.
Builders must receive a certificate of occupancy ahead of selling a new construction home. Most USA jurisdictions have a minimal landscaping requirement for that certificate of occupancy: square footage of lawn, number of bushes, and number of trees. Builders are doing their job, it's not on them to change standards.
.
Beyond that outline the types/placement of bushes/trees is not defined further. Decades pass, the builder's landscaping remains. No concern for trees to shade in summer/warm in winter/block winter winds reducing HVAC expense and increasing property value, mature growth that won't break foundations/walks/drives/rot roofs or siding.
.
Civic duty is met, a baseline standard, and keep it tidy. Little relation to eco, sustainable, Nature. That trinity is ours to define. One of life's great gifts, if we take it.
.
Centuries before American foundation plantings, there were gardens, below.
.
A garden design course, below, in a single photo.
.
Better, eco/sustainable/Nature. Increasing lifestyle & property value.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
This garden, above, feels like it's been let out of the jail of foundation plantings.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO T