Plant Some Trees or Don't Cut Them Down in the First Place

I have just recently taken on a paver patio job at my co-worker's house and was appalled by her whole neighborhood. Her subdivision is about five or six years old and there was not one tree that was taller than a house. In fact I don't recall any trees that will even attain 30 feet at maturity. It was depressing. I would guess that for those types of developments that trees are considered an inconvenience for their method of building: Clear cut everything, bulldoze everything, throw some houses together, so close together you have no yard, sell them. Good business till they built too many and burst their own bubble. Would think that someone from one of these huge development companies would have taken at least a basic Economics class in College.

(Where's the trees?)

Anyway, I told Sylvia that she should worry about planting some trees on her back property line now, so that when they build and sell a house on the lot behind her, she won't be looking out her window and into the neighbors'. When I said that, it really struck a nerve, I thought she was going to slap me! I was only asking her to get a few spruces. Think that was a tall order? No.. no. Here's one for you.

I love trees/plants in general. Call me a tree-hugger. Here's the idea that was sparked by my interest in trees and bonsai that led to an idea for an innovative "green" irrigation system:

(I bought 3 Giant Sequoias that I want to keep bonsai style. The goal is to keep them at about 6 feet tall. )

Did you know that Giant Sequoias are hardy in basically the northern 2/3 of the U.S. and the limiting factor of where they grow and why they only grow in California is... Water. That got me thinking and dreaming of my own redwood forest once I get the 200 acre piece of land. How could I efficiently keep the 20 Sequoias watered "off the grid"?, because they need a lot of it.

Hummm... Follow the flow... Rain, water runs off your roof, into the gutter, into the downspout, into an underground pipe, into a huge well that you have dug, into a pump that is solar powered by the solar panels on your roof, into a drip irrigation system that waters my own mini redwood forest. Feasible right? That's a good irrigation system for any landscape.

To sum up my rambling, PLANT MORE TREES OR DON'T CUT THEM DOWN IN THE FIRST PLACE. For more great information on or to buy Giant Sequoias or any Redwoods go to: http://www.giant-sequoia.com/homepage/ .

If you are feeling a little lazy and would like someone else to plant a tree for you, we will. GREENIFY NOW is taking donations for our "Plant a Tree" campaign above. Every $2 gets one tree planted in the U.S. where it is needed. E-mail for more info: rrodgers@greenifynow.org