Battle over bees: Round Rock homeowner at odds with city over lawn

ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) -- It's a battle over bees. A Round Rock homeowner has been cited over his yard, and he said it's not his first go-around with the city.

"Please mow tall grass and weeds on the entire premises to the curb. So I assume that means cut everything down to one foot height," Tyson Bartlett explains, while holding a letter from the city of Round Rock.

Bartlett is proud of his front yard. One he's worked on for a long time.

"This type of garden is very easy to make," Bartlett explains. "It doesn't take many resources, it saves a lot of water, and it's a great habitat for bees, butterflies and birds."

The city of Round Rock, however, thinks his yard is overgrown. It slapped him with a warning -- clean it up or the city will do it for you.

"These are the plants that want to be here. They are the ones that were here originally and a lawn is artificial," Bartlett said.

That's also where he said the confusion comes in. The city has specific rules for lawns that has grass over a foot tall. Bartlett said that's not what this is.

It was two years ago Round Rock City Council passed a resolution to become a "Bee City USA." That essentially means the city works to try and conserve native pollinators.

"Bees are one of the most important parts of having a garden, really anywhere, not just in central Texas," Hannah O'Connor, a garden expert at Round Rock Garden Center, said.

It's that vitality Bartlett argues is a reason the city's rules need to be more clear.

"We need to embrace the chaos," Bartlett said. "This is a garden. It may look unkept, and go a little brown in the summer, that should be totally fine."

He said he plans to work with the city to try to come to a common ground.

"One day we can start to change perceptions about pocket prairies and make it so more people start to accept them, and cities, HOAs, everybody will be more accepting of them," Bartlett hopes.

One that will be good for both mother nature and people.

KXAN reached out to the city, but it has not returned a request for comment. We will update this article if a statement is received.

In the meantime, Bartlett remains hopeful something can be worked out.