An Owner's Right to Plant

I participate in on online gardening forum & website called You Grow Girl on a regular basis. Recently, one user posted the following comment:

"Last month, the city I live in passed a law that says you can not plant a vegetable or herb garden in your front yard. I could really go on and on about the local government here. They are trying to turn a working class suburb into a snotty neighborhood, much to the dismay of the working class people who live here. This is the latest in a long string of crazy directives that has come out of city council in the past year."

She said that while she does not currently have this type of garden in her front yard, she was thinking about starting to grow some kitchen herbs out front as that area has the best sun during the day.

Her post reminded me of something I drove past yesterday evening on my way home. On Crenshaw Blvd., just north of Pico Blvd., there is a residence that has planted corn in the front yard area and in the small rectangular space across the sidewalk. The corn fills the entire area of both small spaces, and is looked to be about six feet tall.

I believe that the user who posted her comment lives in a suburb outside of Cleveland, OH. Obviously, that area has some differences from a busy boulevard in Central Los Angeles. However, the desire to grow the same type of plants is there. Another user replied that "tedious homogeneity" was taking over her neighborhood as well.

As often happens in this forum, several solutions came up. One that caught my eye was the following (and I think you will appreciate as well): "You should plant a garden in your front yard, but make it really stylish! Use pretty purple cabbage to line your walkway, artichokes as a specimen piece, etc...it IS a garden, but when they give you crap about it...say 'who says these can't be used as decorative pieces?'....what could they do? Where does one draw the line between gardening and landscaping?"

What do you think about cities or neighborhoods that pass this kind of law or ordinance? And, where does one draw the line between gardening and landscaping?