刷到一个老中网友的分享：和老美邻居吵架登上了纽约时报

说了多少遍，不买有HOA的房子。不听老人言吃亏在眼前。 对了，你说了有草坪，那肯定不是只能买公寓的地点。不要硬扯纽约之类的。 买了HOA房子就必须留有扯皮储备金！

这人病不轻！不用除草剂你自己拔草啊。不过几年他的草坪就变野草萍了。摊上这样的邻居真是倒霉！

雇几个amigo手工拔呗，绝对花不了5000块，而且一个下午就能拔完。

这位不是不用除草剂，而是不想除杂草吧

这个不是华人。可是他做的是对的，我们的环境不需要草坪，需要原生植物帮助大自然的鸟类和昆虫。在长岛，很多人都会种本土的原生植物，而不只是草坪。
这里有一段我从纽约时报那片文章里抄出来的，让大家知道好的植物对环境有多么重要。 Perhaps it was the scarlet bee balm that drew hummingbirds in darting, whirring droves. Or the swamp milkweed that Monarch butterflies feasted upon before laying their eggs. Or maybe it was the native sunflowers that fed bumblebees and goldfinches.
全部文章：
New York Times article: "They Fought the Lawn. And the Lawn Lost."  Dec. 14, 2022 COLUMBIA, Md. — Janet and Jeff Crouch do not know which flower or plant may have pushed their longtime next door neighbor over the edge, prompting him to pen complaint after complaint about the state of their yard. Perhaps it was the scarlet bee balm that drew hummingbirds in darting, whirring droves. Or the swamp milkweed that Monarch butterflies feasted upon before laying their eggs. Or maybe it was the native sunflowers that fed bumblebees and goldfinches. Whatever it was, their neighbor’s mounting resentment burst to the fore in the fall of 2017, in the form of a letter from a lawyer for their homeowner association that ordered the Crouches to rip out their native plant beds, and replace them with grass. The couple were stunned. They’d lived on their quiet cul-de-sac harmoniously with their neighbors for years, and chose native plants to help insects, birds and wildlife thrive. Now the association was telling them that their plantings not only violated the bylaws, but were eyesores that hurt property values. “Your yard is not the place for such a habitat,” the letter read. The Crouches were given 10 days to convert their front yard into a lawn that looked like everyone else’s. But instead of doing what they were told, the couple fought back, and ended up paving the way for a groundbreaking state law. Lawns continue to polarize Americans, with traditionalists prizing manicured emerald expanses and environmentalists seeing them as ecological deserts that suck up excessive amounts of water and pesticides. The locus of power in many of these disputes are community or homeowner associations, which, by one measure, govern some 74 million people nationwide. Generally these associations are tasked with making sure that yards are maintained, but there are mounting questions about what exactly that means. Insect, bird and wildlife populations are plummeting as a result of human activity, pollution and habitat destruction, prompting scientists to predict mounting mass extinctions in the coming years. As diplomats from nearly 200 nations meet in Montreal this week to try to hammer out an agreement to stop hundreds of species from disappearing, homeowners in the United States are increasingly planting native plants that provide sustenance to local and migratory butterflies, birds and bees. According to the National Wildlife Federation, in 2020 there was a 50 percent increase in people creating wildlife gardens certified by the organization. And a growing number of localities and states are enacting pollinator-friendly laws, and in 2020, Taylor Morrison, a major homebuilding company, partnered with the National Wildlife Federation in a plan to plant native species in its communities nationwide. The association told the Crouches that their plantings violated the bylaws and hurt property values. Still, native gardeners wanting to “naturescape” often face pushback from homeowner associations, whose primary interest is to protect home values by ensuring a consistent appearance across property lines. Associations can dictate everything from house paint colors to the location of driveway basketball hoops. But in Maryland, homeowner associations can no longer force residents to have lawns, thanks to the Crouches. The couple moved to Beech Creek, a clutch of homes bordering Columbia’s Cedar Lane Park, in 1999. Shortly afterward, they stopped using fertilizers and pesticides, a decision that they say deepened their connection with their modest plot of land, which backs onto some woods. “You’re thinking more about the soil, and its inhabitants, and how it fits together in the ecosystem,” said Mrs. Crouch, who works for the United States Department of Health and Human Services. At the urging of Mrs. Crouch’s sister, Nancy Lawson, a native plant proponent known as the Humane Gardener, the couple began adding indigenous and pollinator-friendly plants: coneflowers, cardinal flowers and phlox that drew little winged creatures. After work, Mr. Crouch, a clinical social worker, would wander the garden to see how the plants were doing, and offered flowers to kids who stopped to admire it. But as their garden grew, their next door neighbor, Daniel O’Rourke, was seething. Around 2012, Mr. O’Rourke began emailing the homeowner association, complaining that the Crouches’ yard was overgrown with weeds, figurines and barrels filled with rainwater, claims the couple would later contest. Mr. O’Rourke couldn’t enjoy his own property, he wrote, due to the “mess of a jungle” next door. Mr. O’Rourke, whose missives became public after the Crouches filed a lawsuit, did not respond to emails, calls or a note left at his home. A representative for the homeowner association declined to comment. At the time, the Crouches had no idea anything was amiss. They weren’t friends with Mr. O’Rourke, but they were cordial, waving from the driveway and on at least occasion, they said, lending him their ladder. Mr. O’Rourke continued to complain, saying that the Crouches’ yard was attracting rodents, deer, snakes and bats, and that they were planting shrubs and bushes in no particular order. In September 2017, the homeowner association sent the Crouches a letter saying their yard was in need of seasonal maintenance, which the Crouches said they heeded. Two months later, a cease and desist letter from the homeowner association’s lawyers arrived. If they didn’t change their yard back to a “neat, clean” lawn, the lawyer for the association wrote, the Crouches could face fines or worse. Lawns make up one-third of the country’s 135 million acres of residential landscaping, according to the ecologist Douglas W. Tallamy, who calls the velvety carpeting of bluegrass or ryegrass “ecological dead zones.” Dr. Tallamy, whose book, “Nature’s Best Hope,” urges homeowner to change their yards into conservation corridors, said that because so much property in the United States is privately owned — as much as 78 percent — owners had to be enlisted to grow native plants that support biodiversity. “This idea that humans and nature cannot coexist is destroying the entire planet, which in turn is destroying humans,” Dr. Tallamy said. “The only way forward is to coexist.” For the Crouches, giving in was not an option. They hired a lawyer and contacted every wildlife and environmental group they could think of, along with local legislators. After a year and a half, still at an impasse with the homeowner association and fearful that one day they’d come home to find their garden mowed down, they filed a complaint in Howard County Circuit Court. A chief claim was that in 2011 they’d been told there was no issue with their gardens, and also that before 2017, they’d received no violations for their yard despite regular inspections. “The overall principles are bigger than us,” Mrs. Crouch said. “We had an opportunity and even an obligation to see it through as best we could.” Two months after the Crouches filed their complaint, a Maryland state representative asked if they would allow their case to form the basis of a new environmental law. Maryland has contended with devastating floods — among them the 2018 submersion of Ellicott City — and mounting concerns about pesticide runoff to Chesapeake Bay. A bill was drafted that forbade homeowner associations from banning pollinator plants or rain gardens, or from requiring property owners to plant turf grass. Dozens of states have passed legislation to promote the health of pollinators, which include bees, wasps, bats and butterflies, while some have curbed the authority of homeowner association edicts during droughts. But the Maryland law was the first in the country to limit homeowner association control over eco-friendly yards, said Mary Catherine Cochran, former legislative director for Maryland State Delegate Terri L. Hill, a Democrat who co-sponsored the legislation. The measure gained bipartisan support, passed with near unanimity, and became law in October 2021. “It’s a really small effort in the face of the international work that needs to be done,” said Dr. Hill, a physician. “But it’s nice that individuals in the community are able to feel that they are empowered to make a difference.” In December 2020, the Crouches and their homeowner association, which had countersued, reached a settlement. The Crouches were able to keep virtually all of their garden intact, but agreed to remove plantings within three feet of their neighbor’s land and six feet of the sidewalk, and replace them with some sort of grass — they chose native Pennsylvania sedge. Their fight had a ripple effect. Their lawyer, Jeff Kahntroff, has since resolved not to use pesticides, and when part of a tree fell in his yard, he and his wife left it there for critters to use as habitat. Another Maryland couple, Jon Hussey and Emma Qin, were able to point to the law after their homeowner association objected to weeds in their lawn, which they kept mowed but pesticide free. “It’s crazy how ingrained turf grass has become,” Mr. Hussey said. “It doesn’t have to be that way.” In the end, the Crouches spent $60,000 on lawyers fees, but they say it was worth it. This fall, with the new law backing them up, the Crouches let their dead coneflowers, sunflowers and other perennials stand. Mr. Crouch awoke one frigid morning this November to find six birds on the stalks, feasting on the seeds. “Maryland was a big deal,” Dr. Tallamy, the ecologist, said. “Now people know if they fight back, they can win

美国人为了所谓的好看干净真是不惜天天往自己住的环境里喷毒药

美国人为了所谓的好看干净真是不惜天天往自己住的环境里喷毒药
桃花朵朵 发表于 2024-01-03 21:11

美国为了草坪所打的除草剂够世界上多少穷国用来种粮食啊？不要说水啊其他的。 我看到邻居采用自然野草觉得挺好的，只要勤剪。 特别是我们大德州，干旱缺水，实在不适合象欧洲那样种草坪

越高级的小区，越是对草坪，屋子外观等等有强行要求，搬入高档社区，就默认你愿意和周边环境一致啊。

除草剂基本都是致癌的。只有美国人这么傻天天给自个儿喷致癌剂。

不想follow这些标准就不要买有hoa的房子。hoa也不是要求必须用有harm的pesticide吧，用其他办法不行吗？

这人病不轻！不用除草剂你自己拔草啊。不过几年他的草坪就变野草萍了。摊上这样的左臂邻居真是倒霉！
lilylily2021 发表于 2024-01-03 20:43

野草怎么了， 也是绿的呀，

小心谨慎还是很重要的。不要糊里糊涂让自己的大名、公司的大名挂上 NYT, WSJ 等等、、、

哼哼，我经历过同样的事，不过是我的租客提的意见，我跟他好好谈了尽量少用除草剂的好处，他最后买账了。不过为了这个我多花了不少钱。但我乐意，尤其这个租客住了很多年，大家是朋友了，我希望他全家都可以健健康康的。

其实用除草剂当然是最省事的办法了，谁都不傻。不用的话，自然有别人的考虑。

不用除草剂没问题，但你倒是把草坪质量搞好啊。杂查想别的办法除掉hoa不就不找你麻烦了嘛

那你用手拔啊 整个夏天晚上凉快的时候我都在我家门口拔草 我也没用任何除草剂 家里有孩子有宠物

说了多少遍，不买有HOA的房子。不听老人言吃亏在眼前。 对了，你说了有草坪，那肯定不是只能买公寓的地点。不要硬扯纽约之类的。 买了HOA房子就必须留有扯皮储备金！
blackcat123 发表于 2024-01-03 20:26

经典“买了HOA房子就必须留有扯皮储备金！”

这人病不轻！不用除草剂你自己拔草啊。不过几年他的草坪就变野草萍了。摊上这样的邻居真是倒霉！
lilylily2021 发表于 2024-01-03 20:43

野草环保啊

亲身体味要草皮好必须用除草剂，而且浓度很高，新铺的草皮要管至少3年。我家草皮新铺的，3年后长野草。加上湾区干旱，我放弃浇水。去年雨水丰富，我翻遍了草皮，重新撒新草种，但草种怎么也长不过野草。但真的不喜欢除草剂，就让野草长着，开始种果树。好看的草皮都是除草剂养起来的。拒绝除草剂，回归自然。

The American Obsession with Lawns Lawns are the most grown crop in the U.S.—and they''re not one that anyone can eat; their primary purpose is to make us look and feel good about ourselves.
草皮背后是一整个产业链的经济利益，所以容不得人有异议。浪费那么多水去浇，种的却是既不能吃也不好看的草，每隔一两周还要费钱费力割草，怎么看都是吃饱了没事瞎折腾。除杂草剂、各种肥料随便撒，最后还不是进入了自来水被人喝进肚子里？

即使没有Hoa 村里也有来管的 如果你家杂草丛生

种一排privacy树把院子围起来就可以想怎么弄怎么弄了吧

我其实也不是很理解为了好看住在毒药里的人。 自己不怕全家生癌还强迫别人也跟着往地里撒药， 缺德

野草可以拔，用一种工具 趁春天刚冒芽的时候拔，很好除的
一年除不了几回

种一排privacy树把院子围起来就可以想怎么弄怎么弄了吧
Candycapsule 发表于 2024-01-03 23:04

HOA连你种树砍树都要管的。不事先申请，一旦不符合它们的规定，种好的树都得让你拔了。
所以还是自己买地，单门独户的才会没HOA压在头上。

HOA连你种树砍树都要管的。不事先申请，一旦不符合它们的规定，种好的树都得让你拔了。
所以还是自己买地，单门独户的才会没HOA压在头上。
Havealook 发表于 2024-01-03 23:09

草坪就算单门独户，city也会管的吧

美国为了草坪所打的除草剂够世界上多少穷国用来种粮食啊？不要说水啊其他的。 我看到邻居采用自然野草觉得挺好的，只要勤剪。 特别是我们大德州，干旱缺水，实在不适合象欧洲那样种草坪
ecnanif 发表于 2024-01-03 21:23

欧洲对个人家庭的领地没有太多硬性要求。我还看到过嫌草坪麻烦，把一大半浇筑成水泥地，就留了一小点绿地意思意思的。

野草可以拔，用一种工具 趁春天刚冒芽的时候拔，很好除的
一年除不了几回


tiantian12 发表于 2024-01-03 23:09

哪种工具？求链接

道理上没错，不过有你这样的邻居也是倒霉

难以理解美国人对草地的执着

我们小区自从房价炒上天之后，来了越来越多的老中，以前美丽的草坪花园越来越少了。居然有老中在前院草坪种菜，各种瓜藤大叶子爬的到处都是…. 好多老中买豪宅，不整理草坪花园甚至不开暖气… 已经见怪不怪了

越高级的小区，越是对草坪，屋子外观等等有强行要求，搬入高档社区，就默认你愿意和周边环境一致啊。
湫湫 发表于 2024-01-03 21:44

没有这个默认吧。。。
最多就是默认你接受HOA的条款而已。

道理上没错，不过有你这样的邻居也是倒霉
centenario 发表于 2024-01-04 06:13

既然他道理上没错，那么他周围的人倒霉不倒霉就不重要了吧。。。
或者，换个方式说，他周围的人“倒霉”的原因是因为他们把“要求别人配合他们满足一些道理上站不住脚的爱好”作为“不倒霉”的定义了。。。

回复 9楼湫湫的帖子
美国没有默认这种事，潜规则在美国行不通啊。遇到有钱的较真的真不行。

没照片没真想。 不下除杂草的也可以很漂亮， 前提是自己或请人来手动除。 所以完全取决于他家草坪长成怎么样。

家草是通过那么多年的选择才成为家草的，只要勤割草，而且割的越短越好，野草是长不过家草的，不需要喷什么除草剂。这是买买提在的时候，买买提上的人都知道的

回复 31楼柠檬T的帖子
哈哈 这个描述很形象，凡是门口杂草丛生的，十拿九稳是老中！

我们小区自从房价炒上天之后，来了越来越多的老中，以前美丽的草坪花园越来越少了。居然有老中在前院草坪种菜，各种瓜藤大叶子爬的到处都是…. 好多老中买豪宅，不整理草坪花园甚至不开暖气… 已经见怪不怪了
柠檬T 发表于 2024-01-04 14:54

你拍一个你家门口豪宅种菜的。我们开开眼。从来没见过。

回复 9楼湫湫的帖子
美国没有默认这种事，潜规则在美国行不通啊。遇到有钱的较真的真不行。
lacorse 发表于 2024-01-04 15:24

可能习惯不同吧，一些国人觉得买房子就是买幢房子。 在美国买房子等于安家，买房子前会考虑到这些的。比如一般人会想，啊，这么漂亮的社区，我要住在这里，或者是，啊，这个社区全天然啊没有条条框框的，还有养马的，我喜欢。你非要去一个看重草坪，园艺的小区，然后说，这个HOA好讨厌啊，不许我养匹马，这不是潜规则吧。

我们小区自从房价炒上天之后，来了越来越多的老中，以前美丽的草坪花园越来越少了。居然有老中在前院草坪种菜，各种瓜藤大叶子爬的到处都是…. 好多老中买豪宅，不整理草坪花园甚至不开暖气… 已经见怪不怪了
柠檬T 发表于 2024-01-04 14:54

只要不施臭烘烘的肥料，种的不管是瓜是菜我都觉得很美。想起老家很多住自建房的，院子的围墙爬满了各种瓜豆藤，当然也有花，金银花蔷薇三角梅，各种各样的植物，一条路过去，五花八门的植物各有特色，看着美极了。搞不懂美国人只有觉得草坪才美，太奇葩了

家草是通过那么多年的选择才成为家草的，只要勤割草，而且割的越短越好，野草是长不过家草的，不需要喷什么除草剂。这是买买提在的时候，买买提上的人都知道的
calrose 发表于 2024-01-04 15:54

一个没说清楚的地方是如果社区里有一家是满坪的蒲公英，那没多久，就会传开到邻居，然后除草剂再加倍，恶性循环。

这人病不轻！不用除草剂你自己拔草啊。不过几年他的草坪就变野草萍了。摊上这样的邻居真是倒霉！
lilylily2021 发表于 2024-01-03 20:43

我家就是自己动手拔草，非常的干净。去年有点懒，草就飞速地张。

只要不施臭烘烘的肥料，种的不管是瓜是菜我都觉得很美。想起老家很多住自建房的，院子的围墙爬满了各种瓜豆藤，当然也有花，金银花蔷薇三角梅，各种各样的植物，一条路过去，五花八门的植物各有特色，看着美极了。搞不懂美国人只有觉得草坪才美，太奇葩了
桃花朵朵 发表于 2024-01-04 16:16

美国人并没有都觉得草坪才美，喜欢种菜的社区也多，但是大家各过各的。你非要买A的房子，过B的生活方式那就只能与天斗，与地斗，与人斗其乐无穷了。

一个没说清楚的地方是如果社区里有一家是满坪的蒲公英，那没多久，就会传开到邻居，然后除草剂再加倍，恶性循环。
wssca 发表于 2024-01-04 16:18

是，其他杂草也是一样。 其实勤快点，手拔，也不会糟糕到看得出来杂草多。还是懒得管的原因。

现在很流行native plants 作为front yard. 用mulch或者小碎石盖住泥土，基本不会长野草，因为没有阳光。而且对大自然好，对自己也好。
学一下刘晓庆刷些图 😅

回复 1楼octavy的帖子
个人感受，每年花钱维护草坪是美国家庭浪费又不环保，没有实际意义的最大的无用功。

我在新英格兰地区小村 因为村…买的房子没有HOA 两边上邻居是两户老人家每年都花钱找人打理草坪不清楚用不用除草剂但是看着就很高级😂 我家有狗和小娃 都是我手动除草🙈 有一阵夏天送孩子上summer camp 路过一条街好多人把前院子搞成了都是wildflower的花 我觉得看着也非常漂亮