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French: Green plants make Valley appealing

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I kind of want to put my two cents in on these two fellows who want the tall palm trees taken down.

They don’t shade anything and take up a lot of water. They can also be a nuisance also when the wind blows strong, they shed a lot of the untrimmed pieces into the streets.

My thought is I would say probably 90% or more of the trees here in the Valley serve no purpose other than to be ornamental. Palo Verde, saguaro cactus (any cactus for that matter), lots and lots of small bushy shrubs, no shade there but use a lot of water.

The only trees that I have seen in the Valley are on Central Avenue, the old rich part of Phoenix. On top of that are the water-thirsty plants and grass. Do away with grass on golf courses. No shade there. I hate to say it but my wife and I live in an HOA that has a lot of grass. Yearly cost to water and maintain it is out of sight, but some residents say, and I quote, “If they take the grass out and put in rocks, I’m moving.”

If you have a computer or can access one, do a Satellite view of Sun City West, Corta Bella and probably Sun City Grand. It will show you the really well-off folks do not have grass in their yards. When we moved here, within a year the HOA across the street pulled the grass and put in rocks and new young trees. In the next 10 years those trees grew beautifully tall and provided at least morning shade.

Sorry to say, this past week or so, contractors came through and pruned the devil out of the trees. Whatever, maybe too much trouble blowing the dead leaves up every so often. Also, on Aleppo Drive just West of 136th Avenue, contractors came in and cut down maybe eight or 10 gorgeous, I would say 40-foot, healthy pine trees. There are now stumps, grass and now all landscaped rock. Those trees did provide shade.

For my part, when you kill the grass on all of the golf courses in Maricopa County then I say OK, take down the palm trees and cactus. The plants, trees and shrubs are what make the greater Phoenix look so nice.

Darryl French

Sun City West