DCist: Urban Jungle: Not Mowing Can Cost You Money

monkeyrotica

Mon, 05 May 2008 12:18:40 -0500

Tall grass doesn't attract rodents, garbage attracts rodents. Good thing people don't throw garbage in tall grass.

jfiorill

Mon, 05 May 2008 12:07:15 -0500

Tall grass doesn't attract rodents, garbage attracts rodents. If you want to live in a place with a lawn gestapo, move to freaking Bethesda. Instead of doing this, they should crack down on non-sidewalk-snow-shovelers, who actually put people at risk rather than just offend the sensibilities of busybodies.

lou

Thu, 01 May 2008 13:13:43 -0500

Wish the city would take care of its own vacant properties. One such DC owned property on my block has weeds about 12 inches high.

bcfrese

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:00:53 -0500

I lived at the home photographed above (moved out in October), so I called the landlord and notified her that photos of her unmowed lawn were circulating on the internet. She said that she'd get someone out there to mow it posthaste. Like most of life's problems, this is another one that has been solved by blogging.

IMGoph

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:36:00 -0500

mr. silverman: welcome to the wild and crazy comment section of dcist. i'm impressed. i'm willing to bet that we will never see mr. jack evans darken these doors...

dodgecitydave

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:26:21 -0500

@CarySilverman Don't know if you live around 4th & M, but they've got another health problem over there related to neglect: feral cats. Bet I saw at least 50 on a quick bike ride around that interesection. Now if only we could train the CHUDs to take care of the cat problem and also serve as assistants to the helper monkeys in assless chaps...

downtown rez

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:11:07 -0500

Julia- It's likely in practice defined as whether or not it's a public nuisance, aka whether it pisses most of your neighbors off. I don't think anyone would get away with claiming the lawn in the photo is a native wildflower garden. BTW- my front yard is done in clover (not grass) and wildflowers. But it's pretty clearly arranged and (sort-of mostly) manicured. This is a good thing. Does anyone really like seeing overgrown weeds framing the soggy couch beneath plywood windows?

julia

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:27:01 -0500

But how do they define weeds? I have a native wildflower meadow in my back yard that could be confused with an overgrown lawn, but it's hardly untended.

emikael

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:40:52 -0500

I can't believe anyone would defend letting people's grass grow over ten inches high because of the cost of gas or because they think the government has better things to do. Tall grass not only makes a property look derelict and vacant, but it attracts rodents, traps trash, and is basically a crappy way to treat your neighbors and your city. If you can't afford to maintain your lawn, you should probably move - you have no business having one. An electric weedwacker, or a non-powered mower won't set you back more than about $85.

CarySilverman

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:35:47 -0500

This is good news and about time. It is another way of dealing with vacant property owners who place the true cost of their neglect on the community. The Mount Vernon Square Neighborhood Association, for example, spends much of its time during cleanups fixing the mess on and around the house photographed in The Examiner at 4th and M. Enforce the law and the environment will change, i.e. vacant properties must be kept in "habitable condition" and secure, and weeds, high grass, and trash/dumping can't accumulate. When the real expense of vacant properties is placed on the owners rather than their neighbors, they'll decide to renovate, rent, or sell. Otherwise, it will continue to be worth their while to sit on them - out of sight, out of mind.

ICDC

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:52:46 -0500

This kind of enforcement makes a lot of sense if you subscribe to the Broken Windows Theory. Of course, the theory has many critics; the WaPo's own Richard Morin among them. Frankly, that yard looks a lot like the LEED (green) roofs popping up around town. Are we unwittingly building rat condos on K Street and above the concessions deck at the new stadium?

monkeyrotica

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:03:46 -0500

I still say this is part of "the plan" to rid DC of triffids, ents, and Keebler elves. How's that for a "final solution?" No truffula fruit for you!

blittle

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:35:50 -0500

ah, shaved amputee panda comments, how I missed thee.

OldPosterKnownAsCranky

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:33:09 -0500

Trimming, whether applied to grass or pandas, is always a good thing.

monkeyrotica

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:24:19 -0500

Silly people. DC's laws don't apply to the DC Government, biggest slumlord and vacant property owner this side of the Downtown Cluster of Congregations. A made do with a cheapo weedwhacker and an extention cord for years. But all that "keepin it ghetto" couldn't stop the raging wall of manure that is the scuppie menace. Please, folks. Think of the poor rats, shivering and splashing around in the sewers filled with poo. All they ask is to nestle in the thickets of comfy and cozy unmowed weeds. Just think of it as a less-well-manicured version of Watership Down, only with more plague.

stmove

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:18:44 -0500

LOL: "apply to the city's own properties" common sense is so ridiculous. The city cracks down on the things that matter most: parking meters and crab grass (only in your lawn). How can you tell a difference between an neglected "lawn" and a carefully tended perennial dandelion garden? I mean really? Does this stem a city-wide crack down on any garden over 2 inches tall? Must all rat-backs be visible from the street at all times? In all seriousness, I hate an untended yard as much as the next, but I am also a gardener who likes to get carried away and would not like people telling me my hibiscus and roses are too thick, doesn't this seem sort of "neighborhood-association-y" The best solution for overgrown lawns is "one crazy guy with a lawnmower per every two city blocks" At least that has worked in my hood for decades.

IMGoph

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:07:36 -0500

can i call in the city for not keeping the weeds trimmed back in the median of rhode island ave?

Vaughan

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:03:12 -0500

How much gas does the tank of an average mower use? And how much does it take to fill one up nowadays? Does DC have a manual or electric mower program?

adamsmorgan

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:26:43 -0500

Yes, the city has allowed unpermitted construction work to continue unabaited at a rogue business, but they are now going to take the time and effort to warn and fine people who don't mow their law...awesome! BTW, do those warnings/fines apply to the city's own properties?!

McGillicuddy

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:25:36 -0500

i prefer a mowed lawn myself, although my fine for it being unkempt is not monetary.

monkeyrotica

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:21:06 -0500

Baltimore's cracking down on folks who don't mow. Apparently, rats just love nesting in this stuff. Who knew?