Hello Neighbors,

We just purchased a home in the neighborhood and are very excited about moving in soon. One minor bother we are trying to eliminate is the stinky female Gingko tree that hangs over the backyard fence.

They are beautiful trees and we love to look at them. However, in the Fall they drop fruit which has a VERY strong, foul smell. It smells just like dog poop. It carries in to your carpets, etc., and will stain many surfaces. They are planted all over San Jose! What was the City's arborist thinking of??? Why didn't they plant just male trees which are just as spectacular to look at without the horrible smell?

A call to the City's arborist was no help. They said we could not remove the tree but we could cut the limbs hanging over into our yard. That's some relief I suppose. We would be happy to remove the tree ourselves and plant another (male) tree in it's place.

Has anyone had a similar experience and found a way to solve the problem? Has anyone tried the permit process for removing/replacing a tree? Thanks for your feedback, Ron ([email protected])