Constitutional right to a wild garden with weeds and bees to be tested in Ontario court
Constitutional right to a wild garden with weeds and bees to be tested in Ontario court
Constitutional right to a wild garden with weeds and bees to be tested in Ontario court
A Burlington homeowner is fighting charges over her “naturalized garden” of native plants in her front and back yards. The city is taking Karen Barnes to Provincial Offences Court, seeking up to $400,000 in fines for violating a bylaw order to cut it down.
Barnes is challenging the case on constitutional grounds, arguing her right to freedom of expression through gardening is protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
She says her garden supports pollinators, biodiversity and wildlife, reflecting her environmental and spiritual beliefs. She appeared for a pre-trial hearing on Wednesday and is scheduled for a two-day trial in November, according to her lawyer, Vilko Zbogar.
Zbogar says the case is about more than the fine. “Courts have recognized since at least 1996 that freedom of expression under the Charter protects natural gardens as expressions of profound environmental values,” he said. “For Karen, it’s also a spiritual exercise — tied to her creed and beliefs. This falls under Sections 2(a) and 2(b) of the Charter: freedom of conscience and religion and freedom of expression.”
Experts say naturalized gardens and meadows can attract far more pollinators than regularly mown lawns, while also using less water and improving soil health.
Damn I hope they win against the city. The typical law has to die, it's ridiculously useless and detrimental to biodiversity.
Why should we have to maintain one type of plant which has problems surviving without lots of upkeep?
The term "weed" is stupid. Arbitrarily deciding that certain native plants are undesirable is such a colonizer mindset
I think the term is fine if you approach it from an "invasive species" mindset rather than an "undesirable" mindset.
I don't know if it was intentionally done by my teachers, but that's the impression I always got about the term since it was usually brought up in the context of introduced species of plants causing harm to native species. Stuff like dandelions and such.
Mmh, I'd describe it more as self-centered in general, since there are plants the world over that get called weeds. "We don't see any value in this, therefore it should be eradicated in favour of things we can use."
Ragweed can burn in hell.
they usually use the term noxious weeds
HOAs in general and all the bs that goes with it like this "law" are a thing of the past and don't reflect the current world we live in. Pristine manicured yards have caused problems across the globe for the underlying systems that keep the earth healthy and vibrant. We need to relearn how to live in the environments we find ourselves in, not cater them to our own self deluding fantasies of perfection.
HOAs aren't really a thing in Canada, she is being taken to court by the city.
HOAs are the invasive species
Yes but also no. I agree but there is a big grain of salt to be had here. Yards like also help pests thrive too. Particularly ticks and rodents come to mind. Lots of hiding areas that are safe for rodents to avoid seen / caught. Easy safe pathways for skunks, raccoons, possums etc. Ticks are gona love the tall plants and moist conditions. Earwigs are gona be all up in almost everything that is there. If there is anything that grows fruit, well you vet your ass theres gona be way more paper wasps/balshead hornets/ yellow jackets etc. Is the increased pollen going to now cause more allergies for 8 year old Timmy next door? When winter rolls around all those wonderfull bugs and critters 100% gona want to cozy up in your 2000sqft home. From attic, basment, or kitchen Cupboard.
Eveyone seems to miss the fact that a diverse environment doesn't only just attract bees and Butterflies. It wouldn't be "diverse " if it did.
The big reason we grow grass and keep it short is for pest control.
ignoring the obvious fact that you're effectively declaring entire clades of sentient animals to be basically biological waste because i know im going to make exactly zero headway with a human supremacist in this comment; if the primary consideration were pests, wouldn't stones or pavement be a more ideal solution than grass with all the maintenance and upkeep that requires being baked into the law?