To cut or not to cut??

That is the question!

We have a minor issue in our backyard. At first I thought my man was over reacting, but as we are going on year #4 in our home, I now understand his feelings. (Sorry Husband...you were right!)

You see, we have a mess on our hands 9 months out of the year. This is what I managed to pull out of our pool filter because it was clogged and our vacuum wasn't moving.

I then proceeded to skim out a much larger pile, no pic included. I emptied the filter basket on the pump and pulled pile #2 out of the filter basket. I guess all it took for me to see what my man was irritated at was for me to get out there and do it myself. Funny, huh?!

He wants to have all 3 very tall redwood trees pulled from our backyard. They are huge, green and provide lots of shade in the hot summer months. They are so nice in the heat, that our entire backyard and pool is full shade by 3pm. Not sure if you are aware or not, but the hottest time of day here is 5pm. Just in time.

So short story even longer...I'm off to call the tree guy to see about having them REMOVED. I'm over them and the mess they make. I'm sure our pool guy will be delighted as well. Does anyone have any ideas for trees to plant in their place? Something pretty and NOT messy. No dropping berries, seed pods or any other foreign objects. We we're thinking maybe a few Japanese Maples? I like Queen Palms, but they wouldn't really go with our non-tropical backyard and they aren't real shady. Any thoughts?

I'm off to call Adolph. Trees be gone...roots and all!

I couldn't resist this little guy. I forgot he even exsisted.