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IFAS Agents Helping Homeowners Statewide

Matt Snider stands on the lawn of his Haile Plantation Village home on Sunday afternoon. Snider is one of the Haile residents who is not happy about being fined for the type of grass on his lawn. Photo by Glenn Kennelly - WUFT News
Matt Snider stands on the lawn of his Haile Plantation Village home on Sunday afternoon. Snider is one of the Haile residents who is not happy about being fined for the type of grass on his lawn. Photo by Glenn Kennelly - WUFT News

A turf war has been escalating between some Florida homeowners and homeowner associations.

The turf is Zoysia - a green, plush grass that homeowners in Haile Plantation Village have been using to replace their brown, cinch-infested grass. But because Zoysia isn't on the association's list of approved grasses, the issue has become heated for more than 40 homeowners.

So experts with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences experts have been acting as mediators in the dispute, as well as others in which homeowners are dealing with strict association rules.

“The homeowner's association was not allowing these homeowners to become more Florida friendly,” said Wendy Wilber, statewide coordinator for IFAS Florida Master Gardner Program. “Some homeowners were replacing their turf every two to three years.”

Wilber said the cost to homeowners faced with such requirements was huge.

“I spoke with one homeowner who said he had spent $20,000 on replacing turf over the last 15 years, which is huge waste of money,” she said.

Wilber said the homeowners wanted a cheaper, more manageable solution.

“Many of the homeowners have asked why they should have to remove a perfectly healthy, green grass and replace it with one that fails in this spot,” Wilber said.

Wilber said the issue of pesticides and poisons in landscaping is becoming more of a concern to homeowners.

“People really want to reduce the amount of pesticides in their environment,” Wilber said. “They want to maintain healthy environmentally friendly landscapes, and you can do that and remain within the aesthetics of the rest of the neighborhood."

Wilber wrote a letter to the homeowner association for Zoysia to be included on the list of approved grasses. She said the association budged and allowed the residents to use the Zoysia grass with no issue, giving the homeowners a long-awaited victory.

Haile Plantation Village resident Matt Snider said he has been fined as much as $700 by the association for the last couple of years for not replacing his grass.

“My neighbors all get letters. They will fine you for not blowing leaves off your roof, for not replacing it when it starts looking older,” Snider said.

“It’s the constant harassment that is what is getting to the neighbors,” Snider said.

Snider said he will continue to plug holes in his grass, but he said he does not plan to sod his lawn.

Attorney Jeff Braswell represented one of the homeowners in Haile Plantation Village.

“They wanted only St Augustine, which is a high-maintenance grass,” Braswell said. “It’s subject to all kinds of infestation and molds.”

Braswell said he hopes a statewide law will pass and help with the situation.

“It’s really not practical to look at a lawn and say there can only be one species of green in it,” Braswell said. “The whole notion was a little daunting.”

Glenn is a senior journalism major at UF. He has written for The Gainesville Sun and the Independent Florida Alligator.