Imagine buying a house where there are some tall weeds growing but you actually like the way they look. Would you mow them down anyway since they’re weeds, or would you let them grow since they’re pretty?

In this story, one woman likes the look of the tall grass, but the fire inspector insists that she has to mow it. She complies for awhile, but then she comes up with another plan.

Let’s read all about it.

The Weeds in the Parking Strip

Shortly after I left home, my mom bought an old Victorian house. The yard was completely overgrown, and a lot of work was put in cleaning it up, trimming trees and shrubs, etc.

But the tall grasses in the parking strip she left alone, because they were pretty.

I don’t know if the previous owner had planted them or if they were just weeds.

They were weeds.

The fire department knew that they were weeds, and a fire inspector left a notice on the door telling her to cut them down (I forget how far).

She did not.

Two weeks later, another notice.

Two more weeks, and the fire inspector actually stops to talk to her. He explains the size of the fine if she doesn’t comply, and so she finally does.

His mom did some research.

But by next year the grass has grown tall again, so the whole story repeats – exactly like the previous year.

Fire inspector was not happy.

So mom did some research. It’s true, city ordinance said lawn and weeds had to be kept cut.

She knew just what to do.

So the third year rolls around, and by late summer the grass is growing high. Fire inspector didn’t even bother with the notices this time, and he was clearly peeved.

“Are we going to have to keep doing this every year,” he asked?

Mom smiled and said “Oh, no. I’ve fixed it all now,” and then she showed him the receipts and tags from the decorative grasses she’d bought at the garden store that spring, along with a copy of the pertinent city ordinance.

You see, while the ordinance required weeds and grass lawn to be kept cropped, they permitted “decorative plantings” of any height.

She lived in that house for several decades and never mowed the parking strip after that.

That was clever! Now, she gets her decorative grass, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

I had to look up what a parking strip is. It’s the area between the sidewalk and the road.

At least she didn’t get fined!

Here’s another word for this patch of grass.

Another person explains how this patch of land functions.

In the end, everyone got their way.

If you liked that story, check out this post about a group of employees who got together and why working from home was a good financial decision.