From Carob to Bottle : He Prefers Tree That’s a Familiar Nuisance

Don’t get me wrong. I love my old carrotwood tree, a.k.a. carob tree. As a matter of record, I treated the old tree like it was a carob tree, and after 20 years, it is now 40 feet tall with branches that spread at least 40 feet.

I nursed that tree. I fed it. I watered it. I pruned it. I sprayed it. And it is the kind of tree that rewards kindness and attention. It is growing like a rocket, and the sidewalk launch pad is also lifting off into space.

I might mention that the carrot-wood tree’s roots are embracing the sewer line and water pipes, and one of those wandering roots may very soon spring through a commode. But I am attached to my old tree.

In fact, after a few years of hesitation, we realized the virtues of the carrotwood tree and decided to restyle our house to take advantage of the tree’s charm.

Adapting to Tree

A darker green house paint blended with the foliage, and a tan slump stone wall matched the color of the carrotwood trunk. We added a buffer of Indian hawthorne and French windows that were framed by the carrotwood’s branches. We called this dramatic accent. We still had one other dramatic gesture to make--to redo the roof in red tile. That would be the ultimate dramatic statement.

Unfortunately, the city of Cypress made its own dramatic statement. The city announced that it would soon remove all carrotwood trees because they had become a liability. In their place, the city would plant “bottle trees.

Somehow, a tree that is called a “bottle” tree does little to inspire the imagination, but the city planners assured homeowners that it was the right tree to fit the space and neighborhood. According to city planners, the bottle tree, unlike the carrotwood, will be low maintenance and very hardy.

My old carrotwood tree had few virtues, it is true. In November, it would produce a yellow cloud of blossoms. These stained the sidewalk, ruined car paint and grew into green pods. The green pods grew into large green pods by June. And in June, the large green pods opened and broadcast brown seeds the size of peas.

Nuisance hat’s Known

These seeds stained the sidewalks and pitted the cars and drew large crowds of birds. In August, the pods fell and dammed gutters, stopped lawn mowers and dented car paint. And in September, the old carrotwood let loose a mulch of leaves and a rain of twigs.

I don’t believe there was a time when the old carrotwood was dormant.

Yet soon it will all be gone. I didn’t dislike the old carrotwood in spite of its tendencies. And I will treat the bottle tree at least as well as I did the carrotwood.

But when I stare out my formerly dramatic French windows at the insignificant bottle sapling trying to be a carrotwood tree, I will long for the good old days when a tree was a nuisance you could count on.