In an all too common sight, shrubs are mercilessly trimmed to ridiculous shapes and sizes for apparently no reason. The below Pittosporum tobira is a good example.

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As a society, we have all sorts or rules and regulations in place that are intended to protect and conserve the environment and natural resources.  Unfortunately, there is no appropriate recourse for negligent landscape management.

Take for example, this “professionally managed” apartment complex/water-park in the central coast.  Although accidents happen and sprinkler heads break and gush during irrigation cycles, the poor condition of this landscape is no accident at all.  Rather, years of neglect have created an eyesore with an irrigation system so mal-adjusted that every head (a minimum of 45) needs major adjustment or repair.  We won’t even start to discuss the condition of the plants.

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This corner provides all the usual suspects to tempt a passing dog:  street lamp, tree, fire hydrant and a luxurious 2′ square patch of lawn.  This was irrigated with 2 5′ spray heads.

For years I’ve watched a beautiful Quercus agrifolia, Coast Live Oak, slowly decline in a garden in Santa Barbara.  The owners have a hodgepodge of Algerian Ivy, Vinca, Calla Lillies and other “random acts of planting” under the canopy.

Arborists continue to visit the home and “tend” to the tree by addressing symptoms (removing sick limbs, applying fertilizers, etc.) as opposed to tackling the real problem of  over-watering and summer watering. Have the arborists or homeowners looked across the street into the dry creek where countless oaks are thriving without a doctor-patient relationship?

Unfortunately, I don’t think they have because just yesterday, the stakes were raised and chemical war was launched against this old Oak.

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