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  3. Why don't Americans plant trees and bushes of stuff that they can eat in their houses instead of having useless grass?

Why don't Americans plant trees and bushes of stuff that they can eat in their houses instead of having useless grass?

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Asklemmy
asklemmy
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  • S [email protected]

    Littering your yard with food attracts things like rats, raccoons, squirrels, etc, which destroy property and infrastructure, spread disease, and cause injury to people and pets. I'm not saying I'm against fruit trees, but I do understand people who are. It's a legitimate concern. Some areas even have things like boars or bears which are extremely dangerous.

    I'm also curious with the way you can sue people in the US what would happen if someone becomes sick after eating one of your fruits. I imagine it varies by state.

    B This user is from outside of this forum
    B This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote on last edited by
    #96

    I lived in a small city (~30k) in the middle of rural texas growing up, and our main wildlife was deer, squirrels, possums, foxes, armadillos, javalinas, and birds, although we also had the occasional ratsnake or raccoons or skunks.

    We didn't really have fruit trees, but we did have plenty of pecans and several gardens of all kinds of veggies, a fig tree that never seemed to bloom, and some assorted berrying bushes.

    We never experienced these plagues of infrastructural damage and diseases and hurt pets (4 cats and 2 dogs in total) that you describe. Idk where people get these horror stories from.

    I suppose it can happen, but that's probably in areas where such a yard is the only safe space for wildlife and people don't live with nature as a daily part of their lives.

    I s2g cityfolk act like getting brushed up against by a non-domesticated critter will give them an instant prion disorder.

    S N 2 Replies Last reply
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    • C [email protected]

      Growing crops is quite a bit of cost and effort and time. I have a little garden, but it's not like you just plant some seeds and you're all done.

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      Guest
      wrote on last edited by
      #97

      This is the answer right here.

      Everyone is saying "it's a sign of wealth" or "my HOA won't let me". Which yeah ok is more or less true.

      Though, the real reason is it takes time, money, and a lot of effort. Which most people don't have.

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      • perogiboi@lemmy.caP [email protected]

        I’ve seen this happen before in real life so extreme or not, it’s definitely the norm in upstate New York at the very least. Had the city called on us while we were out of the country and we came back to all 6 of our small fruit trees dug up and tracks all over the front lawn from an excavator and a $2500 bill from the city.

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        wrote on last edited by
        #98

        6? What are you trying to make an orchard? That's pretty aggressive. How big is your front yard? How long were you gone for to make the city take action? You wouldn't get one notice, then a day later, they tear up your yard. You had to have been gone for a long time.

        I have a fairly large front yard, and if I planted that many trees, yeah I'd get sited.

        It doesn't matter if you had fruit trees or not. That's not a "you can't plant trees in your front yard", thats, "this many trees in a relatively small area can cause safety issues"

        perogiboi@lemmy.caP 1 Reply Last reply
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        • confidant6198@lemmy.mlC [email protected]
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          N This user is from outside of this forum
          N This user is from outside of this forum
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          wrote on last edited by
          #99

          Are you suggesting that we don't eat our Arborvitaes?

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          • confidant6198@lemmy.mlC [email protected]
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            virusmaster3073@lemmy.worldV This user is from outside of this forum
            virusmaster3073@lemmy.worldV This user is from outside of this forum
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            wrote on last edited by
            #100

            I want to grow my own potatoes, bananas, and coffee once I get my own house in the tropics

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            • ? Guest

              6? What are you trying to make an orchard? That's pretty aggressive. How big is your front yard? How long were you gone for to make the city take action? You wouldn't get one notice, then a day later, they tear up your yard. You had to have been gone for a long time.

              I have a fairly large front yard, and if I planted that many trees, yeah I'd get sited.

              It doesn't matter if you had fruit trees or not. That's not a "you can't plant trees in your front yard", thats, "this many trees in a relatively small area can cause safety issues"

              perogiboi@lemmy.caP This user is from outside of this forum
              perogiboi@lemmy.caP This user is from outside of this forum
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              wrote on last edited by
              #101

              Wow haha you must have been the city bylaw officer with the way you are so gallantly siding with the city and telling me off for planting 6 fruit tree saplings on 1+ acres of front yard. You must have been to some very small orchards! You sound very intelligent! I am truly humbled.

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              • confidant6198@lemmy.mlC [email protected]
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                wrote on last edited by
                #102

                In many cities having a lawn is required. It may be the HOA, or the zoning code

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                • B [email protected]

                  I lived in a small city (~30k) in the middle of rural texas growing up, and our main wildlife was deer, squirrels, possums, foxes, armadillos, javalinas, and birds, although we also had the occasional ratsnake or raccoons or skunks.

                  We didn't really have fruit trees, but we did have plenty of pecans and several gardens of all kinds of veggies, a fig tree that never seemed to bloom, and some assorted berrying bushes.

                  We never experienced these plagues of infrastructural damage and diseases and hurt pets (4 cats and 2 dogs in total) that you describe. Idk where people get these horror stories from.

                  I suppose it can happen, but that's probably in areas where such a yard is the only safe space for wildlife and people don't live with nature as a daily part of their lives.

                  I s2g cityfolk act like getting brushed up against by a non-domesticated critter will give them an instant prion disorder.

                  S This user is from outside of this forum
                  S This user is from outside of this forum
                  [email protected]
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #103

                  that's probably in areas where such a yard is the only safe space for wildlife and people don't live with nature as a daily part of their lives.

                  I think this is the case. In urban areas you get the rats and such nesting directly in people's homes because there's nowhere else for them to be, thanks to the absolute miles of pavement. When I've lived in more rural areas you would see a lot of animals all the time, but everyone was pretty much minding their own business. I think habitat destruction is the real problem.

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                  • D [email protected]

                    Trees in general do all of those horrible things you mentioned.

                    I'm glad I don't live wherever you are.

                    S This user is from outside of this forum
                    S This user is from outside of this forum
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                    wrote on last edited by
                    #104

                    I don't think that's the case, but trees in general are sadly not common in American landscaping, at least in my experience with urban areas. You tend to see newer (90's+) homes with very small trees that suggest the idea of nature without providing any shade or other benefits. I keep hearing about people buying older houses with big lovely trees and having them immediately cut down because it's disturbing the driveway or they're afraid of it falling in a storm. I think insurance costs may have something to do with these concerns, but it's really sad regardless.

                    In California they're constantly giving out these little saplings that will grow into very functional and deep-rooted shade trees, but no one wants them because they aren't pretty and drop needles.

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                    • perogiboi@lemmy.caP [email protected]

                      Wow haha you must have been the city bylaw officer with the way you are so gallantly siding with the city and telling me off for planting 6 fruit tree saplings on 1+ acres of front yard. You must have been to some very small orchards! You sound very intelligent! I am truly humbled.

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                      Guest
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #105

                      Yeah I would've been intelligent enough to look up my city's ordinance about planting multiple trees in my front yard. Especially if I'm going to be leaving for several months afterwards.

                      Like it sucks you got your trees ripped out my dude, I'm sure you can try it again. Just search it up on the interwebs of your city. 100% you'll find it. If you want Ill search it for you. You can plant some awesome stuff in upstate.

                      All the best to you my man.

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                      • B [email protected]

                        I lived in a small city (~30k) in the middle of rural texas growing up, and our main wildlife was deer, squirrels, possums, foxes, armadillos, javalinas, and birds, although we also had the occasional ratsnake or raccoons or skunks.

                        We didn't really have fruit trees, but we did have plenty of pecans and several gardens of all kinds of veggies, a fig tree that never seemed to bloom, and some assorted berrying bushes.

                        We never experienced these plagues of infrastructural damage and diseases and hurt pets (4 cats and 2 dogs in total) that you describe. Idk where people get these horror stories from.

                        I suppose it can happen, but that's probably in areas where such a yard is the only safe space for wildlife and people don't live with nature as a daily part of their lives.

                        I s2g cityfolk act like getting brushed up against by a non-domesticated critter will give them an instant prion disorder.

                        N This user is from outside of this forum
                        N This user is from outside of this forum
                        [email protected]
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #106

                        People are afraid of everything now. If you let your kids make their own way to school instead of driving them they may be kidnapped and murdered by the nonces hidden around every corner in your city, but also they may grow up to be independent self-reliant people.

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                        • niquarl@lemmy.mlN [email protected]

                          There is a pretty great website called Falling fruit to map trees and other plants that you can pick from freely.

                          L This user is from outside of this forum
                          L This user is from outside of this forum
                          [email protected]
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #107

                          I checked out my closest two locations on there. They were bith dumpsters... "Best to come after midnight".

                          Not what I was expecting...

                          niquarl@lemmy.mlN 1 Reply Last reply
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                          • M [email protected]

                            Because having a big yard of grass that you have to mow every week while using up gasoline is the American dream and a flex for some reason.

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                            wrote on last edited by
                            #108

                            Don’t forget about the expensive chemical treatments to maintain it so the local groundwater can become contaminated …

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                            • L [email protected]

                              I checked out my closest two locations on there. They were bith dumpsters... "Best to come after midnight".

                              Not what I was expecting...

                              niquarl@lemmy.mlN This user is from outside of this forum
                              niquarl@lemmy.mlN This user is from outside of this forum
                              [email protected]
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #109

                              Yeah they do add dumpsters from shops that throw good to eat food. I know some people that lived in Danemark for a year and basically only ate food from dumpsters...

                              Maybe you could add some close to you?

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                              • N [email protected]

                                Hey. Thank you for sharing this.

                                Websites like this are the good part of the internet.

                                niquarl@lemmy.mlN This user is from outside of this forum
                                niquarl@lemmy.mlN This user is from outside of this forum
                                [email protected]
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #110

                                You're welcome 😊😘🤗

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