This made me think that I've probably not been paying enough attention to the front of my house. I used to have two sweet gum trees in my front yard. They are nice trees with good shade and beautiful fall colors, but they have a downside. The dreaded sweet gum ball.
When one of the trees got killed in a storm not long ago, the issue seemed to be much less; however, I've obviously been overlooking a terrible problem. I suppose I could put up a "Beware of Tree" sign, and let people watch out for themselves. However, I should be a responsible tree owner and help my tree to be less dangerous.
Here's what I saw when I went to look at the sidewalk this morning.
It looks pretty harmless, but I recognize that the danger is hiding right at the edges of the walk. So, as my friend requested I got out my rake and raked all the leaves and sweet gum balls from the edges.
I then swept all this up and off the sidewalk.
After this, I raked all the leaves and stuff from the edge of the lawn back into the lawn, so it want roll out into the sidewalk.
When someone calls you out on something that you are doing (or not doing) it can be a bit jarring. I have a laundry list of reasons ready to go to defend my lack of lawn care. I won't drag it out here, but know that I have one -- hahaha. I had to ask myself if someone wants me to do (or not do) something, should I. Of course, I want to be a good neighbor, and responsible tree owner. Therefore, I must do this whether or not I have a valid excuse. This is part of why I started this blog, and this commitment to improve myself this year.
Please enjoy the safer sidewalk, and remember that sweet gum tree is really a nice tree.
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