Hot off the presses. Admittedly the town has a reputation for being badly taken care of, but there are a lot of abandoned and run-down houses in the town because we have a raging drug and homeless epidemic that they're doing exactly nothing about. And even after meth houses and other uninhabitable spaces get condemned, they're not torn down. So they're kind of putting a bandaid on a bullet hole here, metaphorically speaking.
Incidentally, I just bought my first house and have begun converting my yard to natives đ I'm in IL, does anyone know of any state laws here that supersede this? I do plan to keep it looking neat, but this is that part of IL where many people care about one thing which is guns, so…not sure keeping it tidy will be enough :/
Edit: Thanks everyone for some great suggestions! I have a lot to look into and I'm hopeful that something will help me out here đ
by herbal-genocide
26 Comments
Depends how much land you have but there may be ways around it via getting your land declared a wildlife refuge and it basically gives a middle finger to ordinances like this. That’s aid, this approach does come with responsibilities that you will have to shoulder. It’s not a get out of jail free card.
Put a border around your plantings, boom itâs a garden.
My best advice is to have clearly defined borders. A small garden fence and some mulch will go a long way towards making your garden look intentional and well-maintained. Planting in drifts with shorter plants in front of taller ones will also help create an intentional look.
A maintained garden is not âgrass and weedsâ so as long as youâre not âchaos gardeningâ and throwing seeds out and letting them grow without any sort of intervention or maintenance, you should be good to go.
Look up how your code defines grass and weeds. Mine considers grass as turf grass, which I don’t grow. And weeds are unintentionally grown plants, which I don’t grow.
I agree, a clear border is needed to help distinguish it. Our city also has an ordinance, so many of us have âpollinator friendly gardenâ signs displayed at the front of our yards. We grew enough in numbers and were vocal at town halls that eventually the city adopted trying to incorporate more native plants into common areas and now provides native plant education, resources, and plant giveaways.
Put up a native plants sign and stick in some tulips if itâs not too late
Register your yard as a sanctuary
This Illinois law seems pertinent
https://ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=4523&ChapterID=62&Print=True
Thereâs this:Â https://www.ilga.gov/Documents/Legislation/PublicActs/103/PDF/103-0704.pdf
That law, according to this lawyer firm means the following as excerpted from their website:Â https://www.ksnlaw.com/blog/illinois-native-homeowners-landscaping-act-impact-community-associations/
Homeowner Rights
The Native Homeownerâs Landscaping Act prohibits community associations from imposing blanket bans on the planting of Illinois native species. This includes trees, shrubs, grasses, and flowers indigenous to Illinois before European settlement. Homeowners are allowed to:
Create and maintain native landscapes, provided they keep the area free of weeds, invasive species, and trash, and
Ensure that the vegetation does not encroach on neighboring properties or public spaces.
Community Association Regulations
While the Native Homeownerâs Landscaping Act restricts Illinois community associations from banning native plants outright, it does allow them to set reasonable rules. These rules can govern the maintenance of native landscapes, such as ensuring proper care and not imposing overly strict height restrictions that would impair the native plantsâ growth.
However, these regulations must not conflict with the overall intent of the Native Homeownerâs Landscaping Act, which is to encourage native landscaping.
They donât specify what is a âweedâ is. Nor do they specify what plants are âweedsâ. They can get fucked. Put a border around them and lay some new mulch.
Crazy that you only have 7 days to get into compliance….what if the family is on vacation? Also I love how official this document looks! /s.
As others have suggested, creating intentionality through use of small garden fences can go a long way. I have a wildflower garden but have delineated the perimeter with sweet 18â garden fencing. I also lined the paver pathway leading to our house with smaller 11â garden fences. It is both cute and helps to hold the plants in place to some degree. Visually defined lines make potentially unreceptive people more comfortable đ and in turn more receptive to âwildâ (and in their mind unconventional) gardens.
I recommend reaching out to your local Wild Ones chapter. They will be a super huge help to you and there has to be others who have dealt with the same type of ordinances.
Talk to your county extension office. They should be able to give you guidance. Also check with the USDA NRCS office in your county (which may be the same office) as they are the ones that develop CRP plans for landowners and will know the laws in the state.
Raise a war party, conquer city hall, then rule your town with an iron fist. After that, you can grow whatever weeds you want!
The closest thing I can find to a law is this. https://ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=4523&ChapterID=62&Print=True
I’m pretty lucky in Chicago. Unless your space is an active breeding ground for numerous rats, the city doesn’t really care. There’s tons of little native wildflower gardens near me. The 606 is a long, native plants walking/biking trail.
What’s their definition of a “weed”?
If you are in an HOA, âcommon interest communityâ, or cooperative, the IL *Homeowners Landscaping Act* HB 5296 applies, and would override the city ordinance. [https://ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=4523&ChapterID=62&Print=True](https://ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=4523&ChapterID=62&Print=True)
Where is the definitions section of the code? Iâd like to see how they define âweeds.â
Look up Illinois HB 5296 covers HOA, looks like thereâs another bill that stalled out before a vote HB 1359.
Find out if there’s protections/exceptions to be made in your area for native plants, then let them come try to fine you and calmly explain that you can name every plant in your yard and they aren’t weeds. May not work but it’ll be good fun either way.
What is a weed? This is something that must be defined or the ordinance is impossibly vaugue.
đ
what a frustrating situation, hope it works out
Planting natives to save pollinators is “WOKE”, so native gardens ate under attack by MAGA.