We traded the huge mess from cottonwood trees in Anchorage for the hail of horse chestnuts in Portland. Have you ever seen a really mature horse chestnut tree? There are a couple in my neighborhood that are designated as ‘heritage trees’. They’re over 100 years old and are probably 60-80 feet high. The amount of spiny missles dislodged every year from these things is amazing, and the mess on the streets is staggering.
Oh, it’s not the type of tree that’s the problem, it’s where the cretinous homeowners before my wife and I planted the thing. It’s planted so that now that it’s about 10 years old, I have to trim it like crazy since they planted it too close to the house.