Humongous Backyard Trees

There is this penchant for some Pinoys to plant a fruit-bearing tree or plant somewhere in the backyard. They'd rather have the tree in the backyard than the front lest it becomes the "mangga ng bayan" or the "calamansi ng bayan".

Something that irks me though is when homeowners just don't prune or cut their trees regularly and you suddenly realize they've created a monster.

I'm sure there have been neighbors quarreling because of an errant tree - and not just in our neighborhood. Issues are aplenty although the more common ones that folks gripe about neighbors with humongous trees are:

• Too many dried leaves that fall on their property. Imagine having to sweep rubbish that isn't yours but from your neighbor's. Enough said.
  
  
• Danger to property. This country gets 20+ typhoons a year - all of them potentially devastating. When a tree or tree branch falls on your property due to strong winds, it becomes "nobody's fault" and the neighbor quickly retorts the "wala namang may gustong mangyari" line.
  
  
• Damage to property due to the tree's root system. That's usually when your walls or fences begin to show cracks due to the big roots that have crossed the perimeter line and managed to hit structures.
  
  
• Termite infestation. When a tree dies and the owner doesn't care to take it out, it becomes a termite magnet. Guess where else will the termites forage? Yup, your humble abode.
  
  

There are many others to add to the above list. Luckily we have very understanding neighbors. Right after typhoon Feria, we asked permission to cut the tree that belongs to our neighbor at the back.

We emphasized that we'll cut the branches on OUR side of the tree only. Mang Dods just finished the apartment's Unit D ceiling and so had him ready to cut branches in the afternoon. Here's the Cottonfruit tree (Santol) now as seen from our backyard.


In the photo below, see how much brighter our kitchen is now with the natural light? With the heavy foliage out of the way, everything outside sort of just cleared up!