Villagers protested in 2019 that Florida-Friendly Landscaping has gotten out of control at some homes in The Villages. This highly controversial topic was the No. 8 story this year in The Villages.
Florida-Friendly landscaping means using low-maintenance plants and environmentally sustainable practices, according to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Florida-Friendly Landscaping is allowed in The Villages. The water-saving practices associated with Florida-Friendly Landscaping are even encouraged.
But Florida-Friendly Landscaping is viewed very differently by neighbors of a home at 2167 Darwin Terrace in the Village of Amelia.
They have called that home “a jungle.”
In December, a defiant homeowner in the Village of Piedmont fought to keep her Florida-Friendly Landscaping. Kathleen Stringer appeared before the Community Development District 4 Board of Supervisors in a public hearing where photographs presented as evidence showed a wild entanglement of plants, shrubs and bamboo at her home.
Stringer testified that she “married into this situation” and she “didn’t even know about deeds and covenants.” She said her late husband may have signed off on some documents, but she had not been aware of it.