Our gardens...please don't leave them empty!

At first, it was all covered with trees, bamboo, lalang, undergrowth and other plants which we think is of no use. Who knows what lurks beneath the vegetation - snakes? leeches? And so, we build our house at one corner and grass-up the rest of the land. OK, we must have a bit of shade, so we plant a few trees here and there, those with nice coloured leaves - looks unusual. The kids can roam freely without risk of being bitten by some unidentified critter. The gardener should have an easier time. But - what happened to the Jungle look? The look that is so unique to Tanarimba? Well, the next lot has not been touched so I get the jungle look courtesy of my neighbours.

Really, if that is what we have in mind then I think we have misunderstood the concept of Tanarimba completely.

Of course, it is sometimes inevitable that some trees will have to go because they were in the way of the road or it was old and there is the imminent danger of it toppling over and on top of the roof. But I think we should take every effort to replant the land with local indigenous rainforest trees - not the ornamental imported from China with purple coloured leaves that no one has ever seen before type of trees, mind you. I think we owe it to ourselves and our neighbours to retain as much as possible the original look and feel of the place. Like what this neighbour on the right has done - "about 500 new tree saplings in the ground to-date"

And so with the right look, our property blends in nicely, maintains the special-ness of Tanarimba... so please don't leave your garden empty... You with me on this?