No HOA here, TG! Been there, done that - in a condo. Got the letter telling me I had to shorten my ficus tree because its branches were too tall (max 6ft) and were brushing against the roof of the porch and they would DAMAGE IT. Ficus tree, in a pot - whose branches at the top weren't even 1/8" thick... I trimmed the tree because I had to, and I cried because it was the beginning of the end for that poor tree. It was my grandmother's tree that I took after she died, and it had a 3" thick trunk. It was big and beautiful and I was furious that I had to cut the top down. Of course, 3 years later DH killed when we moved, and he put it in a truck covered by a tarp which shredded about 50 miles into the 600 mile drive and the tree never recovered from being stripped completely of leaves and bark... The last apartment we lived in, before we moved in to this house - I horribly exceeded the weight limit on the porch and had it covered with pots. I had delphiniums, lilies, fuchsia, flowering vines, another ficus tree, and many many flowering succulents. I even had a dove nest in there 2 summers in a row, 6" from the sliding glass door. I got TONS of compliments about it, "Oh, YOU'RE the lady with the jungle porch with all the flowers!) The landlord might not have loved me, but the neighbors did. They were very sorry when I left and took all my plants. I am rural now, on a minor highway where people rarely drive by at less than 35 mph, and frequently closer to 60. So, cars may look, but they don't stop for anything. Walkers and joggers do comment and tell me they think it's pretty. There are no cars parked out front in these parts, they are decently hidden in back. We also have George, who periodically wanders up to our door and wants to talk to me (I thought you were younger...) or my daughter (sorry, she's not home) about our neighbors across the road. We have dogs (but NO wandering dogs, so it's not all bad) next door and all around us, and I hear them singing sometimes when I don't hear any sirens, and it's really musical. I like hearing them!! We have raccoons, who have done a bit of damage out back, but have not taken my lettuce or my peas, and didn't take any tomatoes last summer (hope that holds for THIS summer...) We have deer in the neighborbood, but none come to my yard - and they COULD if they chose, as my gates are broken and don't keep anything in or out. I think our little pocket neighborhood just isn't attractive enough, and there are areas around (open meadows) that they like better. I did see 4 or 5 of them inside somebody's fenced and closed driveway last week on my way to work. I love where I live now, even if I would like a larger lot, and more sun and a LOT more money to play with! Melinda

Yeah its Neo Spectabilis. Its pretty much 100% cold hardy here. I have clumps of it under some trees. You can also mount some, in the trees if you like that look. If you like the look of bromeliads in your yard, some others that are hardy here in the more northerly part of the state are Aechmea gammosepala, variegated pineapple, Quesmia 'Flame', Quesmia 'Dart', Puya alpestris, most of the Dyckias (which are xeric so do well in the drought), Billbergia nutans, Billbergia pyramidalis, Aechmea "Lucky Stripes" (which is a variegated version of gammosepala), Nidulariums (fulgens, antoineanum and angustifolia)...there are others too.

That's great news. What no one mentioned is that if the tree fell especially during a storm or other devastating event there would be no access to the houses and people on the road from ambulance or fire trucks or other emergency equipment. That in itself can be a reason for removing a tree that would block any road access. On our street a neighbor had a huge oak with long branches that reach across the road from one neighbors house into the yard across the street. As these huge limbs drooped they got low enough over the street that tall trucks, moving trucks, rvs, and The Fire department trucks could not pass below with out hitting and damaging the vehicles. In fact it took the ac unit off the top of our rv not long after we got it. I spoke with the owner and the person across the street. The person across the street wanted the branch cut back away from her property. I told the tree owner I was not able to get my rv in and out of the street because of the limb hazard. She was stubborn and refusing to cut it even though I myself offered to pay for it. I had to print out the legal height clearances for the area for clearance for fire trucks before she would understand how liable that limb could make her. Fire trucks could not have been able to access any of our homes. She finally agreed but I paid several hundred dollars to have her branch cut! The neighbors were furious and insisted that I make her pay, she has plenty of money. But to me getting it taken care of and our safety restored was worth it. Of course she didn't offer to pay a dime on the damage her tree did to my rv. I love trees and hate to see one go but the safety of the house and people around it are priority one.

They won’t be interested. If they cut down every tree that was within falling distance of a line, they’d be in partnership with a timber company to manufacture the nation’s toilet paper supply. I live in the Pacific Northwest with trees everywhere and we never cut down standing trees because of theoretical threats to power lines unless the trees are diseased. Power lines here routinely run through all kinds of trees and tall hedges: branches do get strategically trimmed, and occasionally there are outages when branches break unexpectedly. But I don’t understand why you would go to the expense of cutting down healthy trees near the lines based on a rather minor probability of future harm. And, if one of the trees fell and broke the line, the utility will repair it. If the utility has a concern now, which I doubt, they will deal with it. My view: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.