Figs are falling like raindrops this morning from my neighbor's ficus tree.
John covered his car with a tarp last night to protect it from the gooey smashed fruit.
Good thing--because the ficus "berries" (actually figlets) now cover the sidewalk and driveway that I had swept and hosed clean yesterday.
Thanks to the Santa Monica Daily Press for letting me vent about these trees. Maybe the city will actually come out and remove the one in front of our house.
http://smdp.com/not-feeling-the-ficus/132159
I confess that on Wednesday I went out to sweep the mush off the sidewalk in preparation for having friends over in the evening. Then after scooping up maybe ten dustpans full, I fell to temptation and hosed off the remaining paste.
My daughter Ellen was horrified last Sunday when I admitted I was tempted to resort to hosing down the driveway and sidewalk.
"But Mom, the drought!" she said.
Yes, I've seen the flashing signs on the freeway where you expect reports on traffic conditions: "SEVERE DROUGHT! SAVE WATER."
But I haven't hosed the driveway at all in the last six months, and even though I hop around the sidewalk trying not to step on berries, ficus goop has been walked all over the house, even onto the bathroom mats.
I deserve one hosing per winter, don't I? But then the berries were back in full force two days later when I was expecting a team of windshield replacement guys to arrive and do work in my driveway. So after first sweeping, I sneaked another hosing...
I disguised the act as washing my car, also covered with berries, and got out a brush to clean the dried mush off the sides of the car, sprayed by my tires whenever I drive in or out of the driveway.
If the City Forester won't remove the trees because of the broken sidewalks, the fungus growing out of the roots, the messy fruit, or the squeezed plumbing system, maybe he'll do it to prevent me and my neighbors from being tempted to waste water.
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| Car half protected from ficus tree fruit |
John covered his car with a tarp last night to protect it from the gooey smashed fruit.
Good thing--because the ficus "berries" (actually figlets) now cover the sidewalk and driveway that I had swept and hosed clean yesterday.
Thanks to the Santa Monica Daily Press for letting me vent about these trees. Maybe the city will actually come out and remove the one in front of our house.
http://smdp.com/not-feeling-the-ficus/132159
I confess that on Wednesday I went out to sweep the mush off the sidewalk in preparation for having friends over in the evening. Then after scooping up maybe ten dustpans full, I fell to temptation and hosed off the remaining paste.
My daughter Ellen was horrified last Sunday when I admitted I was tempted to resort to hosing down the driveway and sidewalk.
 |
| Saturday scene, one day after hosing to remove all berries |
"But Mom, the drought!" she said.
Yes, I've seen the flashing signs on the freeway where you expect reports on traffic conditions: "SEVERE DROUGHT! SAVE WATER."
But I haven't hosed the driveway at all in the last six months, and even though I hop around the sidewalk trying not to step on berries, ficus goop has been walked all over the house, even onto the bathroom mats.
I deserve one hosing per winter, don't I? But then the berries were back in full force two days later when I was expecting a team of windshield replacement guys to arrive and do work in my driveway. So after first sweeping, I sneaked another hosing...
I disguised the act as washing my car, also covered with berries, and got out a brush to clean the dried mush off the sides of the car, sprayed by my tires whenever I drive in or out of the driveway.
If the City Forester won't remove the trees because of the broken sidewalks, the fungus growing out of the roots, the messy fruit, or the squeezed plumbing system, maybe he'll do it to prevent me and my neighbors from being tempted to waste water.
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