Catalina Ironwood ((Lyonothamnus floribundus asplenifolius)
Ocean Av. & Mission St., N.E. Corner of Block
Planter Space Opening
Soil & Compacted Decomposed Granite
Dimensions: 37” x 59”
“PREMINARY FINDINGS DURING A ONE BLOCK REVIEW OF CARMEL STREET TREES”
Observations (January 2007):
Tree # 6 is a newly installed Catalina ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundus asplenifolius).
This is a fine specimen of 9 feet tall but the rootball in which it was planted is still exposed and is bone dry.
Note the soil surrounding the rootball is composed of entirely organic material. There is no dirt or soil of any kind in the fill soil.
The saucer is much larger than the rootball and as a result the water goes into the material surrounding the rootball and does not wet the rootball.
Further the nursery stake has been left in the tree and that should not be allowed. Anytime a tree is planted the nursery stake should be removed to allow the new adjacent stakes to do the job of supporting the tree.
I would consider this a totally inadequate installation job.
If this condition is not improved you can expect this tree to decline as spring weather arrives and more demand for moisture occurs.
Current Observations (May 2007): This young Catalina Ironwood appears healthy; however, as noted above, the rootball appears to be dry and the nursery stake is still present.
TREE # 7: Coast Redwood ‘Aptos Blue’
Coast Redwood ‘Aptos Blue’
Mission St. between Ocean Av. & 7th Av.
Planter Space Opening
Soil & Compacted Decomposed Granite
Dimensions: 30” x 60”
“PREMINARY FINDINGS DURING A ONE BLOCK REVIEW OF CARMEL STREET TREES”
Observations (January 2007):
Tree # 7 is a fine ‘Aptos Blue’ redwood that is performing very well.
This may be an example of a broad based tree which should have side branch pruning to get it out of the corridor of pedestrians
Current Observations (May 2007): This young Coast Redwood appears healthy.
TREE # 8: Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
Mission St. between Ocean Av. & 7th Av.
Planter Space Opening
Soil
Dimensions: 30” x 60”
“PREMINARY FINDINGS DURING A ONE BLOCK REVIEW OF CARMEL STREET TREES”
Observations (January 2007):
Tree # 8 is a young sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) which is in a 3’ x 5’ space.
As this tree matures it may destroy the paving in this area and the time invested in developing a mature tree will have been lost if the tree at that stage is removed.
Sweetgums are also notorious for dropping seedpods which are a trip hazard and have been the source of lawsuits in several cities.
I suggest that since most cities are no longer using sweetgums as street trees that the city of Carmel consider that decision as well.
Current Observations (May 2007): This young Sweetgum appears to be healthy.
TREE # 9: Holly Oak (Quercus ilex)
Holly Oak (Quercus ilex)
Mission St. between Ocean Av. & 7th Av.
Planter Space Opening
Compacted Decomposed Granite
Dimensions: 36” x 38”
“PREMINARY FINDINGS DURING A ONE BLOCK REVIEW OF CARMEL STREET TREES”
Observations (January 2007):
Tree # 9 is a holly oak (Quercus ilex), a very sturdy tree but in this case has been badly damaged by oak leaf caterpillars.
Note that Peter found both pupal cases and a dead adult moth.
This tree has suffered auto damage on the trunk but in this case that will not cause the tree to be hazardous.
If this tree is to be maintained in good condition it will be absolutely necessary to control the oak leaf caterpillar population.
The only problem caused by this species of oak is that it has the most aggressive root system of the evergreen oaks and ultimately will cause very serious damage to the pavement here.
Note that it has been planted between two water meters in a 3-foot square. That is inadequate for this species.
Current Observations (May 2007): This Holly Oak appears healthy as evidenced by its’ abundant foliage canopy. However, as noted above, the installation choice between 2 water meters and in an inadequate planter space opening bodes poorly for this tree. And therefore a shorter-than-normal life span would be anticipated.
TREE # 10: Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
Mission St. between Ocean Av. & 7th Av.
Planter Space Opening
Soil & Compacted Decomposed Granite
Dimensions: 36” x 48”
“PREMINARY FINDINGS DURING A ONE BLOCK REVIEW OF CARMEL STREET TREES”
Observations (January 2007): Not Included
Current Observations (May 2007): This young Sweetgum appears to be healthy.
TREE # 11: Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
Mission St. between Ocean Av. & 7th Av.
Planter Space Opening
Soil & Compacted Decomposed Granite
Dimensions: 36” x 48”
“PREMINARY FINDINGS DURING A ONE BLOCK REVIEW OF CARMEL STREET TREES”
Observations (January 2007): Not Included
Current Observations (May 2007): This young Sweetgum appears to be healthy.
TREE # 12: Holly Oak (Quercus ilex)
Holly Oak (Quercus ilex)
Mission St. between Ocean Av. & 7th Av.
Planter Space Opening
Compacted Decomposed Granite & Soil
Dimensions: 30” x 44”
“PREMINARY FINDINGS DURING A ONE BLOCK REVIEW OF CARMEL STREET TREES”
Observations (January 2007): Not included.
Current Observations (May 2007): This Holly Oak appears to be healthy.
TREE # 13: Holly Oak (Quercus ilex)
Holly Oak (Quercus ilex)
Mission St. between Ocean Av. & 7th Av.
Planter Space Opening
Compacted Decomposed Granite
Dimensions: 34” x 38”
“PREMINARY FINDINGS DURING A ONE BLOCK REVIEW OF CARMEL STREET TREES”
Observations (January 2007): Not Included
Current Observations (May 2007): This Holly Oak appears to be healthy.
TREE # 14: Holly Oak (Quercus ilex)
Holly Oak (Quercus ilex)
Mission St. between Ocean Av. & 7th Av.
Planter Space Opening
Compacted Decomposed Granite & Soil
Dimensions: 32” x 36”
“PREMINARY FINDINGS DURING A ONE BLOCK REVIEW OF CARMEL STREET TREES”
Observations (January 2007):
Tree # 10 is a small but old holly oak in very poor condition.
Note the very heavy sooty mold deposit on the branches.
Sooty mold only occurs when you have heavy infestations of sucking insects such as aphid, scale or whitefly.
The oak leaf caterpillar damage is very severe.
The next specimen is an even worse example in very poor health.
Current Observations (May 2007): As noted above, this small Holly Oak has visibly heavy sooty deposits on its’ branches and appears to be in poor health.
TREE # 15: Blackwood Acacia (Acicia melanoxylon)
Blackwood Acacia (Acicia melanoxylon)
Mission St. between Ocean Av. & 7th Av.
Planter Space Opening
Soil & Compacted Decomposed Granite
Dimensions: 47” x 86”
“PREMINARY FINDINGS DURING A ONE BLOCK REVIEW OF CARMEL STREET TREES”
Observations (January 2007):
Tree # 11 is a very old blackwood acacia (Acicia melanoxylon). Unfortunately blackwood acacias are very destructive of pavement and are very fast growing and always healthy but usually composed of branches which are brittle and have a strong potential for limb breakage as they mature.
This tree also has a serious codominant leader with an included bark joint at about 12 feet above grade which will make the potential for it splitting apart fairly significant.
Next is one of the better holly oaks we have seen and for reasons I can’t explain has not been as badly damaged by oak leaf caterpillar.
This tree has developed a buttress at the base and will gradually damage the adjacent pavement as it continues to expand but this is a much better specimen than most of the holly oaks.
Current Observations (May 2007): This Blackwood Acacia appears to be vigorous and healthy.
TREE # 16: Holly Oak (Quercus ilex)
Holly Oak (Quercus ilex)
Mission St. between Ocean Av. & 7th Av.
Planter Space Opening
Compacted Decomposed Granite
Dimensions: 46” x 71”
“PREMINARY FINDINGS DURING A ONE BLOCK REVIEW OF CARMEL STREET TREES”
Observations (January 2007):
Next is one of the better holly oaks we have seen and for reasons I can’t explain has not been as badly damaged by oak leaf caterpillar.
This tree has developed a buttress at the base and will gradually damage the adjacent pavement as it continues to expand but this is a much better specimen than most of the holly oaks.
Current Observations (May 2007): This Holly Oak appears to be healthy as evidenced by its’ abundance foliage canopy.
TREE # 17: Coast Redwood
Coast Redwood
Mission St. between Ocean Av. & 7th Av.
Planter Space Opening
Compacted Decomposed Granite
Dimensions: 36” x 40”
“PREMINARY FINDINGS DURING A ONE BLOCK REVIEW OF CARMEL STREET TREES”
Observations (January 2007): Not Included
Current Observations (May 2007): This young Coast Redwood appears to be healthy.
TREE # 18: London Plane Tree (Platanus acerifolia)
London Plane Tree (Platanus acerifolia).
Mission St. between Ocean Av. & 7th Av.
Planter Space Opening
Compacted Decomposed Granite
Dimensions: 38” x 49”
“PREMINARY FINDINGS DURING A ONE BLOCK REVIEW OF CARMEL STREET TREES”
Observations (January 2007):
Tree # 12 is a mature London plane tree (Platanus acerifolia).
Unfortunately this tree has been damaged by sycamore anthracnose in spring each year for many years as well as sycamore mildew each year.
The current foliage is damaged by sycamore mildew.
If the City needs large deciduous trees this is probably one of the better bets since it is much less destructive of the pavement than the other species. The disease resistant cultivar ‘Columbia’ should be used. It is relatively carefree and should be considered one of the better potential street tree species.
Current Observations (May 2007): This London Plane tree appears to have less foliage than expected at this time of year.
TREE # 19: Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
Mission St. between Ocean Av. & 7th Av.
Planter Space Opening
Soil & Compacted Decomposed Granite
Dimensions: 31” x 53”
Close-Up View of Root Girdling
“PREMINARY FINDINGS DURING A ONE BLOCK REVIEW OF CARMEL STREET TREES”
Observations (January 2007):
The adjacent tree # 13 is probably one of the best sweetgums (Liquidambar styraciflua) in the city.
Its only problem is that the next tree, a large coast redwood was planted a mere 12 feet from it. Since each of these would reach a canopy spread of at least 30 to 40 feet this is much closer than it should be to the redwood.
The sweetgum also has a defect that will become increasingly important as the tree ages that is a large girdling root that will gradually affect the health of the tree.
Current Observations (May 2007): While this Sweetgum appears healthy due to its’ abundant foliage, the presence of root girdling will, as noted above, adversely affect the health and longevity of this tree.
SUMMARY: Along the west side of Mission St. between Ocean Av. & 7th Av., there are a total of fourteen trees; 5 Holly Oaks, 4 Sweetgums, 2 Coast Redwoods, 1 Blackwood Acacia, 1 Catalina Ironwood and 1 London Plane Tree.
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