A naturalist who ran afoul of his neighbors — and Orange code enforcement officials — after filling his front yard with wild-looking native plants appears to have reached an agreement with the city, ending months of sometimes heated conflict.

Joel Robinson recently received the all-clear from city code enforcement officials, who said they would close his file if he keeps his yard well maintained.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s all done,” Robinson said this week. “I think the city feels the same way.”

There seemed to be a few concessions on both sides. Several of Robinson’s neighbors complained when he ripped out his traditional front lawn about two years ago and replaced it with a variety of shrubs, grasses, cactus and other native plants.

The carefully planted and tended native garden earned Robinson’s yard certification as wild habitat from the National Wildlife Federation, a safe haven for birds, butterflies and other wildlife.

It also earned him the wrath of people living on his block.

Many native plants go dormant in the summer, a defense against drought. They might look brown, gray and dead, but remain very much alive, greening up again after winter rains.

But the neighbors, who have manicured lawns and carefully trimmed, ornamental plants, said Robinson’s yard looked like it was filled with “weeds.” He received nasty notes, a tongue-lashing or two and, he feels certain, had herbicide sprayed surreptitiously on some of his plants.

When some of the neighbors complained to city code enforcement, officials went to Robinson’s house, snapped pictures of his yard, and told him he had to keep it trimmed and remove dead vegetation.

The conflict reached a high point two months ago, when the city sent Robinson a letter threatening criminal prosecution — six months in jail or a $1,000 fine.

Robinson got an attorney. And, it appears, city code enforcement officials got an earful about the difference between dead weeds and dormant, but living, native plants.

“This is a tricky gray area, and we haven’t run into this area too much before,” assistant city attorney Wayne Winthers said at the time. “We all have to figure it out.”

For his part, Robinson is keeping his plants well trimmed, giving them extra water, and growing evergreen natives, such as laurel sumac or toyon, on the outside perimeter of his yard to try to make it more visually appealing to his neighbors. (Photo courtesy of Joel Robinson.)

His attorney, Leo Moriarty of Garden Grove, who volunteered his time on the case, said he did not believe Robinson violated any city codes. But he felt his real task was to defuse the conflict on Robinson’s street.

“If you can resolve things without having to drag it through the court system, that’s always the best thing to try to do at first,” Moriarty said. “If that doesn’t work, that’s what the courts are for. I see my role maybe as more of a peacekeeper.”

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