City crews from the Department of Public Works are now planting 21 trees in the grassy median along San Vicente Boulevard between Fairfax Avenue and Wilshire Blvd.
Foreman Raul Martinez, a 22-year veteran of the city’s Public Works Department, told the Buzz that he and his crew planted 12 of the trees today and are coming back tomorrow to plant the rest.
Martinez and his crew were hand-digging the holes for the 24″ box trees instead of using heavy equipment, so they don’t disturb electrical and sprinklers lines below the grass. It also allows Martinez to place the trees according to the plans worked out with between City’s Department of Urban Forestry and local residents, who have been working on adding trees to the median for several years.
Ann Rubin, a resident of Carthay Circle, Vice President of the Carthay Circle Neighborhood Association, and Chair of the association’s Beautification Committee, told the Buzz about the planting scheme:
“We are planting Canary Pines, these gorgeous evergreens that coordinate with existing Canary Pines on the San Vicente median and around Carthay Elementary,” said Rubin.
“We also planting Rusty Fig to match the trees planted in the Asterisk and all along the San Vicente medians from Beverly Hills to Pico Blvd., for coherency. These are handsome, evergreen trees that grow very big with glossy, dark green leaves (almost looking like Magnolias in a way, which we have on Mc Carthay Vista and Del Valle), and we have some Rusty Figs already on our portion of the median. And finally, we are planting the Brisbane Box at the suggestion of Urban Forestry, because we already have Brisbane Box on the median and the trees grow very large so when grouped together they can create a large canopy,” explained Rubin.
The trees are drought tolerant once established, and not susceptible to diseases, added Rubin.
The tree planting is the result of efforts by lots of neighbors over the years, explained Rubin.
“Carole Villasenor, long time resident of San Vicente, led the effort in 1987 to plant 100 trees on the same stretch of the median; and resident Pamela Starks, who lives on San Vicente median near Fairfax and has been closely monitoring the irrigation and traffic from her front window for years. She’s thrilled with the new trees that will make her block healthier,” Rubin told the Buzz.
Rubin thanked her fellow Beautification Committee members Erich Anderson, Stephanie Morehouse, Marika Sung, Roberta Rosenberg and Laurie Israel, for their help over the years, as well as Beth McNamara, a fellow tree lover in nearby Longwood Highlands, who helped Rubin find the right staff members at the Bureau of Street Services and the Department of Urban Forestry, making the planting possible.Â
It’s great to have new trees planted, but residents say they are particularly pleased that the Department of Urban Forestry is committed to watering these new trees.
Martinez told the Buzz he would check the irrigation to make sure it’s working properly once all the trees are planted.
The new trees are very nice. I hope the City takes better care of these trees than the ones in my neighborhood. My cars are damaged from flying palm fronds from untrimmed palm trees all the time. Request for trimming falls on deaf ears….Thank you Councilman Ryu.