I am writing to express my serious displeasure with the plantings selected for the updating of the Avenue of the Fountains median.

First and foremost, according the article in The Fountain Hills Times, they will be replacing 30 removed trees and shrubs with 60 new plantings. These will include not one tree or shrub native to Arizona. Nor does it include even a token Jacaranda, the “official tree” of Fountain Hills.

It will, however, include 30 Sissoo trees, native to India. The Sissoo tree is fraught with potential problems: It propagates by two means, seed pods and shoots from a very aggressive root system. They are known most for the fact that they grow quickly and are inexpensive.

Naturalized or volunteer trees can sprout up to 100 feet from the main tree and elimination of these trees requires digging up the entire root system of the offending tree.

The other proposed trees all require regular water to grow in Arizona and are non-native species as well. Sixty plants to replace 30 that have been removed is far too dense a plan. It will look great this year and next but will be a jungle in five to 10 years, likely requiring another modernization of the parkway.

Why can we not have native plantings which fit with the xeriscape programs that fit the area, use little water and likely require less maintenance than potentially invasive species?

It seems the selections were made based on low cost and reported low maintenance. I suggest the proposed plantings will raise havoc with the water and electrical systems, and if cheap is the way we want to continue to do things in Fountain Hills, let’s just pour concrete and paint it green!