Thanks Mike. I thought of you bc I remember you complaining about your neighbor's tree...sorry it's still standing ;-).

My neighbors took down a huge White Pine that was blocking all my sunlight in August. It is nice to have the additional sunlight.

Cory

Wow Laura, that is good news for your trees! Although I know what you mean about old trees like that going down. You wouldn't believe me if I told you that I have seen a few houses in which their mature mango trees have been cut down because they just got too large (they never bothered to maintain and prune to a manageable size) or because they didn't want to deal with the mangos that never got picked. I had one guy tell me that he hated (he said hated!) his mango tree because all of the mangos would fall on the ground and then the roaches would come because there was just too much rotting fruit on the ground. Hello??!! Pick the mangos and give them away.. heck, sell them at the market! BUT, in your case, your sunroom will be much brighter and your trees will thrive that much more, especially during the winter. Yay for you!!

That is great Cory!! I am happy to hear you will also have more light. Figs, I remember when I lived in S.Florida that some friends and relatives had mango trees. When it was mango season (or avocado season) they would show up with grocery bags full of fruit. I took it for granted then, but boy how I wish I had some now. It is almost impossible to get good mangos up here because they are picked when green and do not ripen properly if at all. It is sad about a tree like that going down. I agree with you about pruning and just gathering the fruit. This tree that came down was a maple tree...no fruit, but I am sure it was home to lots of critters that will have to move to another tree. That saddens me, but am happy to have the light.

Nothing beats a horizontal shade tree.

One has no control over your neighbor's trees or properties. My neighbor has let a Mulberry grow along our common fenceline. He won't remove it. It is now shading my evergreen border of hollies. Grrr. Hope your neighbor doesn't plant a fast growing weed tree to replace the maple.

I hear you Dave. My neighbors on all three sides neglect their yards. I feel like we are constantly having to fight back an encroaching jungle of vines, etc.. I don't think they will plant anything in its place for that reason. There are still lots of trees on that property, but that one was the worst offender. I am sorry about the mulberry....maybe make some jam?? ;-)

Yippee !!!! . Happy for you Laura . Let's hope we get lot's of sun this winter .

Brian

I am sad for the maple tree also, but, it does open up more sunlight for your yard, and hey, we all need a bit more sunshine in our lives.. :)

Laura, I am happy for you. My yard gets about 6 - 8 hours of sun but would get a lot more if it weren't for the huge trees on either side. The trees on the west side are huge. They are just starting to drop leaves. They are my trees but it would cost a fortune to cut them down.

So glad to hear of your happy increase of sunshine, Laura! The moral of the story is choose your trees for the size of the landscape area carefully!

I must admit i was an ignorant offender of a sort not too long ago. I bought a house with 20 redwoods and then planted 10 more. 20 years later it was a dense forest and some neighbors didn't mind, others didn't care (thankfully). i had no sun on the pool as they were between 100-125 ft. tall.

However, while they were racing towards the sky, the roots were strangling my irrigation pipes, cracking my pool pipes, and filling my sewer line. They found my wallet really badly.

I got rid of all of them. Freaked out the neighborhood. One neighbor now has a sunset view (happy), another neighbor can enjoy his lawn (happy), and the one down the hill planted 5 redwoods (idiot).

And - - - i was able to plant 40 citrus and 10+ other fruit trees (happy).

So if you know an ignorant offender out there, be nice, but don't necessarily wait for God to intervene (as in your case Laura). Be straightforward - they may be nudged into decency. : - )

-George

Lol George! I am glad that God intervened...I just feel terrible chopping down a tree...but....they shade everything and then nothing grows! Yes I am thrilled, and your story made me laugh. It sounds like you've capitalized greatly from the sunniness!!!

I hear you Vladimir. My neighbor said it was $2500 to cut down that tree...ouch! I hope yours do not shade too much. This tree was directly in the path of the rising sun. I always thought it was my maple (never paid too much attention to the angle of the sun until I started fussing over the citrus) that shaded my trees...well, it was mostly that tree.