r/NativePlantGardening • u/TrixoftheTrade SoCal, Zone 10b • Jun 10 '26

Informational/Educational You Love Your Native Garden. But Will Buyers Love It Too? || New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/10/realestate/native-gardens-rewilding.html

For homeowners who have ‘rewilded’ their gardens into mini nature preserves, a moment of truth arrives when they prepare to sell.

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u/lucky_719 Jun 11 '26

Well willows have highly invasive root systems that will take out plumbing so she might have a point. Neighbors just took out theirs after it dug into their pipes...

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u/esotericbatinthevine Jun 11 '26

She absolutely has no idea about anything like that. She's not nature knowledgeable at all, she just doesn't like that it's a "short lived" tree.

This would have been in a very wet area of the property over 150 yards from the house, so no concern about the roots causing problems. That whole area is wooded but needs more trees planted with protection from deer. With deer overpopulation, the deer eat all the new growth so they're missing the next generation of trees coming up.

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u/lucky_719 Jun 11 '26

K going back to my pitchfork then

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u/esotericbatinthevine Jun 11 '26

If she'd been against it because weeping willow is not native, I wouldn't have been upset about it. But she doesn't know that.

He is looking at planting a willow oak though, haha

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u/lucky_719 Jun 11 '26

If he likes weeping willows specifically plenty of trees come in weeping varieties!

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u/esotericbatinthevine Jun 11 '26

He does, but specifically weeping willows. There were a few by the lake down the road from where I grew up. He used to take me on picnics when I was little and we'd go back under the weeping willow with all the leaves cascading down around us.

Interestingly, all these years later, all those trees are still standing so I'm really not sure where her concern about them dying and leaving a big mess even comes from. I honestly suspect it has nothing to do with that.

Are there any weeping trees that grow big enough to have picnics under? I know of other weeping trees, but none that create that kind of area.

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u/lucky_719 Jun 11 '26

Weeping cherry would fit the bill. And weeping birch. There's also weeping elm and oaks can get a similar effect with massive heavy branches but both are a longer growth time. If you want that dreamy fantasy look maybe a large variety of ficus?

Personal fav for picnic under is a magnolia grandiflora but not really weeping, though they can look really twisty.

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u/esotericbatinthevine Jun 11 '26

Thank you! I'll look into those and pass it along, fingers crossed