Paradise Lost - The Tyranny of Conformity Revisited
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- metqa
- biogardener
- Kirk_Johnson
- 0susanna
- biogardener
- biogardener
- Dan_Ellsworth
- biogardener
- biogardener
- biogardener
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» metqa - bulldozing b/c of non-conformity
If her yard was as natural as described, it was probably better than most "picture postcard yards". I've lived in manicured neighborhoods that had no native wildlife, was overrun with mosquitoes, and over fertilized just to keep the foreign grass alive. It was plain boring and just like all the others. Pesticides and Herbicides were the norm just to keep status quo. There is no joy, no expression, no awe, and no nature in that.Even if the story were exaggerated, the reality of attacking your neighbor because they are not like you is all too true. Maybe she knew something about natural earth that the neighbors forgot or refused to understand. They have their space to destroy and conform, and she had her space to nurture and love. Different people enjoy different environments. One's weed is anothers herb. Why can't people realize this and let people have their gardens on their own property?
-- posted by metqa
» biogardener - Things they are a-changing
The neighbor who had started the move to have my garden destroyed had to move into an apartment last year, because her husband had a heart attack and was no longer able to cope with the stairs of their large house. Just before they moved, she attempted to have my garden demolished again, just as she had been doing every single year since the demolition. After all, the garden had regained some of its wild beauty.The inspector, the same one who had overseen the first destruction, came and apologized that he had to bother me with another inspection. He knows that what they did was illegal, and he is trying to dissociate himself from it, because the threat of a possible law suit still exists.
The neighbors who bought the house from the hostile woman have converted the unnaturally bare backyard garden into a meadow, complete with grasses, wildflowers, and weeds. We get along great, and my garden is now wilder than it ever was. This is the first year since the demolition that no one has bothered me.
The old neighbor keeps stopping by to mourn the destruction of her plastic garden empire. She gives the new neighbors instructions on what they should be doing, but no one is listening to her. My other neighbor who had been listening to the hostile one has changed, too. She has come to realize that the plants under my care are thriving, and she frequently asks me questions on what to do. We chat across the bushes almost daily now, especially since the instigator has moved, and she admires my plentiful harvest in this dry summer when everyone else's crops are shrivelled up.
What a change in attitude!
-- posted by biogardener
» Kirk_Johnson - Re: Things they are a-changing
In response to message posted by biogardener:I am glad to hear that things have improved for you, but it is too bad that it took a heart attack to make things better ;-)
-- posted by Kirk_Johnson
» 0susanna - Re: This story is shocking
In response to message posted by biogardener:I am fairly new to Suite 101, and this is the first I have heard of this story. I am completely stunned. How this could happen without due process? There was no notification, that's what I find most shocking.
Our neighborhood has a gardener that I think is nuts - so what? For some reason he has his lush, natural gardens and compost piles are in the ditches, while the well kept lawn is over an unbroken acre - it looks so odd! His neighbor across the road has a "Tara" type fakey house complete with super well ordered and exactly perfect boring, boring plantings. Apparently the chemical and boring plants guy has complained to the County several times about our ditch gardener. After all, his "vistas" may be spoiled by this rude sight!
I don't like the ditch gardens, but there you are ... he's not hurting anyone! If the bulldozers ever show up, I'm all for the ditch gardener. After all, what is more beautiful than diversity? Even though the ditch garden is odd, it's a hundred times better looking than the Plastic Tara!
I've never spoken to the ditch gardener before, but now that I've read this story, I am inspired to go down there next time I see him and tell him that I like his originality.
-- posted by 0susanna
» biogardener - Right, Susan
Right, Susan, you go and encourage your neighbor. I have been encouraged by the hundreds of people who have passed by over the years to thank me for what I am doing for the environment and for making this corner lot look like a piece of real nature. Compare that to the one person who opposed my methods, I feel that there is hope for the world.Many people have told me that their parents and grandparents used to garden like me and that they have tried but always gave up because of opposition from some complaining neighbor who insisted that uniformity of look raises the real estate value of a community.
Well, I am opposed to herbicides and pesticides, and no one is stopping to use them because of my opposition, so why should I have given up because of the opposition of one woman?
-- posted by biogardener
» biogardener - Most Recent Development
Here is an update on what has happened in the meantime.The Canadian Environmental Defense Fund had sent a landscape architect from Regina to investigate the situation about the destruction of my garden. With her recommendation, they supported suing the City of Winnipeg for damages. Plans had been made in consultation with the Toronto lawyer who had won the Sandy Bell case, Murray Klippenstein. I shall not name the lawyer who was going to fight the case here. He got involved in politics and kept promising to look after the case as soon as the next political campaign was over. Well, he never got around to doing anything, and now it is too late. I was so convinced with his dedication to environmental issues that I trusted him. Big mistake, it turns out!
This spring, the two neighbors who oppose my gardening methods got noisy again. This time, they took a new approach. The got the media, TV and newspapers, to harrass me. In the meantime, Winnipeggers have become more environmentally conscious, and the media coverage brought a whole lot of support. A whole lot of people came to see my garden, and a petition for my support was passed around without any input from me. It was signed by people all over Winnipeg, and certainly by many neighbors. I am told that only 3 neighbors did not want to sign for fear of retribution.
During the resulting hearing at city hall, the room was filled with supporters, none of whom I had even met before this. Three of them made presentations in my support. There were no presentations against, in fact, none of my opponents were even present. The city counsellor who had been quoted in the media as supporting the two opposing neighbors stated for the record that he had been misquoted in the paper.
That was 6 days ago. I am still getting visitors who can't understand what the neighbors want.
I have also had offers of help from various people. One landscape designer is bringing friends to help me with the heavy pruning which is getting increasingly difficult for me. I am not getting any younger, and pruning the large apple trees is getting to be a real chore.
Now I all I am wishing for is a bit of peace.
-- posted by biogardener
» Dan_Ellsworth - Re: Most Recent Development
In response to Most Recent Development posted by biogardener:Thank you for posting an update here. SOMEtimes, eventually, things go right. It interests me that the techniques of the neighborhood Conformity Police backfired so thoroughly. And as for Mister Misquoted, well, [this message has been edited for brevity and compliance with accepted standards of electronic discourse]. Keep being yourself because you're good for the world.
-- posted by Dan_Ellsworth
» biogardener - Thank you article
The Winnipeg Free Press today published another article about me in which I got a chance to thank all the people who supported me, including "The Raging Grannies," Tim Brandt who drew up and circulate the petition in my support, and all who offered to help me with the tasks which are getting difficult for me.What has happened to me this year has brought together like-minded environmentalists who did not know about each other. They will be able to call on each other for support, because I am not the only gardener who is fighting this battle. Another gardener has been charged with having too many lilies in his garden. Apparently, one single neighbor is unhappy with his lush garden, and he does not even know who the complainant is. He does, however, have a petition signed by a long list of neighbors. He now also has the support of people who supported me.
He was one of the three people who spoke on my behalf at the council hearing on July 5.
-- posted by biogardener
» biogardener - Latest Winnipeg Free Press Article
Here is a link to the last Winnipeg Free Press article. Since the article was published in the Saturday edition, it got the widest possible circulation. When I walked into a funeral today, I was besieged by friends whom I had not seen in a long time. All of them had recognized me from the picture.
-- posted by biogardener
» biogardener - Latest Honor
My nasty neighbor is very unhappy. Not only is she no longer talking to me, she is not talking to other neighbors either since she found out that they support me. In spite of all the trouble she has caused me, I can't help feeling sorry for a woman who is so bitter with life. BTW, her children gave her a compost bin a few years ago, but it has been sitting empty. All her garden waste, including grass clippings and leaves, are going into the landfill.Well, the publicity did something to make one of my dreams come true. The Manitoba Naturalist Society organizes a garden tour every year. It features some of Winnipeg's best gardens. People pay to visit those gardens and to talk to the gardeners.
Today, two ladies from the Naturalist Society came to ask me for permission to feature my garden next year. They also asked me to teach a workshop next year. They jokingly suggested that I invite my neighbor to the tour and workshop.
One of the two ladies happens to be a veterinarian, and Dustytoo sat on her lap the whole time she was here.
-- posted by biogardener
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