I paid 40 euros for my ailanthus just for the fast shade: the morning I took the saw to it, I understood what I had really put in the ground
A 40-euro purchase promised shade in two summers but delivered a decade of trouble. The tree of heaven spreads through aggressive roots, produces hundreds of thousands of seeds annually, and hosts an invasive insect that threatens crops across America. One homeowner’s reckoning with the true cost of convenience.