The Northern Virginia subdivision we lived in while I was in high school was called Tall Oaks for a reason.  The only thing wrong with our oak tree was that it was at the bend of the driveway about halfway down, so it didn’t shade the house much.

The next-door neighbors had a back yard which was virtually all trees, all about 40 feet tall.  I can’t imagine a developer leaving those trees alone in this day and age.

I feel your pain.

When I was almost 10, my family moved from Woodbury NJ, a colonial town full of old trees, to uber-suburb Cherry Hill.  The subdivision we moved into had been a farm field, but there were a few large trees scattered about.  One of those big oak trees was smack-dab in front of our being-built house.

Unfortunately, said tree was also smack-dab in the middle of the street laid out by the developer.  Rather than shift the street—gotta make sure every lot is exactly 1/4 of an acre—the developer cut down and uprooted that beautiful old tree.  And, as in your neighborhood, uprooted every pre-existing tree.  They did plant small cherry trees (recall the newly-minted name of the township) in the strip between street and sidewalk.

That housing development is decades older than yours, and its soil is vastly better.  Some 47 years later, more than a few rooftops are now shaded in Cherry Hill Estates.  But I bet that, had it not been killed, that old oak would still be spreading its glorious branches over them all.

N, I imagine some of those old trees like the one in front of your about-to-be-built house were beginning their 2nd century of life, if not their 3rd. It just kills me to see developers destroying old trees like that. It borders on criminal.

Some of my neighbors have had fairly decent success in getting trees to grow. They’re just now reaching the point where they look like settled-in trees. It’ll be another decade before they reach roof level, though, and probably another decade beyond that before they can afford shade of any substance. I have a feeling some of us are going to be fertilizer before that happens.

Linkmeister, at least Tall Oaks had real tall trees.  That was truth in advertising. Around here, we have new developments with streets named after trees—the ones they tore out. You’d be hard pressed to find a living one.

Well E and I are certainly in heaven. Nice and warm, low humidity. And sunshine to boot!

Yeah, the low humidity has been the rule rather than the exception this spring. Really low—like 24% today. It keeps the skeeters at bay. Haven’t seen one yet this season. Please let it last all summer!!!