March 1, 2009

Pearls Before Lipstick Wearing Swine

I think that I shall never see
A billboard lovely as a tree.
Perhaps, unless the billboards fall,
I'll never see a tree at all.
~Ogden Nash, "Song of the Open Road," 1933


I came across an article in Landscape Architecture from this past fall about a design company that wants to make billboards more attractive by creating elaborately engineered gardens growing around and behind them - in the air. You can click here to see the article, be sure to go to page 2. I can think of a better way to make them more beautiful for a lot less money - remove this visual clutter on the landscape entirely and legislate that they are never replaced.

A local news story from a couple of years ago still gets my blood boiling. In many of the articles the advertising companies portrayed themselves as beleaguered business people just trying to make a living, the politicians were just defending the rights of American citizens (and enjoying their campaign contributions), and the defenders of the trees were portrayed as kooky garden club ladies and tree huggers. Click here and here if you feel so inclined.

I understand that cigarette makers, payday loan lenders, puppy mill operators and outdoor advertisers all have a right to make a living. However, should this right to ply a trade also give a company the right to go onto adjacent private or public property to badly prune or remove someone else's trees just so the public can benefit from their messages? Televisions come with on/off switches and magazines can be closed, but billboards are more or less permanent (at least until the next hurricane) fixtures on the landscape and operate 24 hours a day.

Here are some badly pruned River Birches (Betula nigra) adjacent to a massive billboard here in Norfolk. In all honesty, I can't say whether these were pruned so they wouldn't block the billboard, or if it was done by the fast food company (on whose property they were planted) so their restaurant was not hidden. Either way, someone was not thinking when these potentially large trees were planted.
Maybe next time I feel like ranting it will be about this other form of advertising, but at least this kind has to be parked at some point.

11 comments:

  1. I couldn't agree more Les, rant on!

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  2. Whenever I drive around here and see all the trees that have been pruned because of the power lines it makes me pretty upset. Some areas prohibit billboards and I agree they should all go away.

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  3. Hi Les, some of us are just natural born ranters. I believe you have the gift! :-) I like your style.
    Frances

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  4. I've seen those trees and they look terrible. It can't be good to be pruned so badly. I also wondered if the billboard is the reason.

    I'm right there with you on your opinions with the billboards. I really thought when they started with the digital ones that perhaps far fewer would go up. But no, it was just the reason many needed to finally get onto billboards.

    ::sigh:: Love your blog and photos.

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  5. Enjoyed my visit to your blog today, and this post in particular. On a trip to the Adirondacks a few years ago, there was a very definitive moment on the road when it was clear that the official "protected area" had been entered and the roadside ads and billboards abruptly disappeared. What a breath of fresh air to finally be free of the signage and simply enjoy the unadulterated view—a view with nothing sell, except the gifts of the nature.

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  6. One would have thought that in the 76 years since the Ogden Nash poem things would have improved.
    Bring back Lady Bird J. or a newer version with the same outlook on natural wayside beauty.

    Would you believe that the British Government in its wisdom gave billboards a blanket agreement over here last year?
    We are already seeing the results of that, albeit (wonderful word, I don't use it often enough) sporadically as yet.
    jo

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  7. Hey, Les--I hate billboards in cities, but I have to say I have a special fondness for the the billboards advertising "The Thing" along I-10 in the Southwest. Seriously, the real tragedy is that it's a petty ineffective mode of advertising--when was the last time you went somewhere or bought something because you saw it on a billboard? (though I did stop once to check out "The Thing")

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  8. Hey, Les--I hate billboards in cities, but I have to say I have a special fondness for the the billboards advertising "The Thing" along I-10 in the Southwest. Seriously, the real tragedy is that it's a petty ineffective mode of advertising--when was the last time you went somewhere or bought something because you saw it on a billboard? (though I did stop once to check out "The Thing")

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  9. You spoke of a sensitive and important subject, Les. I've seen trees being cut down completely for the sake of raising a platform (They could've as well built it around the tree)! Many such sad things are happening around us and it's so frustrating to accept that we can't stop them!

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  10. Racquel,
    I remember cringing when a former boss told us to look for the companies new add on a billboard on 264. A garden center owner should know better.

    Janet,
    I am not sure what is more offensive, the billboard itself or the bad pruning that goes on around them.

    Frances,
    I don't stay worked up, but when I get this way it has to come out.

    Christy,
    I can't help but think those electronic ones are traffic hazards. At least the ones in Hampton on 64 are there for you to look at when you are waiting to get into the tunnel. Thanks for the comments.

    Gerry,
    I like your sentiments, and your welcome back anytime.

    Jo,
    Michelle Obama is looking for a pet cause, maybe she could channel Lady Bird.

    Cosmo,
    The only ones I have enjoyed are for South of the Border along 95. They were my milage gauge on many trips heading to SC. I did eventually stop because of them, or maybe it was because of the giant sombrero.

    Chandromouli,
    I guess ugliness respects no national borders.

    Les

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  11. Les,

    I agree completely with you...the latest abomination on our senses and the landscape are LED signs...Local businesses have successfully used the tired old poor beleaguered us argument to garner support for them! It makes me furious!

    gail

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