Minneapolis Yards

Prodded by a homeowner whose prairie plantings were mowed against his will, the city of Minneapolis has come up with a plan to let lawns go natural. Previously the city had an 8-inch height limit.

After working for more than a year, Council Member Cam Gordon thinks he has struck a balance that allows homeowners to use native plants and calms the fears of those who worry that their property values will plummet.

The "managed natural landscape" proposal by the council's only Green Party member follows some well-publicized incidents in which city inspectors ordered the scalping of native plantings or other non-traditional grasses.

Last year, the city ordered the shearing of the sheep fescue that a homeowner planted in his Minneapolis yard. The prairie grass was declared a nuisance because it had topped the city's 8-inch limit.

The proposal defines the new type of landscaping as an intentional planting of native or non-native grasses, wildflowers, ferns, shrubs, trees or forbs. They're allowed to exceed the city's normal nuisance ordinance threshold of eight inches in height, or grass that has gone or is about to go to seed. They can't include noxious weeds and have to be maintained to avoid "unintended vegetation."

The city issued almost 10,000 orders to cut tall grass and weeds in 2010; it has an estimated 100,000 residential lawns.