This was all Karen. I was merely the dragger of branches over to the other side of the house where we later chopped them into smaller pieces so they would fit in the green bin. Or not, leaving a giant pile to be stuffed in future bins each week until the pile is gone. Fun!
The best part was when the nice lady across the street came over to offer us her saw on a long pole so we could reach the high branches and brought her two little white puff ball dogs along with her. Poodles? Lhasa Apsos? They chased Jessie all over the place just trying to catch up to her to say hi but she was having none of that. She is twice as big as both of them combined but kept running to hide behind Karen.
In addition to pruning a few trees in mom’s yard, Karen went to town on the two large trees in the parking strip because the branches hung down so low they would brush the tops of cars that parked there and the street sweeper would bypass the area completely.
Would someone please explain to me how the City can require trees to be planted in the parking strip, only allow certain varieties, plant them themselves, but then require the homeowner to do all the maintenance from watering to pest control to pruning?
I read the Atwater Muni Code regarding trees but found no exception for little old ladies who have neither the physical capability to perform the maintenance themselves nor the funds to pay someone else to do it for them. Bummer-drag.
