Resident mourning loss of neighborhood trees gets schooled by arborists: 'It's best to pick another tree'

After mourning the loss of an Acacia tree in the San Francisco Bay Area, a Redditor posted grievances to Reddit and was met with mixed reviews.

The Redditor posted about the gradual demise of the giant yellow flowering tree, with "RIP" as the caption.

While it's always sad to see a living, breathing plant meet its end, the California Invasive Plant Council reported that Acacia longifolia is classified as an invasive plant in the Golden State as well as several other areas worldwide. 

This species is capable of causing all sorts of problems. Fast-growing and native to Australia, the tree is considered a large weed that changes the chemistry of the soil with its nitrogen attributes while shading and growing over native plants. 

Acacia longifolia also has an aggressive root system and is known for its pesky colonization, dropping seeds like crazy. Because of its beautiful yellow flowers, it is frequently used as an attractive landscaping plant, but it will quickly multiply and take over new ecosystems.

For this and many other reasons, it's important to grow and maintain native plants. Cultivating a natural yard requires less water, less fertilizer, and zero pesticides to thrive, which saves a ton of money and is easier on the environment.

The native lawn movement, including clover lawns, vegetable gardens, wildflowers, and no lawns, is a trend that supports local pollinators and wildlife by replacing manicured grass yards, imported plants, and other non-local botany with native plants and flowers. 

It's not only great for Earth but for individual health as well. Our survival depends on pollinators such as bees, which pollinate approximately 35% of food crops consumed by humans and 80% of all flowering plants.

The post was met with a lot of comments based on the tree's non-native and invasive nature.

"It's best to pick another tree," one Redditor suggested.

"It's not even a California tree," another wrote.

"Replace with more native plants please!" a third exclaimed.

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