Environment rating

The Environment
To find out how your town is doing, visit the Town Hall and talking to Pelly or Phyllis, and asking about "The Environment". They will then relay a comment from some villager to you, and explain why they might have said that. They make very vague comments, however, this will be your number one way of finding out whether or not your town is doing well. Phyllis' comments are usually a bit blunter than Pelly's, especially when relating to 'greenery'.

Trees
A tree can't grow properly unless there is dig-able dirt all around it. The big, pine-like Cedar trees can't grow in the lower part of town - they are restricted to the top two rows of acres. Coconut/Palm trees can only grow along the beach. If your trees are dying, this might be why.

When you talk to Pelly/Phyllis about the environment, and they specifically mention trees, then you probably don't have enough or aren't spacing them out correctly. You'll be better off going for the maximum amount of trees (400) and working from there.

Flowers
You may want to plant a lot of flowers around your town, as there is no penalty for having your town covered in them. Putting at least one flower in each acre improves your town greatly. If Pelly or Phyllis tells you that you need 'more green', your problem may be a lack of flowers. You can plant any type or color of flower wherever you want. Just keep the town evenly distributed. You will have to water these flowers as soon as you see them wilting. Lucky for you, you don't have to water them if they are healthy or if it's raining.


 * One tip, stick flowers of the same species together; keep tulips with tulips, roses with roses, etc. You might get lucky and get a hybrid colour.

Weeds
Three weeds show up per day. There is no positive to having weeds whether you want a perfect town or not. If you're going for a perfect town, you're going to have to make sure you don't have a single one of them lying around. Make sure you pick about three daily, or you'll have a problem. Clovers count as weeds and also must also be removed.

Junk
Anything that's not a fruit or flower should NOT be on the ground. Furniture, accessories, and garbage from the sea all fall into this category. Seashells are fine on the beach and do not count as junk.

Messages
When talking with Pelly/Phyllis about the environment, she will relay "messages" that other villagers have given her. Her response will inform you what level of town you currently have in Animal Crossing: City Folk.


 * Worst - "This place is the pits! Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong! There's not a single thing I like in this town!"


 * Bad - I'm not sure what good it will do to write this, but... Could you try and be a bit more thoughtful about your town? Because at this rate..."


 * Neutral - "Hmm... it's not a passing grade, but it's not a failing grade either. It's like more than milk, but not quite a milk shake."


 * Good - "This town is fantastic! But even so, it still seems to be missing something"


 * Perfect - "Fantastic! [Town Name] is in great shape right now! Yep, it's pretty sweeeeet!"

After Pelly/Phyllis relays the message, they will tell you something about the town that will help you get to the next level. For example, at the "getting there" phase, Pelly may tell you that some areas don't have enough green, which is a hint to plant more flowers and trees in areas lacking them. Phyllis's messages tend to be a little more straight-forward about what you need to do, since that is more her style.