I thought the same thing. But it does look like there’s a stone path leading to it. Still, perhaps a post with a sign would be a practical solution.

I’m a bit surprised at how far into the parcel the hydrant is placed but they also practically don’t exist around here, is it common to have them basically on your lawn?

The 2023 pic is beautiful and looks really nice. But if we're comparing in good faith, it's also pretty obvious that the 2022 photo was taken in early spring when nothing is growing.

There's surely a lot more plant life on the bottom anyway, but it would not look that vibrant if it was all dormant right after winter like the top pic.

TBF, the 2022 photo looks like it was taken in the winter (no leaves on trees, empty/dead garden beds), and a 2023 winter pic would look about the same but with more empty/brown garden instead of grass.

Once established it's probably significantly less water and maintenance too. Just trimming and weeding every quarter instead of mowing, fertilising and/or watering every few weeks.

My yard is becoming 2023 and my neighbor's yard is 2022, and he complains about my yard every opportunity he has, but he never complained when it was only grass

Doesn't even need to be an HOA, plenty of municipalities don't accept anything but lawn in front of the house.

If it's local, it's designed to survive on its own. I'm in North Texas and this summer has been hell on everyone's lawns and gardens. The exception for me is my garden with trailing lantana. It is completely unaffected and growing like mad while everything else is drying up and dying.

The goal is to have local plant which can survive in local climates. Then you don’t have to water as much or ever.

Big reason why grass lawns require so much constant watering is because they have pretty bad water retention. Having a thick layer of foliage protects the soil from direct sunlight which prevents it from drying out too quickly. Much of that water you see people spraying onto their lawns is actually just gonna evaporate back into the air before the grass even has a chance to use it.

The real question is do you have to weed or do other maintenance? I'm looking for a zero maintenance yard not just a zero watering

In addition to what the other comment says, the raised garden edgers would reduce/eliminate rain runoff and usually a variety of plants like this provide deep, wide roots which anchor and aerate the soil, increasing it's water retention ability and recuing water requirements, especially compared to shallow root grass

And that's why when buying a house, avoid ones with a HOA

I think HOAs are luckily rare in Canada.

I think the tree was already there. It just didn't have any leaves.

There's two trees, the big one is more in frame in the second image

I immediately thought about insects. Is it not how it works?

After attracting pollinators the last few years, I finally attracted crickets, grasshoppers, and spiders in my little urban sanctuary this year. I considered it a compliment from nature

It's a legit question. Are these yards more likely to result in additional home repairs due to destructive pests? I'm significantly less pro nature when that nature has destroyed my home by chewing wires, eating the wood from my support structure or causing leaks and water damage. I've dealt with rodents causing thousands of dollars in damage before and it completely sucks.