Sumac Sprouts Cause Rift Between Neighbors

Tidy, geometrically shaped shrubs decorate Kenneth Johnson’s front yard on East Nebraska. Johnson takes pride in keeping his grass green and short, mirroring most other yards on the block.

But right next door, Roger Powell’s yard seems to have a life of its own. Dead vines snake through a lattice arch. Errant daisies mingle with weedy sprouts. Tall, leafy trees fill the rectangular space between the sidewalk and the street, lending a Jurassic-Park feel.

Like a modern-day odd couple, Johnson and Powell disagree about what constitutes a good-looking yard. And that was fine, until offshoots of Powell’s leafy profusion began to pop up 25 feet away, through the golf-course perfection of Johnson’s lawn.

”(The Powells) moved in in ‘91 and planted something between the sidewalk and the street,” Johnson explained. “I didn’t know what it was, but when the other neighbors heard it was sumac, they told me, ‘You’ll be sorry.”’

Sumac is a hardy variety of tree with long-reaching roots needing little water.

“Now there are 34 plants coming up in my yard and his trees are 8 feet tall,” Johnson said, pointing to the tiny white flags stuck in his lawn indicating sumac sprouts. “It’s like living next to a pig pen.

“If I wanted to sell my house, it would be marked down $8,000 to $10,000 because of what’s planted next door,” he said.

Powell makes no excuses for his raging frontyard foliage.

“My yard looks like a jungle,” he said. “I look out my window and see trees. But that’s what I like. I’m an outdoors guy stuck in the city.”

Unfortunately for Johnson, who has lived in the same house since 1955, as long as the trees don’t interfere with sewer lines, there is no law against what can be planted.

“If a tree’s roots encroach on a neighbor’s lawn and send out shoots that come up, it’s a civil matter that does not involve the city,” said John Henry, code enforcement supervisor for the city of Spokane. “You need to talk to your neighbor, and if you don’t want to do that, hire a lawyer.”

For Johnson, talking with the Powells hasn’t worked.

“I’ve told them what I think, and they don’t say anything, don’t do anything. So, I just stay away,” he said.

Again, Powell agrees.

“I have spoken with Ken, and he just tells me when I can’t do something,” Powell said. “When we first moved in, he nagged me about mowing the lawn, so I just mowed a smiley face into it.”

The city’s Parks Department is working on a tree ordinance that will create a program giving the Parks Department authority to manage what is planted on public property. City Council is scheduled to decide on the tree ordinance Monday.

But even the tree ordinance won’t help Johnson. According to Jim Flott, horticultural supervisor for the Spokane Parks Department, Spokane homeowners technically own the property up to the middle of the street.

And so, the tiny sumacs will continue to grow in Johnson’s yard unwanted.

“I fertilize my lawn, so those roots just come my way,” Johnson said. “People plain don’t care.”