Study to help Benicians choose trees
❒ Falling branches have caught some residents by surprise on occasion
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter
The ironbark eucalyptus tree is no relation to the violent whomping willow on the Hogwarts campus in the “Harry Potter”novels. But occasionally, falling eucalyptus branches can catch Benicia residents by surprise or disappoint someone whose car was struck and damaged.
“They’re prone to sudden limb drop,” said Theron Jones, Benicia’s parks supervisor. The cause remains a mystery. “There’s a lot of speculation why, but no definitive reasons yet,” he said.
This tree species can be found throughout the Southampton area of Benicia. In the past month, Benicia Police and Public Works were told of a couple of limbs that tumbled to the ground, one so large it threatened several vehicles parked nearby.
In its native Australia, ironbark wood used for musical instruments, including the didgeridoo. An attractive hardwood, the ironbark and other eucalyptus species have a checkered story in California.
Many varieties were introduced here during the Gold Rush, according to a report written by Robert Santos, a California State University librarian and archivist. He described Australians using the tree’s oil in the flotation process to recover gold particles.
Shipbuilders desired blue gum eucalyptus wood, after being told that a 90-ton Australian schooner could be made from a single tree. It was touted as a medicinal remedy. And as early as 1870, Ellwood Cooper, speaking at Santa Barbara College about world climate problems, said planting eucalyptus would improve the quality of California’s air and environment and would provide windbreaks.
In the 1870s, Central Pacific Railroad planted 1 million seedlings in San Joaquin Valley, hoping to grow materials for ties, poles, posts and firewood, as well as to beautify land next to the tracks the railroad hoped to sell to settlers.
But the railroad soon discovered eucalyptus ties would warp, shrink, twist and crack if not seasoned precisely. The wood wouldn’t hold a spike securely in place, and it quickly rotted. Later, the Santa Fe Railroad would make the same mistake, although on a smaller scale.
By the 1900s, most had turned their back on the once-popular trees until the 1980s, when some began promoting eucalyptus for fiberboard, paper and biomass fuel. However, Santos said most places in California are trying to remove eucalyptus as fast as it was planted 150 years ago. It’s a challenge – trees that are cut down often resprout.
“It isn’t a good choice of trees,” Jones said.
Benicia has discovered another type of tree that can be vulnerable, said Mario Giuliani, office of the director. Some of Benicia’s parks have poplar trees. “They have a lesser life span,” he said. “In the near future, we’re going to have dying poplar trees.”
Those two may not be the only problematic trees growing in Benicia. That’s what the city’s tree census is designed to uncover.
Until December, West Coast Arborists of Anaheim will be counting trees on city-managed landand composing a tree master plan that will suggest ways to upgrade and increase the local tree population. That information will come in handy when Benicia picks replacements for those poplar trees.
Fortunately, First Street hasn’t been lined with a single species of tree, Giuliani said. That means if a disease should strike one type of tree, it might wipe out trees for a block or two, but wouldn’t destroy the entire downtown urban landscape.
Another fortunate thing is branches aren’t raining down on residents, said Chris Tomasik, assistant director of public works.
Of the larger branches, she said, “I’m only aware of one branch in Southampton, and it was ‘helped to the ground’ by a truck that hit it.” Scattered reports of three or four others have come in. “They tend to be random occurrences,” she said.
Her department gets involved once a limb falls. “We have a saying, ‘If it’s brown and down, it’s ours. If it’s green, it’s the parks’.'”
Since the area experienced heavy rains late in spring, limbs and the ground became saturated, she said, and residents should be mindful of branches, particularly on windy days. “Winds can cause large limbs to fall,” she said.
Once Benicia’s master plan for trees is complete, its information can guide private property owners, not just city staff.
For its size, Benicia has a number of microclimates, Jones said, and trees that grow well in one portion of the city may not thrive in others. For instance, Benicia’s downtown tends to be identified as coastal. Out by Panorama and Rose drives, Jones said, “It’s windy Mediterranean.”
The master plan not only will help Benicians avoid trees like the ironbark eucalyptus, it will encourage them to pick trees not only for their specific microclimate, but also for the portion of the yard where they want the tree to grow.
“This study will help us identify and phase out unhealthy trees,” Jones said. “It will establish a master plan of trees that are known to work well here.”
Jones said residents would contact a private certified arborist to have their property’s trees evaluated. “There are a number in this area.”
They also should use the arborist’s services if they plan to trim any limbs they fear might fall, if they suspect a tree is sick, or if they need advice on keeping trees healthy, he said.
“Each species is different,” Jones said.
