Where butterfly gardens are banned

An ugly, brown lawn is good. An unsightly lawn is illegal.

If you can figure out the difference, you might be a municipal bylaw officer.

On Tuesday, we wrote about the dilemma facing landowners and cities when it comes to creating drought-resistant, ecologically beneficial yards.. Today we look at property maintenance bylaws in each Fraser Valley municipality, where rules often promote the growth of the same lawns cities beg residents not to water.

All municipalities regulate the public appearance of front yards and city-owned, homeowner-maintained city frontages.

But each is different in its own way.

Even as Mission, Chilliwack, and Abbotsford hold “ugliest lawn” contests to encourage residents not to water their lawns, they and every other local community broadly outlaws “unsightly” yards in one way or the other. So if a yard is deemed to be too ugly, a fine is possible, even if its owner doesn’t technically break any lawn-length rule.

Most communities bylaw rules require a complaint from a resident to actually trigger an investigation and possible repercussions. Experts elsewhere advise owners to find ways to educate neighbours about why their front yard may look a little different. (But a Township of Langley resident questioned this approach, saying it encourages neighbours to file tit-for-tat complaints about insignificant issues, rather than behaving as adults.)

Some local bylaws lawn-height limitations are limited only to “lawns” or “grass.” Others are more expansive.

We also looked at cases where pollinator gardens have run afoul of the law in other communities to evaluate whether each community’s rules outlaw such sites locally. Of all the local bylaws, only Harrison Hot Springs and Hope don’t limit lawn growth. They favour general prohibitions on allowing for overgrowth of yards.

Notably, some communities ban plants that allow for an “infestation of caterpillars.” Those laws are likely written to deter largescale moth infestations that can harm trees. But the bylaws can also be read to ban pollinator gardens that are home to plants, like milkweed, that provide crucial habitat for monarch butterfly caterpillars. Last year, the monarch butterfly was added to a list of threatened species, with estimates suggesting that populations have dramatically declined, in part because of the loss of habitat.

So pull out your ruler, and figure out whether your weeds or grass are on the right side of the law.

Note: All communities outlaw “unsightly” premises and leave considerable latitude to bylaw officials to decide what is considered illegally ugly.

Chilliwack

Lawn height limit: 25cm (10 inches)

The bylaw’s precise definition of what is outlawed: “Grass, weeds, or other ground cover can’t be taller than 25cm.”

Butterfly-garden friendly? Probably not

Read the bylaw yourself 

Langley City

Lawn height limit: 30cm (one foot)

The bylaw’s precise definition of what is outlawed: “An area of grass or other vegetation that exceeds 30cm in height and is unkempt or unmaintained.”

Butterfly-garden friendly? Dependent on an officer’s view of what constitutes “unmaintained or unkempt.”

Read the bylaw yourself

Langley Township

Lawn height limit: 20cm (eight inches)

The bylaw’s precise definition of what is outlawed: “Grass, weeds or other similar ground cover … over 20 centimeters in height.”

Butterfly-garden friendly? Almost certainly not.

Read the bylaw yourself

Abbotsford

Lawn height limit: 25cm (10 inches)

The bylaw’s precise definition of what is outlawed: “Allow[ing] lawn grass or dandelions to grow higher than 250 millimetres (10 inches).”

Also: infestation by caterpillars or other destructive or noxious insects is prohibited.

Butterfly-garden friendly? Almost certainly not.

Read the bylaw yourself

Mission

Lawn height limit: 25cm (10 inches)

The bylaw’s precise definition of what is outlawed: “Permit[ting] the lawn … to grow in height beyond the prevailing standard in the neighbourhood but in any event, not beyond 25 centimetres or 10 inches in height.”

Butterfly-garden friendly? Maybe (depending on an officer’s definition of “lawn” and one’s neighbours.)

Read the bylaw yourself

Kent

Lawn height limit: 20cm (eight inches)

The bylaw’s precise definition of what is outlawed: “Landscaping that is dead or characterized by uncontrolled growth; grass that is of a height in excess of 20cm (8 inches).”

Butterfly-garden friendly? Possibly. Dependent on a yard’s “uncontrolled growth”

Read the bylaw yourself

Harrison Hot Springs

Lawn height limit: None!

The bylaw’s precise definition of what is required of owners: “Ensure that brushing of vegetation and weed or invasive species removal is completed regularly as to alleviate or stop the overgrowth of same.”

Butterfly-garden friendly? Yes.

Read the bylaw yourself

Hope

Lawn height limit: None!

The bylaw’s precise definition of what is outlawed: “The accumulation of dead landscaping, vegetation, noxious weeds or other growths to occur or to remain on the real property” and “the infestation of caterpillars or other insects, mice, rats, or other pests, or destructive animals to occur on the real property.”

Butterfly-garden friendly? Probably not.

Read the bylaw yourself