door and when Bo got there the ran for their life LOL.
He's the biggest baby, he bring's visitors one of his stuffed toys for you to play with.

One of the new home owners have been trying to garden but it's ended up with a bunch of short plants all over looking more over grown but she said that's want she wants.

I hope this guy does not have to tear down all the work he's done.

I second xxx_karma_xxx

Here is a link that might be useful: Plants Love Rain

I thought that if something was done to a house (or yard) that was legal or ok when done, and then the rules changed, he would be grandfathered in. As he said, he wouldn't have done stuff if he knew 3 years later he'd have to change it. I don't see how they can force him to change something that was fine when he did it. Personally, I liked the yard and would rather look at that and listen to the frogs (although the increased snakes doesn't excite me) than see trash and unkept yards and listen to the traffic that I have.

OMG, I love you guys so, so much. Shebear - I want to cry and hug you, I've been in a political argument that is summed up so neatly in what you said from Mr. Franklin. Marti8a, what you did about your pond is such a beautiful example of willingly working with your community, instead of everyone being out for themselves or relying on the government to step into every conflict. And everything you guys have said about freedom and individuality and the difference between aesthetic compliance and safety ... It just makes me so happy, knowing there are plenty of people out there who value the things I do. In our media-saturated world, sometimes I feel very alone in my opinions. I could just go on and on ...

BUT YES, my two cents about this guy ... If you want to live in a controlled area, move to where there's an HOA. Otherwise, you are obligated to let everyone else do as they please within the rules that are already in place. And if someone does something unexpected yet beautiful and within the reasonable parameters set for safety reasons, then that is a consequence of living in a free world. Government regulation is not the answer.

"I may not like what you plant, but I will defend to the death your right to plant it."

I'd like to add more to what I'm saying about the 2 boys running around. They run around freely in the street with on one in sight watching them (single mom) they take their bike and hook up the wagon and ride up and down the road. Some of the people that live here drive pretty fast when they turn the corner they head straight for their driveway without thinking of kids being in the street.
Sometimes I feel as if I'm all alone in worrying about kid's safety around here.
Why just the other day I was at Home Depot and while standing in line waiting my turn there was a lady with 8 kids 3 in the buggy and 5 wandering around the area. One of the 3 got out of the buggy and then another smaller tot was trying to get out all the while the lady paid no attention to the 3 in the buggy. I spoke up with my voice loud enough to be heard MAM your child is climbing out. She was apparently the babysitter.
Well, 2 other people a lady with her teen daughter looked at me like I'd done something awful. I told them that it happened to my grand son once with my daughter, when he fell out of the buggy and hit his head on the concrete he went into a seizure and eye's rolling to the back of his head.

That is a crying shame. I don't see anything wrong with his yard. It is unique and well tended and if they gave him a permit I don't see how they can do much about it. If they don't like it let them pay to have a fence put up around it. I love my frogs that moved in with the pond.

I think the yard looks nice. The yard creates a peaceful atmosphere & should be appreciated not complained about. A person should be able to landscape & garden their own home as they see fit as long as it doesn't damage the roadways, powerlines, or neighbors homes. I know people don't always agree on what that is. I don't feel that this landscapeing could damage anyones property values. Frogs and birds don't keep me up however ill bahaved children, dogs, neighbors with late night bad parties & guest, etc. have. I've lived in town & in the boondocks but still it's the same things that cause friction between neighbors. Time shouldn't be spent on sqabbling over the differance in gardening. That's just to much control over individuals freedom..

The last time I checked this was a free country. I believe that would mean we would be allowed to plant and landscape our own property as we see fit as long as it didn't have any safety issues. For example I wouldn't plant a Spanish dagger next to a walkway.

The guy put time, effort and money into his yard and keeps it maintain. And as far as ratio of turf to plants is nonsense. How many times in the past years have we had to watch water consumption during the heat of the summer? Turf is far too over rated and takes a lot of water to maintain a green yard. This guy has found a way to cut back on water and should be commended for doing so. You know if he had a sodded yard he would have to keep it watered because the HOA don't want any dead grass. I'm glad I'm not in a HOA because I have given up keeping my yard green in this heat. You couldn't pay me to live in a HOA neighborhood.
I should be free to choose what color to paint my own home. No one should be able to even tell me what shade to use. Government should not have ANY control over paint choice or plant selections. Give me a break!

I've been driving along and see a house painted in some wierd color and I might say something like "They must have got a good deal on that paint 'cause why would anyone pick that color?" But I'm not going to run to city hall to complain. It was their choice to use that color on their own home and that is call freedom of expression.

And as far as not only plant selection but an HOA controlling color of a plant is absolutely absurd! There are so many cookie cutter homes these days and now they want us to have cookie cutter yards? If everyone on the street had Pink Crape Myrtles and I like the lavender better then I should be able to plant the color I enjoy. And if someone came upon my property and pulled up plants...isn't that called trespassing and destruction of property? Aren't there still laws on these?

I read Karmas' post and she hit it on the head. And mommyfox I agree with you, I may not like the plant chosen but I will defend the freedom to plant it.

Thank you for letting me vent...This type of "control" really ticks me off.

Deb

I think I'll send this link to the brainiacs at Mesquite City Counsel, if I can find a link.

My mom w/ her black thumb plants artifical flowers in her front yard...she's hopeless! heehee

When I first moved here and was having a hard time adjusting to Texas gardening I kept breaking my neck to see what this one lady had planted in her flower beds that looked so good all the time and stayed in bloom for months. I finally got up the nerve to stop one day and they were fake flowers, lol. That is the only time I have ever seen such pretty fake ones that looked so real.