We are all familiar with the little space of no-mans’ land between the sidewalk and curb. You know the one I’m talking about right? You know, the one that has a tree literally CRAMMED in, that if it survives long enough, it will destroy the sidewalk and curb almost 100% of the time?
And here’s the kicker, when it destroys the sidewalk the municipality that owns the tree, the space or should I say lack of space that the tree was stuffed in in the first place, the sidewalk and the curb, the same city that approved the planting plan, tree type, stupid location for a mature tree etc., the city will have the gall to send you a “nastygram” ordering you to fix the whole mess at your expense, and then you can plant the same damn thing in the same damn place, with the city’s blessing! HA!
When will this madness stop? And it has been going on for decades in everytown, U.S.A.
The funny thing, is with all the planning, designing, approving, and installing going on I guess nobody thought about consulting an arborist that would tell them that the plan was doomed from the start! But hey, that’s the unlucky homeowners problem now, soooo..
I’ll bet anyone any amount of money, if the planner, designer, approver, or installer knew they would have to foot the bill for the repair of the disaster they had just created, the project would have been scrapped from the word “GO”.
If you were unaware that you were financially responsible for a plan that was guaranteed to fail, too bad they will say, you shoulda’ read the fine print!
There are “fixes” for this in some cases but most of the time the mature tree is removed, the concrete broken up and repoured and a new to the space tree planted. The sad thing is, the replacement is usually a crappy maple or crepe myrtle and the canopy that used to really make for a nice walk in the warm evening is long gone!
I happen to like it when a tree blows the sidewalk up; it’s kind of a get-even for all the stupid things people do to trees! But I don’t want to pay for it…
Before you plant, call me. I will let you know about the fine print, as it seems like you probably won’t hear about it from anybody that is responsible for the future of your tree…
