It’s a Jungle Out There, All Leif ‘s
One might say Leif Christensen has a green thumb.
Lush honeysuckle vines, fruit trees and flowering plants nearly cover his E. South Street home, known to his friends as “Leif’s little jungle.”
“It’s a lot of work, but I just love flowers and plants,” said Christensen, 68, pointing out that all the greenery is important because it creates fresh air.
But some neighbors, with their manicured lawns and neatly trimmed bushes, say Christensen’s wild yard sticks out like a sore thumb.
“If I want to look at a jungle, I’ll go to South America,” neighbor Mike Freeman said.
Neighbors recently asked the city for help, contending the jungle yard attracts rodents, and poses fire and safety hazards. They say a carport-size wooden trellis that extends from the home’s garage is unsightly.
The Planning Commission in January ordered Christensen to remove the front trellis and shear overgrown vegetation. Christensen appealed the decision to the City Council, with a hearing set March 10.
Christensen, a retired steel industry manager, said he wants to keep peace with his neighbors, but believes he should have the right to do whatever he pleases with his property.
His next-door neighbor, Jim Steele, agrees, as long as city codes are followed.
“The neighbors are complaining that it looks like a jungle out there, but that’s what he likes: the greenery, the trees and the flowers,” Steele said. “If that’s the way he likes it, more power to him.”
Since moving to the neighborhood 22 years ago, Christensen has been planting--and transplanting--his yard. The Denmark native talks with pride of the love and care that allows his plants to flourish.
“I like my house, and I like it the way it is,” he said.
But many of his neighbors lack any affection for the yard, seeing it as a tangled mess that threatens to choke their property values.
The last straw, they say, came about four months ago when Christensen built the large frontyard trellis, 16 feet by 12 feet, from his eaves.
“Everybody who has seen [his house] doesn’t think it has curb appeal because of the raw nature of it,” said Robert Bennett, a 23-year resident of the neighborhood, developed in the early 1960s.
Barbara Holden, a 35-year resident, calls the yard an eyesore.
“Now we’re just asking him to get rid of that mess and make it look like a normal frontyard,” she said.
Mike and Karen Freeman, who live behind Christensen, are protesting his towering backyard trellis. The couple said the vine-laden trellis has become so imposing that it blocks sunlight and breezes to their home.
“I’d like to be able to see the sky and see some sunlight,” Mike Freeman said.
Another neighbor said she hopes something can be worked out with Christensen.
“I understand he loves the birds and the trees and he wants to replenish the oxygen, but there’s a way to make it pleasing to the eye,” Cynthia Bradley said. “It’s just a jungle.”
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NEIGHBORHOODS / East South Street
Bounded by: South Street on the south, Standish Avenue on the north, Rio Vista Street on the west and Westgate Drive on the east
Population: About 44 homes in the immediate neighborhood
Hot topic: A neighbor’s jungle yard
