To the Editor:
I am responding to a suggestion made on 6/5/2017 by a resident to reduce the amount of sod required around a house in The Villages to reduce water consumption. There is currently no restriction from totally eliminating all sod and replacing it with “ground cover.” The result can be grasses like the kind that accent our roadways and golf courses: not an attractive look for a near total yard.
I know because I live next door to such a situation. We are warned about fishing for golf balls in these grasses on the courses because they make a lovely home for snakes and rats. Where’s the difference? Be careful what you wish for, if you truly want our beautiful Villages to become something other than what attracted us here in the first place. Think re-sale! Some change can be good, but 99 percent of The Villages is a groomed, well cared for, lawned community. I wish for the old covenant of 51 percent sod to 49 percent other low growing ground cover. I lived up north in a lovely country setting of natural beauty and no manicured lawns. The Villages is not that place.
Ann Hagerty
The Villages