The lot next door is cleared. Even though I knew it was coming, and I know how they do it here, I am disgusted and depressed. How things can change from green and shaded and private to hot, sunny, and wide open in a matter of minutes. I have before and after photos below.
It only took a few hours for the excavator to remove all the greenery – along with perfectly good trees – from the entire lot next door. This is how they do it in the lovely state of Florida.
This lot is one of the few left in our vast neighborhood. Just a few years ago the land sold for $20K. Recently it sold for $70K. Now a house will go in and it will sell for probably around $400-$500K. Florida is no longer affordable, but what is worse it the total disregard for wildlife and green spaces. This happens all the time, all over the state.
Apparently there are no laws keeping companies from mowing down every living thing to build.. and build…and build. I hate it here. I live here only because I can’t afford to get out, but I hate it. Now, I hate it even more. It has affected my life in a big fat negative way.
The good news was that they left one tree at the front on our property line. It’s a beautiful oak, and I was outside ready to question the reason for removing it if that claw came close – maybe climb up and sit in it (haha). But all the other smaller trees and shrubs along the line are completely gone.
The lot being cleared is low land and water sits in there whenever we get a bunch of rain. All along the edge, between my property and theirs, is was a line of oaks and maples.
I loved one maple in particular that I discovered a few years ago when it was tangled up in vines. I pulled off the vines and the tree began to take off. It was about my height at the time, but it became very tall, as you can see in my photo below. I swear that tree grew at least five feet a year! It was beautiful.
In a matter of seconds, the orange claw (can you see it behind the greenery?) grabbed my beautiful tree and carried it off to the pile. Then, the tractor went down the line and ripped everything else out.
I watched helplessly as the scoop grabbed all the banana trees in the back corner and pulled them out. Those were not mine, but they were on my property, and I had hoped some might remain. The pole in the back is the property line, and the guy came right up to the line (and sometimes over) all the way down the edge. My Moringa tree was right there – on my property, but oh so close – it still stands, thankfully. We have a great view of all our neighbors now. Goody.
The garden will now have to adjust to a lack of shade. With the tall trees along the property line gone, the entire yard will have mostly sun all day long. Mornings used to be nice and shady and I could go out and work, but no more. I’ll have to see how much shade I get from the one tree left.
He had to leave that one big oak tree because it was “18 inches”. Gee, lucky tree.
My yard seems much smaller, and because all my privacy is gone, I’m considering moving my garden to another spot. I’ve already considered doing some new things so I don’t have to be in this part of the yard as much.
Not only have I lost my shade and privacy, once the filling of the lot starts there will be dump trucks coming in all day. Then, they will dig the footers and build the house. I’m looking at many months of noisy construction to deal with.
My only option is to move to the back by the shed, and around to the front of the house – which is the other side, opposite my garden area. Thankfully I planted shrubs along the front which gives me privacy. I’m not sure of sun out front, but I may invest in another raised bed for the area.
Pivot and Adjust
I just wrote a post on another of my blogs with this “pivot and adjust” title pertaining to my design business. Now, here I am doing the same thing with my gardening hobby.
The little area back by the shed is shady late in the day. I went out and pulled the shelving unit around from the back to the side. My new seed packets from Cody Cove Farm have arrived and been planted, so this might be a good spot to keep the seedlings as they grow. Right now I have milkweed on the shelf. The orange buckets have dirt which I dug from the empty lot next door.
At my age I certainly have learned that life throws you curve balls. I’ve had to adjust to many things over the years. This is one more small setback, but it could lead to some more interesting gardening – who knows.
