In this Wall Street Journal article, Jason Parker from Davey's Warminster office adds insight into how shrubs and hedges aren't friendly to homeowner's foundations.
When my Northern California town adopted Ordinance #1309 in 2019 -strongly urging homeowners to clear shrubs, hedges and even herbs from the 5-foot zone around their houses to help prevent wildfires - I took it personally.
My lavender and I had been together for years. We'd survived droughts, gophers and a remodel. Now we were social pariahs.
But recently I dug in (mostly to build a case against the ordinance) and unearthed a painful truth: Foundation plantings are bad. Not just for fire zones - everywhere.
Experts - garden designers, horticulturists and forestry ecologists - agree. Those leafy green borders you think flatter your house? They're quietly wrecking it, causing moisture damage, mildew, blocked vents, termites living rent free behind a veil of greenery and roots tunneling into crawl spaces.
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For more information, contact the Warminster office.
The Davey Tree Expert Company, headquartered in Kent, Ohio, provides research-driven tree services, grounds maintenance and environmental and utility infrastructure consulting for residential, utility, commercial and environmental partners in the U.S. and Canada. As one of the top ten largest employee-owned companies in the U.S., Davey's 12,000 employees have been dedicated to creating and delivering sustainable solutions since 1880. Apply today to join the Davey legacy, and learn about how we're growing with our new SEED Campus.
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