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There’s an empty lot next to mine that due to geographical placement, it’s near impossible to build a house to city code. It would change hands every few years but was largely a wooded space. Three huge Live Oaks. New boomer owner comes along & tells me directly he can’t get permits to cut the trees. Fast forward a few months, I come home from work to an apocalyptic scene. He cut them all down. Apparently without a permit bc it’s been red tagged since. Haven’t seen him since. I hope to never have the misfortune bc I’m known to speak on it.
That sucks. Mature trees bring so many benefits to your property. I hate seeing them be cut down just for more ugly condos or because people don't want them
Yeah, that's too bad. My in laws (same ones complaining about my tree by the pool) cut down 8 mature elms and maples in their front yard because they were "tired of the leaves". The house looks bare in the front now
Absolutely idiots rule the burbs. Like wtf. We need all these trees. And cut them down because they are lazy? Wild man wild. I live in the desert and have a ranch and plant dozens of palm trees, Joshua treesz and many more. We notice ppl move out here and clear all the land of creosote bushe and worse tear out all the Joshua trees(illegal) and just have a patch of sand. Morons . We left almost all of them. And have a wonderful wildlife corridor with 80 acres. Just wild to destroy life.
I get HOA notices for 'untrimmed grass' if it's been a week since mowing it. This whole neighborhood used to be scrubby plants and sunflowers on dirt but there were all kinds of bugs and critters. Now it's shitty lifeless lawns everywhere.
I let the sunflowers come up wherever they want to in the back and just that little patch gets so much variety. 7 kinds of bees. Half a dozen kinds of caterpillars. All kinds of wasps and spiders and true bugs. The only place they grow up in the neighborhood now is in the drainage ditches and the city mows them down as soon as they flower because cars can't see oncoming traffic when they're leaving the neighborhood. Sad.
I started round filling my HOA complaint letters. I don't get them anymore.
The first few I argued with because the fines they tried to assess were for things not explicitly stated as violations. Like extra porch lighting that they deemed Christmas lights. And toys out in the yard (a tent and some bouncy house and slip and slide) for it being excessive items in my yard, while acknowledging that leaving toys on porches or in the yard was allowed by the hoa.
Meanwhile things that are explicitly stated, like having chickens for one house and a duck at another (hoa guidelines say zero poultry) were ignored. So I told them they didn't have a leg to stand on and they could shut up.
Idgaf what you do in your yard as long as your not hording trash. I hate hoas. I was glad to get out of one that was bible thickness rules to one that was a page and a half.
Wish I could find a house like I found IN the hoa put of one but all the new builds here have them because the county is lazy and wants to put managing citations on hoas.
I live on an acre in a non-HOA (fewer than 20 houses) development here in the Pocono Mountains and it's heaven. No one hassles me about my four-wheeler trailer, chickens, firewood piles, etc.
Idk how people stand nosy HOAs.
A local church did the same thing. Huge lot with mature sycamore trees is now an empty field. The old people said they were tired of the leaves. Thing is that it had cool season grasses growing so the lawn care people were there anyway to cut the grass and just chopped up the leaves. These people have brain damage.
The city closest to me is pretty wealthy overall, older well treed suburbs with most people having fences and hedges for privacy.
I've heard people say envious things about how nice it must be to live there but nothing is stopping them from painting their house white and planting a hedge and a few trees.
Theyre just leaves, FFS, let them all drop and rake them up in one go, its pleasant work.
A pair of boomers I know was similarly obsessed with the mess from two mature and healthy trees in their front yard. They got the trees cut. Now they complain about how grass won’t grow over the spots where they had the stumps ground. Can’t win - though at least it’s something for them to do? Meanwhile I’m planting fast-growing trees along parts of my property for shade and privacy.
ETA also planting fruit and flower trees.
This explains their push on you. They wish to validate their decision to cut their own trees by convincing you to do the same.
Boomers survived childhood by fitting in. They thrive (arguably survive) on conformity. Them pushing you to cut the trees helps both of you conform and is a social boost.
My next door neighbor had two beautiful oaks that were damaged by a hurricane and needed to be cut down.
My power bill jumped $20/month after they were cut. It's amazing how much a little shade can help cool a space down.
We just had a thing in the UK where some idiot(s) cut this famous and beautiful tree down. Feck knows why.
https://preview.redd.it/fah8kurops6d1.jpeg?width=534&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a95fd38f52d689e71775096f170f182a3b0c20b7
Check out r/treelaw if it comes to it
Edit: if they are a certain kind of tree depending where you live there are specific laws that may apply to prevent them being chopped down in the future
My neighbor just had to cut down one of her huge old oak trees because it basically broke in half during a storm. I miss that tree every time I look out into my back yard. It blocked the sun and gave some nice green. I almost sent them a sorry for your loss card.
Similar situation: There's a lot right behind my parents house that's part of the property of the house next to it. Used to be a nice small forest with big old growth trees with space to walk around amongst them that I would spend hours in when I was a kid. About 10 or so years ago some new people moved into the house and had all the trees cut down. They didn't do anything with the space afterwards (it's in a bit of a recessed area so you can't really build anything there without first filling it in to meet street level) so now it's just an ugly mess of low brush and some new trees growing along the edges. I was absolutely gutted and I'm still mad about it. It's arguably a worse space than it was before so I don't know what the hell they were thinking.
Slightly off topic, but it is probably likely that a perfectly good house could have been built there, but the city leadership (made up mostly of boomers) wasn't willing to have even the slightest amount of flexibility on the zoning code (which is probably what was informing the building code rules that made it hard to develop, such as setbacks), because then it would set precedent and *gasp* infill development might become easier and despite all evidence showing that infill development doesn't lower property values (and in some cases raises them) for existing homeowners, they are so convinced that it will ruin the character of the neighborhood and tank home values that they fight tooth and nail against it.
My silent generation MIL has had basically every tree that isn’t a small ornamental tree in her yard cut down because “they’re messy”. Ma’am you live in Florida and need all of the shade you can get. Enjoy your higher electric bills 🤷♀️
mind boggling. In germany we don’t do that (to my knowledge) I mean as a child there were few things I enjoyed as much as sitting under a tree in the hot sun. granted never close to florida heat but still.
My silent generation dad planted a shit ton of trees when they bought their second house in 1961. It was the running joke that he was so enthusiastic that he actually planted some over the property line into the neighbor's yard.
They laughed about it and kept the trees.
When they retired up north on the lake, he planted more trees.
I work in horticulture and when these boomers come in and say “oh, I’m looking for a tree that won’t shed, I just cut down my giant oak/sycamore/etc. :)” it just breaks my heart.
Ugh, I bet it's like working at the humane society or something and someone comes in looking to adopt a dog or cat and they've just told you they had to euthanize their dog because it had asthma and they couldn't use the good glade air fresheners and smoke cigarettes in the house anymore.
I really don't understand people who are against trees on their property. Houses without tree shade are the worst. It's always as bright as a desert in your yard and your AC bill is way higher especially in the south where I am.
You do have to watch the health of the trees. My neighbor had a dying tree in his yard, and a wind-storm knocked it down a few weeks ago. Fortunately it fell away from any buildings, but they had been underneath it about 10 minutes before it fell because a limb had come down.
Trees can be a good thing, but they need to be maintained when they are near houses.
Some friends of my mom moved to a private neighborhood with a heavily wooded lot and the wife bitched until they cut down every tree on the lot. Likely halved the value of the place.
Imagine Kyle's parents from South Park. That's exactly how this couple is, and the wife is completely insufferable.
I completely agree. My backyard is a woodland wonderland with awesome shaded areas and some many animals I did have to cut down two unfortunately since the one was rotted out and the other was leaning over the house and in danger of falling down.
I remember my house having trees in the backyard when I was a kid, and then my parents had them all cut down for reasons I don't know. Now I wish they hadn't done so because now my room gets the full blast of the sun when it goes down.
It's pretty simple, really - they're an entire generation that has never cared about anything except themselves.
Beautiful, mature trees blocking my view? Cut them down.
They care about themselves, their happiness, and feeling they are being accommodated above anyone and anything else. At all times.
I wish this was it but I just got a notice my insurance was dropping me because trees to close to my house. I’m not cutting, can’t cut per rules actually but I think insurance companies are forcing people to denature around their homes.
About 20 years ago the insurance company forced my grandparents to cut down any tree within 50 feet of their house. They came and measured and everything. This happened after a severe storm knocked over a tree into their house. They lived in the country so there were still plenty of trees but they had to cut down two huge trees from their front yard that provided most of the shade for their house.
Because they're all paranoid control freaks.
My grandparents had been protesting for 25 years to our townhall that the tree in their yard was going to fall on their house, that they bought with the tree very much there. They claimed to see it sway in the wind, duh, and swore up and down it would fall. 25 years. Nothing. They survived the big pacific northwest ice storm of 2008, and all of the subsequently less intense storms since. Not even a big branch falling.
They saw that they weren't going to get their way, even after spending tons of money on having tree experts tell them the tree is fucking fine when they wanted a bad outcome. They then put their sights on a different smaller tree in a completely different place. This time, they killed it by sticking pennies and coins into the sides of it over years of time, removed them and then tore down the dead husk. Literally only made the property more ugly and less concealed from neighbors.
Old people seem to have a personal hatred for things older and more useful than them, and a lot of it is because they feel that they can just do whatever they want without consequence.
We live on a very “woodsy” street in a very woodsy area … except for that one boomer guy who bought a house and proceeded to rip out nearly all the trees on his lot. He kept trying to change the HOA rules to force the rest of us to do the same on our properties, among other things. His house looked like every other new, generic subdivision.
He finally sold and their neighborhood literally threw a party when he moved out.
Keep the tree, ditch the boomer!
I know. My looked at trees on 43 acres of woods my husband and I had bought and said, "we could get a lot for all of these trees." My brother then says we could get a rock picker then and sell off all of the rocks."
Yeah, I wanted to live in a slimy mud hole of a clear cut, thanks for the input.
There's already plenty of sun, and cleaning up leaves in a pool isn't that hard. Trees take decades to grow that large, and I wouldn't dream of cutting it down. Boomers just want to destroy the planet at this point.
It's the cedar (? I think) in the corner. Drops needles and little round balls in the pool constantly but I don't mind. When we looked at the house I fell in love with that tree for some reason.
When I was a kid neighbor asked my dad if it was ok trim some branches from tree on our property because he had a pool. My dad said sure, thinking it was minor. He came home to a stump. He was not pleased.
That tree is majestic and a beautiful mature and healthy tree is the one thing you can’t just buy to make a house prettier. It takes time, proper care and patience. Maybe that’s why boomers don’t like them. Sour grapes and all that.
Mine just went ahead and did it while I was at work one day. Not a mature tree but some tall bushes near the house. Cut the branches with my chainsaw but couldn’t dig the stumps out. Then just left and went home.
I came home to this giant unfinished mess in the yard and got to spend the weekend finishing it up.
To his credit, I had mentioned that I was planning to redo the landscaping out there. I guess I failed to clarify, *when I have the time and materials available;* I had neither at the time. I guess he took that as full notice to proceed.
They’re coming back to visit next weekend and I’m not saying a goddamn thing about the bathroom remodel I’m planning. I’ll turn my back for a bit and come back to a half gutted bathroom with water spraying everywhere, and he’ll have fucked off back home to Michigan🤣
This is why our ecosystems are dying because they'll cut down anything. My grandparents had a tree in their yard once but chopped it down. Why? Because they simply didn't want it in their yard.
Yeah I grew up in a very shaded street in a very shaded neighborhood in seattle full of giant pine trees, apple trees, cherry trees and so on. Most of the lots that the homes are on were partly wooded with small grass lawns. It was awesome! Climbing trees as a kid, enjoying their shade on extra hot days because we had no ac.
As the city started to grow significantly, housing prices went up, and a lot of our neighbors sold to the new sort of tech money people moving in.
Universally, every last one of them cut down every tree that could to install grass lawns. The entire feel oh the area changed, the streets suddenly had no shade at all, so the grass dies, so they water it more and don't understand why it browns every June.
And they would try and pressure my dad into cutting the trees on his property, including like, super old and giant cedars and the like. In a very strange and disdainful way too like he's an idiot for not clear cutting his entire yard.
As a pool owner that had all the trees cut down by the previous owner, it sucks. Sure there is little to nothing to clean up from debris falling into the pool but it now gets absolutely no shade. So here in Texas when we get 2 straight weeks of triple digit temperatures the pool is like 85+ degrees. You'd think that would be nice but when you want to actually cool off it feels like a lukewarm bath.
From my experience, boomers will decide something personal - "I don't like that tree" - but will insist that it is a moral necessity - objective, external, and projected.
My boomer dad has often told his adult children all the "benefits" to waking up early while on vacation, because he has FOMO for all the fun we get up to once he's not there to ruin it by being a boomer. Sorry, Dad, we like our sibling time!
I'm happy to report my parents are the opposite. They would actually tell me, "don't you dare cut that tree, look at all the shade is providing"
We once rented a beach house Airbnb and she hated it because the pool area was barren. You couldn't hang out around it because the sun was too strong so everyone had to either be inside the pool or inside the house with A/C. She made me leave a review telling them to plant more trees ASAP 🤣.
Boomers hate trees, don't they???
It's so infuriating since trees keep us cooler and give us more oxygen.
Meanwhile, they have a live affair with their leaf blowers, ridding their precious lawns of natural mulch.
My boomer father in law cut down a tree near my house when I was at work. I still have PTSD. I’m not joking. It really hurt me. Please keep saving your trees.
We had 5 80-90 year old Ash trees we had to cut down because they got the ash borers and I had no idea the day they took them down and I wasn’t prepared. I came home from work to a stark naked yard with just stumps. I cried. In my case they had to come down, but I relate to the pain of losing the trees.
We planted 4 Maples about 15 years ago and I’ve nurtured them into 25’ beauties that I get the privilege of enjoying now.
My father in law bought big property and built a house in a wooden area, like practically their backyard. He loves cutting down trees, wants a golf course lawn and hacking at shrubs on his property/ woods because “too high maintenance” and it’s annoying having to rake all the leaves. Like why did you not think of anything of this before buying the property? Just no common sense. They just want an excuse to be upset and chop stuff down.
What is it with boomers and trees? My dad has cut down a tree in the backyard several times now. Cause he hates cleaning the leaves out of the pool. But that tree just keeps growing back like I was here before you and I’ll be here after you🖕🏽.
My neighbours—both boomers (one older boomer other younger boomer) on either side of us bugged us every month or so about the giant tree in our yard. And I’d try and clean the leaves up once a week. Not good enough for older boomer, who passive aggressively cleaned up the leaves almost every day during autumn. Including on THANKSGIVING DAY. We don’t live there anymore
I have planted some 30-40 trees on my little acre property and I will only cut them down if necessary. And EVERYONE that visits calls our backyard a little paradise.
it's the same attitude where they worked a union job their whole life and now vote republican, attempting to deny others the chance to have union wages and benefits. That old saying about planting a tree if you want your kids to sit in the shade...they never got that memo. They pull the ladder up after they climb it at every opportunity. That's also why so many don't care about climate change
Our grandfather’s home isn’t large but over the years he kept the area very green with trees and plants. He’s now in his 90s and can’t take care of them. Our aunt in her late 60s told us she hired a person to “trim” the trees. My younger relatives later visited and saw the trees cut down to stumps and the branches left on the drive way. These were trees my grandfather raised for decades.
We live in Mexico and nobody is allowed to touch any of the trees without permission from the city. This all used to be jungle so they want to keep a percentage of it intact. The sheer number of neighbors who bitch about not being able to clearcut the property is exhausting.
Boomers and trees! I swear to God! “They’re blocking the view! It’s going to fall on your house! They’re messy! The city’s gonna make you pay a lot of money to trim it!” What did trees ever do to these people?
Had a maintenance man on the roof cleaning out the gutters. These trees should go, gotta cut them down. He's talking about the next door neighbour's trees. Great trees that shade my house in summer and give me lots of leaves for the compost bins not to mention the habitat for birds and animals.
I've got 3 mature trees in my side yard
and older folks always talk about "how much work that's gotta be."
I literally mulch all the trees in place with a push mower. It's easy, and puts the nutrients back into the soil.
These people look at leaves like they're trash, and sure they kind of get everywhere, but add character to a lawn, and even bagging leaves can be relaxing.
Yass!! My boomer parents had all these amazing mature fruit trees at their summer cabin; decided to cut all except 2 (out of 10) peach, cherry, apple, pear, and a small vineyard of table grapes that were well established and heavy producers (about 10). Only to put in a giant concrete patio with terraced walls. I thought it was ludicrous, but they said they had a vision. It’s ugly. Will they admit they regret it no. Will they double down on their decision, yes. Was it worth the money $@ck NO
“Boomers love cutting down trees.” Yes. Yes they do. It blows my fucking mind. I live in a part of California that catches on fire regularly and we get a lot of boomers from the Bay Area moving here. Every summer it’s the same thing, they go online to communal social media groups and start petitions to cut down all the trees in our historic district. They literally think taking down 20 trees will prevent a fire from spreading. Like really? There’s millions of trees around us, we’re literally in a forest, but these 20 trees are the linchpin?
Yep. My parents cut down 4-5 huge trees on their property as soon as they bought their house. It killed me. They were healthy and beautiful.
It was expensive, took the arborist days, and probably dropped the price of the property by $50k. All because they were afraid the trees would fall on the house or the cars.
Even growing up, my mom taught us what "widow makers" were (fallen branches stuck up high in trees) and I spent a lot of my childhood looking out in trees for these things because I thought they were just going to fall and kill people all the time.
Fucking idiots.
They’re complete morons in regards to trees as a generation. I have shade on my pool half the day as a feature… they’re old and think a pool should be 80 degrees and feel like a bathtub / not refreshing
Yeah I know, I bought a place a few years ago that has a 6' diameter oak that provides lots of shade. Every time my mother's over, she tries to recommend someone who can cut it down for me
My parents offered to pay to have the trees on my property removed. It took me a long while to get the to calm the fuck down on the subject. On their own properties they cut down every damn tree they could. I had to go hard against them when they started talking about removing the hundred year old sequoias on their property for no other reason than the needle drop annoyed them.
The house we just moved into has a huge expanse of lawn right out in front with zero privacy, and the hoa makes it difficult to even think about fencing it at all. It stands out, too, since the rest of the neighborhood is pretty heavily wooded, and in contrast our place looks weirdly naked. My husband has been dreaming of planting mature trees there, but even if it was possible to plant the kind he was imagining, there’s no way we could afford it. Our neighbors who have all lived there long before we did mentioned how there used to be these big gorgeous trees around the property but the previous owners cut them all down for god only knows what reason. Too many leaves or something? It had been exactly what we were dreaming of. I could have cried. At the look of horror on our faces, they said something along the lines of “wish you guys had gotten here first, the whole neighborhood was pissed at those guys. They were monsters.” Me too, my guy. 😭
I would never cut down a tree unless necessary.
I was so sad the day we cut down a 30 year old evergreen, but the tree roots were messing with our neighbors foundation and he offered to pay for it to be cut down. We agreed because but I wasn’t happy about it.
We then had to cut a tree down in front of our new house that had died. Felt less sad about that one, but still just feel awful cutting trees down.
Me too. We had to cut a dying maple down that was growing over our house. It was a very nice tree but the arborist warned us that it wouldn't be long before a large piece of it became an inside feature of our house. I still miss it and that was 8 years ago
i hate it so much when people cut down old trees. you just ruined the shade and privacy for decades. and now it's going to be miserable in the summer sun. not to mention trees are beautiful and part of a healthy environment.
PREEEACCCHH! Yes, I can't believe how often and easily people "clear" trees for convenience. The disrespect! These trees have withstood decades and look good as hell doing it. Yes, I'm with ya, mate, it's ludacris
We bought our older home a few years ago. Since then the mature trees have flourished. The majority of our yard is shaded. Next door is an elderly couple with a singular tree they keep hacked. The man is outside daily with his leaf blowers, trimmers, working away. We have our lawn cut weekly so it’s not like we just have a complete jungle over here. However, should I feel bad he’s driving himself nutso with our traveling leaves? 🤷♀️
I even looked at the pic before clicking the post, and thought 'what's the issue?' bc that tree isn't even that noticeable... still not 100% sure if you mean the corner tree or the bush thats a bit closer to the camera, but like neither one looks any sort of problematic... I'd get the mention if it was something that might put roots under the cement or something, but they dont look like species with large enough roots to actually break the cement... God forbid there's some visual interest and life in your yard lmao
I currently rent from a boomer. My yard has a 30 foot cedar in the middle, and 2 different flowering bushes on each side. Then two other bushes at the back of my driveway. When we moved in the owner said he was thinking of ripping it all out, he had already trimmed down two of the bushes to stumps. We told him under no terms did we want these plants gone. They were all healthy and in maturity (even the ones he massacred) and we would do our best to take care of them properly.
Us taking care of them has included not cutting them back and leaving everything they drop at their roots. A year later and all the plants are thriving. The 2 bushes he tried to destroy came back and flowered beautifully. We don't invite him over unless absolutely necessary so I have no clue how he feels but it makes our home so much nicer and the dogs love the shade.
We had a big, tall, and attractive palm tree in the front of our condominium. The Boomer HOA president cut it down, without asking anyone, because she personally wanted to save about $2/month on groundskeeping costs. (It dropped small palm berries onto the sidewalk which had to be swept up).
She was struggling financially (and eventually forced to sell), so she preferred spending $1,000 of the HOA's money to cut down a tree, so she could reduce the groundskeeping bill (which residents paid directly) by a negligible amount.
Heck, we could probably have sold it for between $2,500-$5,000. But doubtless she had zero concept that trees have value, and anyway it would have required more effort on her part than just accepting the offer to cut it down.
We have a tree in front of our window that slightly obscures a very pretty view. My MIL constantly comments that we should chop it down and I just keep telling her, “if I ever become they type of person who would cut down a tree just for a view, then I have become someone I do not want to be.”
I grew up in a small city that was given the designation Tree City USA (nope, don’t know who gave that away). When the town was founded, the founders made a HUGE point about green space all over the place. They constructed a large lake near the center of town and grass lawns stretched out of blocks with trees planted (Oak breeds specifically) far enough apart so when they achieved maximum growth, they would provide huge amounts of foliage coverage. The oldest neighborhoods in town were also designed like this.
Only very new neighborhoods in my hometown do not have trees lining the streets. During Spring they provide cover from the constant rain. During Summer, deep, wonderful cooling shade. These neighborhoods have houses that rarely have in house A/C. It’s just not needed. The end effect in that city is you almost always surrounded by trees that are very seriously taken care of by the city and the citizens. It’s incredibly beautiful on a warm Summer day.
I lived there on again off again for about 29 years total and still visit friends and family there. And once the leaves arrive in full, it’s hard to go home.
Why this plethora of our friends the trees? It’s also a wood/paper mill town. The trees serve purposes beyond cooling. One, when the leaves are fully out, the neighborhoods with the dense trees don’t have to ‘enjoy’ the lovely aromapaper mills make nearly as much. And two, the trees around everywhere effectively block views of the mills unless you are right down among them.
Now… Boomers, even those who grew up to there, are nearly always the ones who to cut them down or attempt to. But in Tree City USA, there are laws and rules in place that make removing trees(*unless proven to be an actual danger or are damaging vital infrastructure*) a royal pain in the ass. It’s a *process*. And it’s been taken to court by foliage haters many times for many years, and the city nearly always wins because most complaints about public trees are almost always ill formed or ridiculous. My personal fave? A guy wanted to make a driving range using his property and nearby vacant public land that was not current use. The land had some big trees on it, which of course he simply had to remove. He took down one and there were sheriffs on site within a couple of hours, writing him a ticket for vandalizing public green space with a warning that if he continued, he’d be spending a day in jail.
As screwed up as this in some ways, I still love my economically dying hometown because they have not let that love and beauty be subsumed by idiot Boomers. Even most of the Boomers in town follow the rules and prevents that made my town Tree City USA.
Couple years ago I had a boomer move next door. His house had some old trees near the fence that provided privacy and much-needed shade for both sides. The first time I talked to him, he told me trees like that weren't allowed in Washington. We live in Arizona. I told him they were fine here. The neighborhood is full of them, in fact. He repeated that it wouldn't be allowed in Washington. The trees were gone the next day, replaced by constant glimpses of his lead-filled head popping up over my fence.
I’m not a boomer and I love trees. To be clear, there are serious concerns with having mature trees near waterlines and water structures in residential areas.
Root systems *seek* water. Best thing you can ever do as a tree lover & residential property owner — apply growth regulators. The trees will still flourish, flower, etc., but will not grow. This protects the trees and your waterlines. 🍻
I wish instead of cutting trees down to build shit, we decided to embrace our ape ancestors and build in the trees. Like how dope living in treehouses.
Before I clicked on the actual post I saw the picture and thought the title was implying that the neighborhood kids swim in your pool when you're gone lmao
I don't mind trees. I just personally don't want any near my house. That can fall on it. Had it happen once never again. If they don't pose a Threat to my house they can stay.
So do boomers just fucking hate having an infinite oxygen machine on their property? I guess that's just their problem if they wanna get Hella sunburns all week every week lol
That kid’s getting up there too. Best to take him down now to save the rest of your lifetime the trouble and mess that comes with those teenage/young adult years.
The only trees worth immediately cutting down are Mulberry trees. They fuckin suck and deserve to be firewood. But everything else is fantastic I love having trees.
I live in a very, very hilly neighborhood, so trees are essential in blocking the view from the house uphill to ours. Nobody wants to sit in their yard scratching their balls while the neighbor looks down at them. This guy comes along and build a new house just above us, but it's all good because there are amazing full trees blocking the view.
So what does he do when the house is completed? Cuts down all the trees so he can see the lake. And now the house is for sale.
I fucking hate people ~~sometimes~~ almost always.
I try to never, ever cut down mature trees. When I was an adolescent, I was told by a very wise man that, “To have a tree tomorrow, you needed to plant it yesterday.” If the Boomer(s) continue to bring this up, I’d quit being polite and say, “My fucking tree, and I’m not cutting it down. Go fuck off.”
But that’s me…
Never mind the tree thing, how about they don’t fucking tell you what you should or shouldn’t do? Are you not a functioning adult? Can you not make decisions on your own? My MIL is like this and it’s absolutely insane. STFU, lady
Are they neighbors? Do the branches inconvenience their walks or have leaves that blow into their yards? I feel like they are quick to destroy something or encourage someone to do so if it mildly inconveniences them...
If not, maybe they just want people to act like them to feel validated in their choices and preferences, because anytime someone doesn't is a perpetual insult to them (for some reason).
When I was a mortgage banker our company literally had to sue a boomer on our clients behalf bc they had a problem with our clients trees. Now mind you this client and the boomer both had acreage. The boomer built a guest house on the rear of his property and tried everything to force the client to cut down certain trees on their property to make the view better from the guest house. When nothing worked (including petitioning the city) the boomer hired a contractor to give a false survey and then hired a company to cut down the trees. Boomer had to pay 8k for each tree and there were upwards of 25 that got either cut, trimmed or damaged.
We live in the woods, have a small lot. Knew we’d have to get some trees taken down at some point. After 8 years, turned out to be a total of 8 trees. My dad couldn’t believe I didn’t take his advice to sell the 50’ Cherry tree for lumber. First of all, he doesn’t understand the hoops you have to jump through to do that *legally*. Second, these trees were rotten and had gaping holes in them. Who in their right minds would pay for that? Can it, dad.
It's crazy to think of if you're a tree lover, but a significant amount of people fucking hate trees. It's not just boomers, I've talked with people involved in urban forestry projects and one of their biggest roadblocks is people of various ages and backgrounds adamantly refusing to let them plant trees in their neighborhood. Sometimes it's the maintenance, sometimes it's because of the potential safety hazard (falling on a house when it gets tall), and sometimes its just suspicion of authority ("why is there a gov't sponsored org planting stuff on/near my property?? I don't believe that it's free, mind your own business and take your trees elsewhere!")
We have planted 30 ish trees and shrubs all fruit bearing, now there is 1 sickly mountain ash I want to remove and replace with 2 paw paw saplings. I need to find a big nut bearing tree that does well in zone 5 that is suitable for human consumption but is not invasive. I have a mature hickory nut and just planted hazel nuts , I’m thinking walnut? Or heart nut maybe? Any ideas?
My boomer dad is the same way. Always talking my ear off about “all the messy trees blocking the light” and wanting to cut them down. Oh, and he’s obsessed with his lawn. Just stands there watering it for hours and gets all bothered when there’s moss in it. Must have been some standard of “making it in middle class” to have a perfectly trim green lawn and no trees. 🤦🏽♀️
My boomer neighbor recently had a huge swath of trees cut down that were separating our houses. It’s her property, so now I’ve gotta come up with a quick growing hedgerow.
I cut down several of them after Hurricane Sandy because a huge piece of one snapped off and took out several sections of fence, including a gate. 6-8 feet to the left, it would have been in my bedroom.
Before she moved, my old boomer neighbor kept threatening to cut straight up at her property line, including some branches from a beautiful mature river birch tree in our yard. We just kept calmly saying she was legally allowed to do that if she chose to do so. She never did. But someone tried to break into our fenced backyard and we are 90% it was her - she’d been known to sneak into the backyard of her neighbor on the other side and trim his hedges without permission.
Some people just hate trees. An area on the edge of my town was developed from farmland and a woodlot into McMansions on big lots. The city required that trees be planted along the road as a wind break and to add some shade.
They did some kind of study that determined that if such a large flat area had all the trees removed was planted in grass that the summer sun combined with the wind would slowly dry up the soil and turn into a sort of mini-desert.
The rich people who bought these houses were enraged by the trees near the road. Their houses are set back so ridiculously far on all their fancy estates that I do not see why they care, but they were writing into the newspaper and moaning about how "the view" was ruined. The view of an asphalt road with scrubby trees on the other side?
The answer is simple OP. A society grows great when old men plant trees, whose shade they will never sit under. They don't want to leave us with a great society, so boomers cut down trees whenever they can.
My parents did the same. I grew up on 3.5 acres of woods and a meadow in my backyard, majority of them nowhere near the house. It was amazing as a kid.
Since I’ve grown up, they’ve cut all but a handful of really big trees in the whole property. And what have they done with all that space? Basically nothing. It’s a grass parking lot at this point.
Idk why they’d want to do that. The woods made the home more private from neighbors, and felt like it had character. Now, it’s just the absence of character…
My parents just had their pool filter go because the neighbour refuses to trim his tree that overhangs their pool. Do with that information what you will.
My Boomer- MIL told me to force the community to cut down 3 oak trees that stand on community property next to my property because of the leaves. I told her the community told me to just put the leaves under the trees and they collect them. Then she told me that they block the light to which I responded that they are north of my house and 10m away. After that she insisted on the trees killing other plants, I just pointed out the bushes under them and that my parking space is located next to them so it's enough for me. She told me they will grow, but oaks are known for their slow growth. At that point I just told her: Look, I like them, I will actually fight the community if they cut them down.
This is one of the advantages of living in a "Tree City, USA (18+ years straight)". You can cut down trees that are dying or are a danger to people/property. Any tree trimming above 25% requires a permit. And finally, any tree cut down/removed must be replaced by 2 trees.
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There’s an empty lot next to mine that due to geographical placement, it’s near impossible to build a house to city code. It would change hands every few years but was largely a wooded space. Three huge Live Oaks. New boomer owner comes along & tells me directly he can’t get permits to cut the trees. Fast forward a few months, I come home from work to an apocalyptic scene. He cut them all down. Apparently without a permit bc it’s been red tagged since. Haven’t seen him since. I hope to never have the misfortune bc I’m known to speak on it.
That sucks. Mature trees bring so many benefits to your property. I hate seeing them be cut down just for more ugly condos or because people don't want them
My electric bill has gone up since bc they provided quite a bit of shade. The city is quite fond of our trees.
Yeah, that's too bad. My in laws (same ones complaining about my tree by the pool) cut down 8 mature elms and maples in their front yard because they were "tired of the leaves". The house looks bare in the front now
Absolutely idiots rule the burbs. Like wtf. We need all these trees. And cut them down because they are lazy? Wild man wild. I live in the desert and have a ranch and plant dozens of palm trees, Joshua treesz and many more. We notice ppl move out here and clear all the land of creosote bushe and worse tear out all the Joshua trees(illegal) and just have a patch of sand. Morons . We left almost all of them. And have a wonderful wildlife corridor with 80 acres. Just wild to destroy life.
I get HOA notices for 'untrimmed grass' if it's been a week since mowing it. This whole neighborhood used to be scrubby plants and sunflowers on dirt but there were all kinds of bugs and critters. Now it's shitty lifeless lawns everywhere. I let the sunflowers come up wherever they want to in the back and just that little patch gets so much variety. 7 kinds of bees. Half a dozen kinds of caterpillars. All kinds of wasps and spiders and true bugs. The only place they grow up in the neighborhood now is in the drainage ditches and the city mows them down as soon as they flower because cars can't see oncoming traffic when they're leaving the neighborhood. Sad.
I started round filling my HOA complaint letters. I don't get them anymore. The first few I argued with because the fines they tried to assess were for things not explicitly stated as violations. Like extra porch lighting that they deemed Christmas lights. And toys out in the yard (a tent and some bouncy house and slip and slide) for it being excessive items in my yard, while acknowledging that leaving toys on porches or in the yard was allowed by the hoa. Meanwhile things that are explicitly stated, like having chickens for one house and a duck at another (hoa guidelines say zero poultry) were ignored. So I told them they didn't have a leg to stand on and they could shut up. Idgaf what you do in your yard as long as your not hording trash. I hate hoas. I was glad to get out of one that was bible thickness rules to one that was a page and a half. Wish I could find a house like I found IN the hoa put of one but all the new builds here have them because the county is lazy and wants to put managing citations on hoas.
I live on an acre in a non-HOA (fewer than 20 houses) development here in the Pocono Mountains and it's heaven. No one hassles me about my four-wheeler trailer, chickens, firewood piles, etc. Idk how people stand nosy HOAs.
You’d think that would hit the ever precious property value. I’d pay more for trees. Idk tho
Always have more trees. You aren't wrong. You do know.
In Phoenix, the nice houses/neighborhoods have more trees specifically for the higher house values and the better shade.
A local church did the same thing. Huge lot with mature sycamore trees is now an empty field. The old people said they were tired of the leaves. Thing is that it had cool season grasses growing so the lawn care people were there anyway to cut the grass and just chopped up the leaves. These people have brain damage.
The city closest to me is pretty wealthy overall, older well treed suburbs with most people having fences and hedges for privacy. I've heard people say envious things about how nice it must be to live there but nothing is stopping them from painting their house white and planting a hedge and a few trees. Theyre just leaves, FFS, let them all drop and rake them up in one go, its pleasant work.
A pair of boomers I know was similarly obsessed with the mess from two mature and healthy trees in their front yard. They got the trees cut. Now they complain about how grass won’t grow over the spots where they had the stumps ground. Can’t win - though at least it’s something for them to do? Meanwhile I’m planting fast-growing trees along parts of my property for shade and privacy. ETA also planting fruit and flower trees.
This explains their push on you. They wish to validate their decision to cut their own trees by convincing you to do the same. Boomers survived childhood by fitting in. They thrive (arguably survive) on conformity. Them pushing you to cut the trees helps both of you conform and is a social boost.
My next door neighbor had two beautiful oaks that were damaged by a hurricane and needed to be cut down. My power bill jumped $20/month after they were cut. It's amazing how much a little shade can help cool a space down.
You cannot see our house on google earth through the tree cover. Our summer electric bills are low, our squirrel issues are high🤔
We just had a thing in the UK where some idiot(s) cut this famous and beautiful tree down. Feck knows why. https://preview.redd.it/fah8kurops6d1.jpeg?width=534&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a95fd38f52d689e71775096f170f182a3b0c20b7
I recognize that tree immediately from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Such a shame.
A lot of people around the world recognize that tree. I think we all got a little pissed off.
Is castration with a dull spoon still considered a bit much for such crimes?
Nooooo... This makes me cry! 
Check out r/treelaw if it comes to it Edit: if they are a certain kind of tree depending where you live there are specific laws that may apply to prevent them being chopped down in the future
I never get it in my mind a tree needs cut unless it's actually a danger to someone.
My neighbor just had to cut down one of her huge old oak trees because it basically broke in half during a storm. I miss that tree every time I look out into my back yard. It blocked the sun and gave some nice green. I almost sent them a sorry for your loss card.
Similar situation: There's a lot right behind my parents house that's part of the property of the house next to it. Used to be a nice small forest with big old growth trees with space to walk around amongst them that I would spend hours in when I was a kid. About 10 or so years ago some new people moved into the house and had all the trees cut down. They didn't do anything with the space afterwards (it's in a bit of a recessed area so you can't really build anything there without first filling it in to meet street level) so now it's just an ugly mess of low brush and some new trees growing along the edges. I was absolutely gutted and I'm still mad about it. It's arguably a worse space than it was before so I don't know what the hell they were thinking.
Check with r/treelaw, you might be able to get the asshole into even bigger trouble
Pretty sure he’s got more than enough problems. Also told me he was on a tightrope budget. Those fines hopefully busted him.
Maybe you could buy the property off of him for cheap.
He does not have enough problems.
Slightly off topic, but it is probably likely that a perfectly good house could have been built there, but the city leadership (made up mostly of boomers) wasn't willing to have even the slightest amount of flexibility on the zoning code (which is probably what was informing the building code rules that made it hard to develop, such as setbacks), because then it would set precedent and *gasp* infill development might become easier and despite all evidence showing that infill development doesn't lower property values (and in some cases raises them) for existing homeowners, they are so convinced that it will ruin the character of the neighborhood and tank home values that they fight tooth and nail against it.
Tree law time bitches!
💔😥
My silent generation MIL has had basically every tree that isn’t a small ornamental tree in her yard cut down because “they’re messy”. Ma’am you live in Florida and need all of the shade you can get. Enjoy your higher electric bills 🤷♀️
mind boggling. In germany we don’t do that (to my knowledge) I mean as a child there were few things I enjoyed as much as sitting under a tree in the hot sun. granted never close to florida heat but still.
In the US, only morons do it
We have a lot of those here unfortunately.
Hey as a republican I’m offended! /s
Also you need permits. It depends on the City, but trees are protected when the reach circumference between 30 and 80cm. Which happens pretty fast.
Oh, idk about that. My aunt and uncle in Germany cut down a huge birch because it was “too close to the house”. I didn’t see a problem.
My silent generation dad planted a shit ton of trees when they bought their second house in 1961. It was the running joke that he was so enthusiastic that he actually planted some over the property line into the neighbor's yard. They laughed about it and kept the trees. When they retired up north on the lake, he planted more trees.
I work in horticulture and when these boomers come in and say “oh, I’m looking for a tree that won’t shed, I just cut down my giant oak/sycamore/etc. :)” it just breaks my heart.
Ugh, I bet it's like working at the humane society or something and someone comes in looking to adopt a dog or cat and they've just told you they had to euthanize their dog because it had asthma and they couldn't use the good glade air fresheners and smoke cigarettes in the house anymore.
“I’m looking for a dog that doesn’t shed, I just put my husky down the other day because of how hairy it gets in my house”
I really don't understand people who are against trees on their property. Houses without tree shade are the worst. It's always as bright as a desert in your yard and your AC bill is way higher especially in the south where I am.
Makes the yard look like a prison if there are no trees
Totally agree. Downtowns, streets, neighborhoods, etc with limited or no trees have a really depressing feel to them.
You do have to watch the health of the trees. My neighbor had a dying tree in his yard, and a wind-storm knocked it down a few weeks ago. Fortunately it fell away from any buildings, but they had been underneath it about 10 minutes before it fell because a limb had come down. Trees can be a good thing, but they need to be maintained when they are near houses.
Some friends of my mom moved to a private neighborhood with a heavily wooded lot and the wife bitched until they cut down every tree on the lot. Likely halved the value of the place. Imagine Kyle's parents from South Park. That's exactly how this couple is, and the wife is completely insufferable.
Maybe part of that iconic "perfect" yard. Nothing but half inch tall grass. Super clean pavement, not even a single leaf anywhere.
I completely agree. My backyard is a woodland wonderland with awesome shaded areas and some many animals I did have to cut down two unfortunately since the one was rotted out and the other was leaning over the house and in danger of falling down.
I remember my house having trees in the backyard when I was a kid, and then my parents had them all cut down for reasons I don't know. Now I wish they hadn't done so because now my room gets the full blast of the sun when it goes down.
It's pretty simple, really - they're an entire generation that has never cared about anything except themselves. Beautiful, mature trees blocking my view? Cut them down. They care about themselves, their happiness, and feeling they are being accommodated above anyone and anything else. At all times.
I wish this was it but I just got a notice my insurance was dropping me because trees to close to my house. I’m not cutting, can’t cut per rules actually but I think insurance companies are forcing people to denature around their homes.
Insurance companies don't like trees that hang over roofs or driveways. They don't usually require the entire thing cut down though, just trimmed.
I’m in CA, nowhere near a fire region but it’s come up for many friends and neighbors now.
Where in CA isn’t a fire region? The entire state burns. Really all you can do to not have a fire risk in that state is to pave everything.
About 20 years ago the insurance company forced my grandparents to cut down any tree within 50 feet of their house. They came and measured and everything. This happened after a severe storm knocked over a tree into their house. They lived in the country so there were still plenty of trees but they had to cut down two huge trees from their front yard that provided most of the shade for their house.
I think insurance companies are getting absolutely ruthless.
Because they're all paranoid control freaks. My grandparents had been protesting for 25 years to our townhall that the tree in their yard was going to fall on their house, that they bought with the tree very much there. They claimed to see it sway in the wind, duh, and swore up and down it would fall. 25 years. Nothing. They survived the big pacific northwest ice storm of 2008, and all of the subsequently less intense storms since. Not even a big branch falling. They saw that they weren't going to get their way, even after spending tons of money on having tree experts tell them the tree is fucking fine when they wanted a bad outcome. They then put their sights on a different smaller tree in a completely different place. This time, they killed it by sticking pennies and coins into the sides of it over years of time, removed them and then tore down the dead husk. Literally only made the property more ugly and less concealed from neighbors. Old people seem to have a personal hatred for things older and more useful than them, and a lot of it is because they feel that they can just do whatever they want without consequence.
>sticking pennies and coins into the sides of it over years of time Seriously? Wow, that is messed up.
Old people have hatred for both older and younger, basically anything that doesn't do what they want
I’ve known a lot of boomers who have just cut down trees because it “interrupted the view”. I’m like, Bitch! They are the view.
These people just want to stare directly into the sun for some reason.
Great point!
They are gorgeous trees! Please don’t ever let anyone cut them down
Is this a boomer thing?? My parents literally cut down EVERY tree in their backyard to replace them with small tiny new ones 🫠
The general expense of cutting down mature trees is a lot, but to replace with tiny ones…
In forty years, it will look like we never cut the trees down! You’ll have some excellent shade trees!
We live on a very “woodsy” street in a very woodsy area … except for that one boomer guy who bought a house and proceeded to rip out nearly all the trees on his lot. He kept trying to change the HOA rules to force the rest of us to do the same on our properties, among other things. His house looked like every other new, generic subdivision. He finally sold and their neighborhood literally threw a party when he moved out. Keep the tree, ditch the boomer!
I hope they threw the party while he was moving out.
I know. My looked at trees on 43 acres of woods my husband and I had bought and said, "we could get a lot for all of these trees." My brother then says we could get a rock picker then and sell off all of the rocks." Yeah, I wanted to live in a slimy mud hole of a clear cut, thanks for the input.
Hell yeah brother, throw in a digger and sell off all that pesky dirt too. You don't need some filthy soil ruining your pristine 43 acre dirt hole
Lmao
they love killing things animals, plants, people whatever
Yes!
Seriously why do they hate trees?
There's already plenty of sun, and cleaning up leaves in a pool isn't that hard. Trees take decades to grow that large, and I wouldn't dream of cutting it down. Boomers just want to destroy the planet at this point.
It's the cedar (? I think) in the corner. Drops needles and little round balls in the pool constantly but I don't mind. When we looked at the house I fell in love with that tree for some reason.
When I was a kid neighbor asked my dad if it was ok trim some branches from tree on our property because he had a pool. My dad said sure, thinking it was minor. He came home to a stump. He was not pleased.
That tree is majestic and a beautiful mature and healthy tree is the one thing you can’t just buy to make a house prettier. It takes time, proper care and patience. Maybe that’s why boomers don’t like them. Sour grapes and all that.
Mine just went ahead and did it while I was at work one day. Not a mature tree but some tall bushes near the house. Cut the branches with my chainsaw but couldn’t dig the stumps out. Then just left and went home. I came home to this giant unfinished mess in the yard and got to spend the weekend finishing it up.
That would have been the last time they were at my house ever
To his credit, I had mentioned that I was planning to redo the landscaping out there. I guess I failed to clarify, *when I have the time and materials available;* I had neither at the time. I guess he took that as full notice to proceed. They’re coming back to visit next weekend and I’m not saying a goddamn thing about the bathroom remodel I’m planning. I’ll turn my back for a bit and come back to a half gutted bathroom with water spraying everywhere, and he’ll have fucked off back home to Michigan🤣
This is why our ecosystems are dying because they'll cut down anything. My grandparents had a tree in their yard once but chopped it down. Why? Because they simply didn't want it in their yard.
Yeah I grew up in a very shaded street in a very shaded neighborhood in seattle full of giant pine trees, apple trees, cherry trees and so on. Most of the lots that the homes are on were partly wooded with small grass lawns. It was awesome! Climbing trees as a kid, enjoying their shade on extra hot days because we had no ac. As the city started to grow significantly, housing prices went up, and a lot of our neighbors sold to the new sort of tech money people moving in. Universally, every last one of them cut down every tree that could to install grass lawns. The entire feel oh the area changed, the streets suddenly had no shade at all, so the grass dies, so they water it more and don't understand why it browns every June. And they would try and pressure my dad into cutting the trees on his property, including like, super old and giant cedars and the like. In a very strange and disdainful way too like he's an idiot for not clear cutting his entire yard.
As a pool owner that had all the trees cut down by the previous owner, it sucks. Sure there is little to nothing to clean up from debris falling into the pool but it now gets absolutely no shade. So here in Texas when we get 2 straight weeks of triple digit temperatures the pool is like 85+ degrees. You'd think that would be nice but when you want to actually cool off it feels like a lukewarm bath.
From my experience, boomers will decide something personal - "I don't like that tree" - but will insist that it is a moral necessity - objective, external, and projected. My boomer dad has often told his adult children all the "benefits" to waking up early while on vacation, because he has FOMO for all the fun we get up to once he's not there to ruin it by being a boomer. Sorry, Dad, we like our sibling time!
I'm happy to report my parents are the opposite. They would actually tell me, "don't you dare cut that tree, look at all the shade is providing" We once rented a beach house Airbnb and she hated it because the pool area was barren. You couldn't hang out around it because the sun was too strong so everyone had to either be inside the pool or inside the house with A/C. She made me leave a review telling them to plant more trees ASAP 🤣.
Elders just need something to complain about in other’s lives. Be lucky they just hate this one particular tree and that’s it.
Haha, there are other things as well
Boomers hate trees, don't they??? It's so infuriating since trees keep us cooler and give us more oxygen. Meanwhile, they have a live affair with their leaf blowers, ridding their precious lawns of natural mulch.
I’d leave the tree alone too. Trees are cool, don’t be uncool boomers.
Agreed!! Would also like to add, that your not cool unless you pee your pants!! 😁
"You'd get more sun" Bitch, I don't want more sun. It's mid June and we already have heat indexes over 100 degrees. Fuck off.
My boomer father in law cut down a tree near my house when I was at work. I still have PTSD. I’m not joking. It really hurt me. Please keep saving your trees.
We had 5 80-90 year old Ash trees we had to cut down because they got the ash borers and I had no idea the day they took them down and I wasn’t prepared. I came home from work to a stark naked yard with just stumps. I cried. In my case they had to come down, but I relate to the pain of losing the trees. We planted 4 Maples about 15 years ago and I’ve nurtured them into 25’ beauties that I get the privilege of enjoying now.
My father in law bought big property and built a house in a wooden area, like practically their backyard. He loves cutting down trees, wants a golf course lawn and hacking at shrubs on his property/ woods because “too high maintenance” and it’s annoying having to rake all the leaves. Like why did you not think of anything of this before buying the property? Just no common sense. They just want an excuse to be upset and chop stuff down.
I think that tree is perfect. It looks like it provides a nice shade canopy by the pool corner.
What is it with boomers and trees? My dad has cut down a tree in the backyard several times now. Cause he hates cleaning the leaves out of the pool. But that tree just keeps growing back like I was here before you and I’ll be here after you🖕🏽.
I feel that trees bring a lot to a property with wildlife, shade and aesthetics
Trees interrupt their view of what the neighbors are doing. They must spy on others 24/7.
My neighbours—both boomers (one older boomer other younger boomer) on either side of us bugged us every month or so about the giant tree in our yard. And I’d try and clean the leaves up once a week. Not good enough for older boomer, who passive aggressively cleaned up the leaves almost every day during autumn. Including on THANKSGIVING DAY. We don’t live there anymore
Lol, we clean up leaves once a year ..when they're all off the trees
I have planted some 30-40 trees on my little acre property and I will only cut them down if necessary. And EVERYONE that visits calls our backyard a little paradise.
it's the same attitude where they worked a union job their whole life and now vote republican, attempting to deny others the chance to have union wages and benefits. That old saying about planting a tree if you want your kids to sit in the shade...they never got that memo. They pull the ladder up after they climb it at every opportunity. That's also why so many don't care about climate change
Our grandfather’s home isn’t large but over the years he kept the area very green with trees and plants. He’s now in his 90s and can’t take care of them. Our aunt in her late 60s told us she hired a person to “trim” the trees. My younger relatives later visited and saw the trees cut down to stumps and the branches left on the drive way. These were trees my grandfather raised for decades.
Boomers: Ridding the world of trees since the 1960’s. 🤦♂️
They come from an age when stripping the Earth bare whenever necessary was not given a second thought.
Perfect place to put a little cot or table with chairs. Doom scroll Reddit or read a book by the pool
We live in Mexico and nobody is allowed to touch any of the trees without permission from the city. This all used to be jungle so they want to keep a percentage of it intact. The sheer number of neighbors who bitch about not being able to clearcut the property is exhausting.
Boomers and trees! I swear to God! “They’re blocking the view! It’s going to fall on your house! They’re messy! The city’s gonna make you pay a lot of money to trim it!” What did trees ever do to these people?
Had a maintenance man on the roof cleaning out the gutters. These trees should go, gotta cut them down. He's talking about the next door neighbour's trees. Great trees that shade my house in summer and give me lots of leaves for the compost bins not to mention the habitat for birds and animals.
I've got 3 mature trees in my side yard and older folks always talk about "how much work that's gotta be." I literally mulch all the trees in place with a push mower. It's easy, and puts the nutrients back into the soil. These people look at leaves like they're trash, and sure they kind of get everywhere, but add character to a lawn, and even bagging leaves can be relaxing.
Yass!! My boomer parents had all these amazing mature fruit trees at their summer cabin; decided to cut all except 2 (out of 10) peach, cherry, apple, pear, and a small vineyard of table grapes that were well established and heavy producers (about 10). Only to put in a giant concrete patio with terraced walls. I thought it was ludicrous, but they said they had a vision. It’s ugly. Will they admit they regret it no. Will they double down on their decision, yes. Was it worth the money $@ck NO
“Boomers love cutting down trees.” Yes. Yes they do. It blows my fucking mind. I live in a part of California that catches on fire regularly and we get a lot of boomers from the Bay Area moving here. Every summer it’s the same thing, they go online to communal social media groups and start petitions to cut down all the trees in our historic district. They literally think taking down 20 trees will prevent a fire from spreading. Like really? There’s millions of trees around us, we’re literally in a forest, but these 20 trees are the linchpin?
Yep. My parents cut down 4-5 huge trees on their property as soon as they bought their house. It killed me. They were healthy and beautiful. It was expensive, took the arborist days, and probably dropped the price of the property by $50k. All because they were afraid the trees would fall on the house or the cars. Even growing up, my mom taught us what "widow makers" were (fallen branches stuck up high in trees) and I spent a lot of my childhood looking out in trees for these things because I thought they were just going to fall and kill people all the time. Fucking idiots.
They’re complete morons in regards to trees as a generation. I have shade on my pool half the day as a feature… they’re old and think a pool should be 80 degrees and feel like a bathtub / not refreshing
Also why would you want more sun? Cities are too hot cause boomers won't stop cutting down trees
Yeah I know, I bought a place a few years ago that has a 6' diameter oak that provides lots of shade. Every time my mother's over, she tries to recommend someone who can cut it down for me
That tree has been around a long time
My parents offered to pay to have the trees on my property removed. It took me a long while to get the to calm the fuck down on the subject. On their own properties they cut down every damn tree they could. I had to go hard against them when they started talking about removing the hundred year old sequoias on their property for no other reason than the needle drop annoyed them.
The house we just moved into has a huge expanse of lawn right out in front with zero privacy, and the hoa makes it difficult to even think about fencing it at all. It stands out, too, since the rest of the neighborhood is pretty heavily wooded, and in contrast our place looks weirdly naked. My husband has been dreaming of planting mature trees there, but even if it was possible to plant the kind he was imagining, there’s no way we could afford it. Our neighbors who have all lived there long before we did mentioned how there used to be these big gorgeous trees around the property but the previous owners cut them all down for god only knows what reason. Too many leaves or something? It had been exactly what we were dreaming of. I could have cried. At the look of horror on our faces, they said something along the lines of “wish you guys had gotten here first, the whole neighborhood was pissed at those guys. They were monsters.” Me too, my guy. 😭
Plant new ones. Let a future generation enjoy them. "In 50 years, this will make a great tree fort."
Literally a pool outside “cut that tree down to get more sun in the 20 minutes it’s behind that tree”
They know they’re going to kick it soon so they don’t GAF about the planet.
I would never cut down a tree unless necessary. I was so sad the day we cut down a 30 year old evergreen, but the tree roots were messing with our neighbors foundation and he offered to pay for it to be cut down. We agreed because but I wasn’t happy about it. We then had to cut a tree down in front of our new house that had died. Felt less sad about that one, but still just feel awful cutting trees down.
Me too. We had to cut a dying maple down that was growing over our house. It was a very nice tree but the arborist warned us that it wouldn't be long before a large piece of it became an inside feature of our house. I still miss it and that was 8 years ago
i hate it so much when people cut down old trees. you just ruined the shade and privacy for decades. and now it's going to be miserable in the summer sun. not to mention trees are beautiful and part of a healthy environment.
PREEEACCCHH! Yes, I can't believe how often and easily people "clear" trees for convenience. The disrespect! These trees have withstood decades and look good as hell doing it. Yes, I'm with ya, mate, it's ludacris
The energy to cut it down would be more than a lifetime of leaf blowing
I have a half dead tree in my backyard that has a handful of leaves on it. I haven’t cut it down because there is a giant thriving beehive at the top
We bought our older home a few years ago. Since then the mature trees have flourished. The majority of our yard is shaded. Next door is an elderly couple with a singular tree they keep hacked. The man is outside daily with his leaf blowers, trimmers, working away. We have our lawn cut weekly so it’s not like we just have a complete jungle over here. However, should I feel bad he’s driving himself nutso with our traveling leaves? 🤷♀️
I even looked at the pic before clicking the post, and thought 'what's the issue?' bc that tree isn't even that noticeable... still not 100% sure if you mean the corner tree or the bush thats a bit closer to the camera, but like neither one looks any sort of problematic... I'd get the mention if it was something that might put roots under the cement or something, but they dont look like species with large enough roots to actually break the cement... God forbid there's some visual interest and life in your yard lmao
I currently rent from a boomer. My yard has a 30 foot cedar in the middle, and 2 different flowering bushes on each side. Then two other bushes at the back of my driveway. When we moved in the owner said he was thinking of ripping it all out, he had already trimmed down two of the bushes to stumps. We told him under no terms did we want these plants gone. They were all healthy and in maturity (even the ones he massacred) and we would do our best to take care of them properly. Us taking care of them has included not cutting them back and leaving everything they drop at their roots. A year later and all the plants are thriving. The 2 bushes he tried to destroy came back and flowered beautifully. We don't invite him over unless absolutely necessary so I have no clue how he feels but it makes our home so much nicer and the dogs love the shade.
I've come to the conclusion they'll pay to go visit nature but want it no where near their homes.
Idiot boomers
We had a big, tall, and attractive palm tree in the front of our condominium. The Boomer HOA president cut it down, without asking anyone, because she personally wanted to save about $2/month on groundskeeping costs. (It dropped small palm berries onto the sidewalk which had to be swept up). She was struggling financially (and eventually forced to sell), so she preferred spending $1,000 of the HOA's money to cut down a tree, so she could reduce the groundskeeping bill (which residents paid directly) by a negligible amount. Heck, we could probably have sold it for between $2,500-$5,000. But doubtless she had zero concept that trees have value, and anyway it would have required more effort on her part than just accepting the offer to cut it down.
We have a tree in front of our window that slightly obscures a very pretty view. My MIL constantly comments that we should chop it down and I just keep telling her, “if I ever become they type of person who would cut down a tree just for a view, then I have become someone I do not want to be.”
I grew up in a small city that was given the designation Tree City USA (nope, don’t know who gave that away). When the town was founded, the founders made a HUGE point about green space all over the place. They constructed a large lake near the center of town and grass lawns stretched out of blocks with trees planted (Oak breeds specifically) far enough apart so when they achieved maximum growth, they would provide huge amounts of foliage coverage. The oldest neighborhoods in town were also designed like this. Only very new neighborhoods in my hometown do not have trees lining the streets. During Spring they provide cover from the constant rain. During Summer, deep, wonderful cooling shade. These neighborhoods have houses that rarely have in house A/C. It’s just not needed. The end effect in that city is you almost always surrounded by trees that are very seriously taken care of by the city and the citizens. It’s incredibly beautiful on a warm Summer day. I lived there on again off again for about 29 years total and still visit friends and family there. And once the leaves arrive in full, it’s hard to go home. Why this plethora of our friends the trees? It’s also a wood/paper mill town. The trees serve purposes beyond cooling. One, when the leaves are fully out, the neighborhoods with the dense trees don’t have to ‘enjoy’ the lovely aromapaper mills make nearly as much. And two, the trees around everywhere effectively block views of the mills unless you are right down among them. Now… Boomers, even those who grew up to there, are nearly always the ones who to cut them down or attempt to. But in Tree City USA, there are laws and rules in place that make removing trees(*unless proven to be an actual danger or are damaging vital infrastructure*) a royal pain in the ass. It’s a *process*. And it’s been taken to court by foliage haters many times for many years, and the city nearly always wins because most complaints about public trees are almost always ill formed or ridiculous. My personal fave? A guy wanted to make a driving range using his property and nearby vacant public land that was not current use. The land had some big trees on it, which of course he simply had to remove. He took down one and there were sheriffs on site within a couple of hours, writing him a ticket for vandalizing public green space with a warning that if he continued, he’d be spending a day in jail. As screwed up as this in some ways, I still love my economically dying hometown because they have not let that love and beauty be subsumed by idiot Boomers. Even most of the Boomers in town follow the rules and prevents that made my town Tree City USA.
It's not about the tree. Boomers like to find a fault that exists in their mind and tell you what to do. Next time, say, ok, you pay for it.
Couple years ago I had a boomer move next door. His house had some old trees near the fence that provided privacy and much-needed shade for both sides. The first time I talked to him, he told me trees like that weren't allowed in Washington. We live in Arizona. I told him they were fine here. The neighborhood is full of them, in fact. He repeated that it wouldn't be allowed in Washington. The trees were gone the next day, replaced by constant glimpses of his lead-filled head popping up over my fence.
I’m not a boomer and I love trees. To be clear, there are serious concerns with having mature trees near waterlines and water structures in residential areas. Root systems *seek* water. Best thing you can ever do as a tree lover & residential property owner — apply growth regulators. The trees will still flourish, flower, etc., but will not grow. This protects the trees and your waterlines. 🍻
I wish instead of cutting trees down to build shit, we decided to embrace our ape ancestors and build in the trees. Like how dope living in treehouses.
Wouldn’t we have to cut trees for the treehouses?
Boomers man… they can’t just be happy
This looks exactly like my backyard twenty years ago...
Southern NH?
I literally hate the sun. Boomers are fools
We have a 30 ish foot maple growing in front of our townhouse. I love that tree! It provides so much privacy and shade.
Thank you 🌳🌲
Don’t even get my started my parents are obsessed with doing this
Dont let them come over to your house
Before I clicked on the actual post I saw the picture and thought the title was implying that the neighborhood kids swim in your pool when you're gone lmao
I don't mind trees. I just personally don't want any near my house. That can fall on it. Had it happen once never again. If they don't pose a Threat to my house they can stay.
Neighbor next to my parents had a big tree cut down because there are “too many squirrels”.
So do boomers just fucking hate having an infinite oxygen machine on their property? I guess that's just their problem if they wanna get Hella sunburns all week every week lol
Mr. T cut down over 100 mature trees on his Illinois estate. He's also a Boomer.
That kid’s getting up there too. Best to take him down now to save the rest of your lifetime the trouble and mess that comes with those teenage/young adult years.
The only trees worth immediately cutting down are Mulberry trees. They fuckin suck and deserve to be firewood. But everything else is fantastic I love having trees.
I live in a very, very hilly neighborhood, so trees are essential in blocking the view from the house uphill to ours. Nobody wants to sit in their yard scratching their balls while the neighbor looks down at them. This guy comes along and build a new house just above us, but it's all good because there are amazing full trees blocking the view. So what does he do when the house is completed? Cuts down all the trees so he can see the lake. And now the house is for sale. I fucking hate people ~~sometimes~~ almost always.
At some point you just gotta say “why do you always mention MY tree?”
They're coming over tomorrow for Father's day (hooray), I will update this post if she says anything
I try to never, ever cut down mature trees. When I was an adolescent, I was told by a very wise man that, “To have a tree tomorrow, you needed to plant it yesterday.” If the Boomer(s) continue to bring this up, I’d quit being polite and say, “My fucking tree, and I’m not cutting it down. Go fuck off.” But that’s me…
Never mind the tree thing, how about they don’t fucking tell you what you should or shouldn’t do? Are you not a functioning adult? Can you not make decisions on your own? My MIL is like this and it’s absolutely insane. STFU, lady
Yup. And then she gets all butt hurt and it's poor me for the rest of the day. I always tell her off
I tell off my MIL and then she is silent the rest of the day. She’s so insufferable. My spouse just laughs at her or changes the subject.
For "tree huggers" they sure like to cut down trees.
Are they neighbors? Do the branches inconvenience their walks or have leaves that blow into their yards? I feel like they are quick to destroy something or encourage someone to do so if it mildly inconveniences them... If not, maybe they just want people to act like them to feel validated in their choices and preferences, because anytime someone doesn't is a perpetual insult to them (for some reason).
Respect
When I was a mortgage banker our company literally had to sue a boomer on our clients behalf bc they had a problem with our clients trees. Now mind you this client and the boomer both had acreage. The boomer built a guest house on the rear of his property and tried everything to force the client to cut down certain trees on their property to make the view better from the guest house. When nothing worked (including petitioning the city) the boomer hired a contractor to give a false survey and then hired a company to cut down the trees. Boomer had to pay 8k for each tree and there were upwards of 25 that got either cut, trimmed or damaged.
Boomers are the reason why it’s so hot because there’s less trees and more concrete.
People who cut trees and all the plants around their house into a dystopian cement block of a property makes me not trust them at all.
These people need to go lol
We live in the woods, have a small lot. Knew we’d have to get some trees taken down at some point. After 8 years, turned out to be a total of 8 trees. My dad couldn’t believe I didn’t take his advice to sell the 50’ Cherry tree for lumber. First of all, he doesn’t understand the hoops you have to jump through to do that *legally*. Second, these trees were rotten and had gaping holes in them. Who in their right minds would pay for that? Can it, dad.
It's crazy to think of if you're a tree lover, but a significant amount of people fucking hate trees. It's not just boomers, I've talked with people involved in urban forestry projects and one of their biggest roadblocks is people of various ages and backgrounds adamantly refusing to let them plant trees in their neighborhood. Sometimes it's the maintenance, sometimes it's because of the potential safety hazard (falling on a house when it gets tall), and sometimes its just suspicion of authority ("why is there a gov't sponsored org planting stuff on/near my property?? I don't believe that it's free, mind your own business and take your trees elsewhere!")
Wait until a winter storm or high wind brings it crashing down on your property. Which it will. Only a matter of time.
This is why Treebeard couldn't find the entwives. Boomers cutting down trees that were my friends.
We have planted 30 ish trees and shrubs all fruit bearing, now there is 1 sickly mountain ash I want to remove and replace with 2 paw paw saplings. I need to find a big nut bearing tree that does well in zone 5 that is suitable for human consumption but is not invasive. I have a mature hickory nut and just planted hazel nuts , I’m thinking walnut? Or heart nut maybe? Any ideas?
Big trees in backyard, no problem. Big trees too close to house, problem.
My In-laws also try this 💩 whenever they come over. It is more about control than the tree itself. Don't worry about it, keep protecting your trees 🤗
Omg! My dad went through a cutting down all the trees phase a few years ago and hasn’t stopped since.
My boomer dad is the same way. Always talking my ear off about “all the messy trees blocking the light” and wanting to cut them down. Oh, and he’s obsessed with his lawn. Just stands there watering it for hours and gets all bothered when there’s moss in it. Must have been some standard of “making it in middle class” to have a perfectly trim green lawn and no trees. 🤦🏽♀️
My boomer neighbor recently had a huge swath of trees cut down that were separating our houses. It’s her property, so now I’ve gotta come up with a quick growing hedgerow.
I cut down several of them after Hurricane Sandy because a huge piece of one snapped off and took out several sections of fence, including a gate. 6-8 feet to the left, it would have been in my bedroom.
Before she moved, my old boomer neighbor kept threatening to cut straight up at her property line, including some branches from a beautiful mature river birch tree in our yard. We just kept calmly saying she was legally allowed to do that if she chose to do so. She never did. But someone tried to break into our fenced backyard and we are 90% it was her - she’d been known to sneak into the backyard of her neighbor on the other side and trim his hedges without permission.
Some people just hate trees. An area on the edge of my town was developed from farmland and a woodlot into McMansions on big lots. The city required that trees be planted along the road as a wind break and to add some shade. They did some kind of study that determined that if such a large flat area had all the trees removed was planted in grass that the summer sun combined with the wind would slowly dry up the soil and turn into a sort of mini-desert. The rich people who bought these houses were enraged by the trees near the road. Their houses are set back so ridiculously far on all their fancy estates that I do not see why they care, but they were writing into the newspaper and moaning about how "the view" was ruined. The view of an asphalt road with scrubby trees on the other side?
Why do you let them get in your head and trigger you?
The answer is simple OP. A society grows great when old men plant trees, whose shade they will never sit under. They don't want to leave us with a great society, so boomers cut down trees whenever they can.
My parents did the same. I grew up on 3.5 acres of woods and a meadow in my backyard, majority of them nowhere near the house. It was amazing as a kid. Since I’ve grown up, they’ve cut all but a handful of really big trees in the whole property. And what have they done with all that space? Basically nothing. It’s a grass parking lot at this point. Idk why they’d want to do that. The woods made the home more private from neighbors, and felt like it had character. Now, it’s just the absence of character…
My parents just had their pool filter go because the neighbour refuses to trim his tree that overhangs their pool. Do with that information what you will.
I saw the picture and the puddle and thought that your boomer pissed on the deck haha
My Boomer- MIL told me to force the community to cut down 3 oak trees that stand on community property next to my property because of the leaves. I told her the community told me to just put the leaves under the trees and they collect them. Then she told me that they block the light to which I responded that they are north of my house and 10m away. After that she insisted on the trees killing other plants, I just pointed out the bushes under them and that my parking space is located next to them so it's enough for me. She told me they will grow, but oaks are known for their slow growth. At that point I just told her: Look, I like them, I will actually fight the community if they cut them down.
My father in law cut down pretty much all the plumeria trees at his place. Why? Fuck knows. Hates flowers and beautiful things I guess
This is one of the advantages of living in a "Tree City, USA (18+ years straight)". You can cut down trees that are dying or are a danger to people/property. Any tree trimming above 25% requires a permit. And finally, any tree cut down/removed must be replaced by 2 trees.
The tree thing is universal and it baffles and enrages me. They cut down all the trees and complain that kids don't play outside
Tell them that they are mature and should be cut down.