”
I have this tree that’s been growing on the side of my house, at
first I thought it was just a little shrub and left it there, but I
was wrong. It grew pretty fast. I’ve thought about removing it, but
it’s a pretty nice tree and it gives these purple flowers. Does the
city mind if I go and plant it on one of the nearby hills or are
they all private property?
”
“I have this tree that’s been growing on the side of my house, at first I thought it was just a little shrub and left it there, but I was wrong. It grew pretty fast. I’ve thought about removing it, but it’s a pretty nice tree and it gives these purple flowers. Does the city mind if I go and plant it on one of the nearby hills or are they all private property? Thanks Red Phone.”
Red Phone: Dear Plant It, Red Phone contacted Anthony Eulo, program administrator with the city, who said most of the land on the hills surrounding our community is owned by private parties or other government agencies.
“Given this, it is not appropriate for the city to offer our permission to plant anything on this land,” he said. “For nearby areas that are under city ownership, we really try to focus on planting native species, like oaks, that have the best success of long-term survival. Any tree planted, especially at this time of year, is going to require periodic watering and care. With a native tree, there is a good chance that the tree will ultimately be able to survive on just rainwater alone. Most other trees, however, will ultimately die without supplemental watering and may become a fire hazard.”
There you have it, good caller. Thanks for your interest in greening our community.
Frosty welcome from neighbors
“Red Phone, I wanted to know if you have a ‘Soap Box’ section of the newspaper? The reason I ask is that as new homeowners we have been working hard to make our house a home. However, with unforeseen plumbing issues with a 50-year-old home, other projects have fallen to the back burner. One being building a garage for us to house our automobiles and other items. And lastly, landscaping. This is where our issues with a neighbor arose.
“With all the rain we had, we had a lot of weeds. Every moment I had to get out there on the weekend I did. After four weekends of pulling weeds, cutting back the brush and getting cuts and bruises, we get a letter in the mail from our ‘neighbor’ that said we were bringing the property values down in our neighborhood and that we should take some home ownership pride and clean our yard. I was first hurt and then mad. Now that it is sunny, we have been out in the yard cleaning up the 50-year-old juniper bushes. Of course, we got another complaint from a neighbor (not sure if it is the same that sent us a letter since they didn’t sign the letter). Now, I guess we haven’t worked quick enough. We have been cutting the bushes and stacking them up. Since going to the dump is more than $40 a load, we want to order a dumpster to haul it all away at once, to save on cost. I guess our neighbor’s have the money to pay to have this all done, we sure don’t. It would be nice if they offered a friendly hand to either help or the cost to get this all complete.
“Well, this is why I wanted to know if you had a soap box. We purchased our home in Morgan Hill because of the community. Of course, this obviously did not make us feel we received a warm ‘welcome to the neighborhood.”
Red Phone: Dear Unwelcome, wow what a story, and yes you sent your query to the appropriate “soap box.” It seems you moved into an area with a few snobs. Red Phone’s advice: casually approach your neighbors when you see them out front and talk to them. Bring up how much work it’s been getting your home’s landscaping up to par. You should be able to learn who the complainers are because they’ve probably complained to your other neighbors as well. When you do, bring them something nice, a bottle of wine or fresh baked cookies should help smooth some of the rough edges. If it doesn’t work and they continue to complain, oh well, you tried. Make friends with your other neighbors.
Hope that helps, good caller.
