This is a pig sty. It is one thing to have a garden and another to have a pig sty in the front yard. She sounds like a nutcase. If the plants meant that much to her, she should have taken better care of them.
The street view date on this is 2008 so I don’t know if this is how she normally kept it.
Did you read the story? The city cut everything down, even some trees. This looks like an after-action photo.
Even if a “pig sty,” unless there’s some ordinance banning what’s in the pig sty, the government should leave it alone.
In winter, most vegetation is unattractive. That photo is clearly taken during colder weather.
You sound just like the type of neighbor that caused this.The code says edible plants can be over 12” and she followed code.