Thanks for your input knuttle. I know this would be a huge expense. Our neighbors across the street just had several very large eucaplytus removed from their backyard (even taller than our gum tree). They had had concerns with branches breaking and landing on their house when Santa Ana winds come around. It took over three days to remove their trees and I can only imagine the cost. The cost alone could be enough to prevent us from taking our tree out. I guess there used to be several gum trees planted in our neighborhood. It seems everyone else has already taken theirs out and we're the last ones to still have one. I will look into the city laws as well. That thought hadn't crossed my mind. Perhaps a good option right now would be to have the tree trimmed. I don't think it's ever been properly trimmed and there are several large branches close to our house. And I will absolutely add "picking up pods" to my kids' chore list. :) At any rate, like I mentioned, we won't be making any definitive decisions this year. We'd like to at least have a full year in our house to get a better idea of the year-round maintenance of the tree before we just cut it down. (And I knew you were joking about blowing the pods down the hill. We'd also like to stay friends with our neighbors.) :)

That's really something that you've planted SO many trees, Pam! I know you'll enjoy watching them all grow. I think by far the best book for a butterfly beginner would be The Life Cycles of Butterflies by Judy Burris and Wayne Richards. They're brother and sister, and Judy posts on the Butterfly Forum occasionally. The book explains the basics of butterflies, gives examples of their host plants and some of their favorite nectar plants in the authors' area (Kentucky) and has some of the best pictures of eggs and caterpillars out there. Her book includes just about all the butterflies you'll find in the coastal Virginia area. I'm sure its available at Amazon.com, and you might find it at a local book store. I've been weeding and pruning my garden today - hopefully, I'll get it finished soon! Sherry

Hey, I found an interesting article about Virginal Supreme court ruling on tree nuisance. "The court ruled last week that if your neighbor's tree poses a danger to your house, you can force the neighbor to prune or even fell the tree." Just so you know that you may have a right to ask for the neighbor's tree removal if it actually harms your property's foundation, pipes, etc. in the future. But the article says "casting shade or dropping leaves, flowers, or fruit" doesn't count as this type of nuisance. The dispute on the article was also on a sweet gum. ;-) Here is a link that might be useful: Washington Post Article This post was edited by ttonk on Fri, May 10, 13 at 17:18

i would have the city come back and remove it.. before it kills someone.. thank god the neighbor wasnt getting her mail ... once the integrity of the canopy is compromised .... it does not surprise me that other problems arise .... i have seen it dozens of time on young trees in my yard ... i make what i think good cuts.. and its like i created a sailboat sail.. that catches the wind.. or snow.. whatever.. and i get future failure ... if you can convince the city that it started due to their pruning... and if you can get it done for free .. i would be done with it ... in essence.. the tree is topping itself.. and no one recommends such drastic pruning ... i presume you will hate this advice... lol ... good luck whatever you decide ... ken