In anticipation of Arbor Day on March 5, can we get a refresh of what activities have been planned and perhaps a timeline for the week of events and how it is being publicized?
How is the city promoting the education, the need, and importance of trees? What organizations are involved? Is it too late for other organizations to be a part of it?
Here is a link to the arbor day activities of Huntington Beach. I bet we could do so much better: hbtrees.org.
Laguna Beach is steeped in Tree history—most all plein air artist/painters painted the canyon and the coast with a tree or two to give scale and beauty to our canyon and its beautiful native sycamores and oaks.
And since most of Laguna Beach had no other trees growing naturally, many were brought and experimentation began. Australian native trees were planted. South African trees were planted. Mediterranean trees were planted.
None were incorrect at the time—it was wild open territory—the effort was to beautify to tame to make functional the new frontier.
We are fortunate to get to be caretakers of the experimentation. What exists are trees that have weathered the decades even centuries of a coastal climate.
The mature existing trees are a testimony to resilience and perseverance. As we are more cultured and educated than the first pioneers, we can appreciate the existing trees and assist them in continuing to their potential in conjunction. We have a growing population quickly realizing how important shade from trees is to keep a cooler street and how greenery calms the over-inundated senses.
Italian oaks; Italian stone pines; ficus from Asia and Hawaii; melaleuca and pittosporum and metrosideros and eucalyptus from Australia, Asia and Africa; star pines from the Canary Islands; and so much more.
They are not California native trees but if you look at old photos there were no native trees in most of the land that now makes up Laguna. It was a mix of shrubs and perennials and annual seeds that sprouted called coastal sage scrub.
So to discount a tree because it’s not a tree native to Laguna is pretty silly not to mention we placed houses and businesses in the coastal sage scrub community so we have changed its natural makeup.
Our job may be to support the use of the most beautiful plants that work well with our natural environment. We should judiciously use trees that thrive here to the City’s advantage, planting them and grooming them to maximize our arboreal canopy.
Species diversity is important. Don’t overuse any plant species. As stewards of this fine land, we need to be ever mindful that we all exist in a sensitive ecosystem—insects, birds, and other animals inhabit our world and we need to ensure that we do not lose any of those elements that make up natural and beautiful Laguna Beach. We are so very fortunate to live in this city!
Ruben Flores, Laguna Beach
