Vegetable garden and fruit tree- friendly neighborhood

[Anonymous]

Hello fellow gardeners,

My wife and I are moving from out of state, and are looking to buy a home within a twenty minute commute of Burke, VA. We both love to have lots of edible plants growing around our home - ranging from attractive grape arbors and herb gardens to large fruit trees and berry bushes. We are planning to hire a Landscape architect with a certificate in permaculture to design our edible landscaping, so that it is aesthetically appealing, but we're concerned that some of the HOAs will have a hissy fit about how our yard won't look like everyone else's grass money pit. (We will be drastically shrinking the amount of traditional grass lawn on our property, and may need to have the slightly less attractive vegetable garden in view of the street to maximize sunlight.)

What neighborhoods or streets would you recommend? We can afford up to $1.1M, but would prefer to purchase in the $450K to $700K range. Thanks for any thoughts you can provide!

[Anonymous]

I don't have suggestions as we don't live in VA, but you are correct that your plans will likely send many running for the smelling salts.
Hope you find a nice place. I wish I had more neighbors like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hello fellow gardeners,

My wife and I are moving from out of state, and are looking to buy a home within a twenty minute commute of Burke, VA. We both love to have lots of edible plants growing around our home - ranging from attractive grape arbors and herb gardens to large fruit trees and berry bushes. We are planning to hire a Landscape architect with a certificate in permaculture to design our edible landscaping, so that it is aesthetically appealing, but we're concerned that some of the HOAs will have a hissy fit about how our yard won't look like everyone else's grass money pit. (We will be drastically shrinking the amount of traditional grass lawn on our property, and may need to have the slightly less attractive vegetable garden in view of the street to maximize sunlight.)

What neighborhoods or streets would you recommend? We can afford up to $1.1M, but would prefer to purchase in the $450K to $700K range. Thanks for any thoughts you can provide!

First you insulated everyone by bad mouthing our wonderful grassy lawn

Second, there are laws that preventing crop growing and fruit / vegetables beyond a certain coverage.

Just pick an area without an HOA and you should be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

First you insulated everyone by bad mouthing our wonderful grassy lawn

Second, there are laws that preventing crop growing and fruit / vegetables beyond a certain coverage.

Just pick an area without an HOA and you should be fine.

I'm sorry that I came across as bad-mouthing traditional grass yards. I do think they can be quite beautiful and a great place for kids to play. What I don't like about lawns is how they often become a magnet for chemical fertilizers and herbicides that destroy the natural health of the soil and kill off biodiversity - think butterflies, and song birds that would love to eat insects and worms from a more natural yard. If you have a healthy mix of grass varieties and don't use chemicals or noisy gas-powered mowers, then I respect your beautiful yard.

As far as I can tell from the Fairfax County Zoning Ordinance, Gardening and Composting are permitted accessory uses on all residential properties (http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/zoningordinance/articles/art10.pdf); is there another place I should go to learn about the coverage restrictions? Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

Non-HOA neighborhoods in Fairfax county should be fine. I'd start your real estate hunt, and if you are working with a realtor, just add your yard preferences to the list of amenities you are looking for.

[Anonymous]

You didn't bad mouth anyone, OP. People on DCUM can be ridiculous (and often nasty).

I applaud you for your landscaping plans. It sounds tremendous, beautiful and much better for the environment than grass.

Do you have a landscaper already? Maybe looking at their portfolio will help you figure out where the kindred spirits live. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Lots of people in my MoCo neighborhood (Bannockburn) do this, but that's not going to meet your 20 minutes to Burke requirement, unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

Wish we could be neihgbors, OP. Cheers!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hello fellow gardeners,

My wife and I are moving from out of state, and are looking to buy a home within a twenty minute commute of Burke, VA. We both love to have lots of edible plants growing around our home - ranging from attractive grape arbors and herb gardens to large fruit trees and berry bushes. We are planning to hire a Landscape architect with a certificate in permaculture to design our edible landscaping, so that it is aesthetically appealing, but we're concerned that some of the HOAs will have a hissy fit about how our yard won't look like everyone else's grass money pit. (We will be drastically shrinking the amount of traditional grass lawn on our property, and may need to have the slightly less attractive vegetable garden in view of the street to maximize sunlight.)

What neighborhoods or streets would you recommend? We can afford up to $1.1M, but would prefer to purchase in the $450K to $700K range. Thanks for any thoughts you can provide!

I suggest looking at houses that aren't in an HOA. That might be hard to find within a twenty-minute commute of Burke, though.

Alternatively, read through all of the HOA's CC&Rs carefully before you decide to buy -- if you can get them before making an offer, that is.

[Anonymous]

Agree a non-HOA neighborhood. They tend to be older neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

Arlington, Falls Church City, and close-in Fairfax neighborhoods will all support this.

[Anonymous]

Alexandria section of Fairfax County.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alexandria section of Fairfax County.

+1 we live here and have veggies in our front yard in large planter boxes. We've only received compliments and jealous sentiments from neighbors!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alexandria section of Fairfax County.

+1 we live here and have veggies in our front yard in large planter boxes. We've only received compliments and jealous sentiments from neighbors!

PP again - there are not many HOAs nearby that I am aware of. Some of the Kingstowne communities do, though.

[Anonymous]

I've seen a couple yards like this in and around Burke. One is in the Kings Park neighborhood and one in Burke itself. There are lots of non-HOA neighborhoods in Burke and West Springfield. You would just need to stay away from the area called Burke Centre: that area is controlled by a very restrictive HOA.