I've been a tree lover my whole life and always bought homes in wooded neighborhoods. One the life's great mysteries is that most people who claim to love trees really just buy trees them to cut down. And they always come up with a million reasons, like "the roots are threatening my driveway", but the real reason is usually the leaves. Invariably, people who like to buy houses with trees obsess about raking leaves, when all you have to do is mow them.
I built the home where my kids were raised in the middle of a hickory forest. I had to remove 30, just for the foot print of the home, but I was careful to save the rest . It was georgeous. The year after we built our house, a guy bought the two acres across the street. He immediately brought in a bulldozer and mowed down the entire property. He told me he didn't like to rake leaves. I asked why he bought a wooded lot. He said I had a lot of nerve asking.
I live in "Woodbury", for the trees. I've been here four years, and already, two of my neighbors have found reasons to cut down the giant 18" live oaks on their property, one of which was shading both our houses from the western sun. I was nice enough not to ask them why they bought such beautiful trees to cut down, when 99% of The Villages is a treeless plain.
I knew there was no answer. It's just one of the great mysteries of the universe.
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