The Burlingame Voice

Fall 2023 Treehugger Post

Last Fall's treehugger post came from the historic Baywood district of San Mateo.  This year we get right back to the historic Burlingame Park district--home of the Voice!  I'm told this is a Chinese Fringe tree and it's awesome.  It turns out it is really a flowering shrub with the official name Chionanthus retusus according to Wikipedia.

I love how the leaves turn in phases and the phases don't always seem to align with more (or less) sun exposure.  The backside is still shades of green, but others I see in the 'hood are green on the sunny side.  The blood red tree behind the Chinese fringe makes a gorgeous pairing.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Easton Euc decision: Stay in the Euc family

Listen closely and one can hear the distant echo of the Tom the Tree controversy from sixteen years ago.  Tom Jr. reached adolescence six years ago to the day here.  Now Tom Jr. will be getting some young siblings--almost like surprise babies as part of Easton Ave. is de-Eucified and re-Eucified with a different Euc species.  The DJ has some pithy quotes from our city elders about the decision to go with lemon-scented gum Euc.  Our City Arborist, Rich Holtz reiterated what our local, amateur tree expert Jennifer Pfaff recently said elsewhere on the Voice:

Holtz said the lemon-scented gum is a cousin of the eucalyptus tree but is smaller.  “There are some benefits to it, like they are very well suited to our climate, they are drought tolerant, they have low root infrastructure conflict, this particular species is aesthetically valued as a striking white bark, it tolerates pruning well and has a long-life expectancy,” Holtz said.

And the mayor weighed in with

“This is not an ordinary street,” Mayor Michael Brownrigg said. “This is a place to showcase the treescape, and so because it was set as a public space, I think we need to honor creating a special public space.”  Brownrigg said the 28-foot setback from the curb to the residents’ homes makes him believe the designers of the city intended Easton Drive to be a special place to showcase landscaping.  “To me, as soon as you have a mix of trees you just have any old street on Burlingame, which are all beautiful but it’s not special,” Brownrigg said.

I'm a fan of "theme streets" like the one I live on designated for sycamores.  We have to be vigilant because sometimes the designation is lost or forgotten in City Hall, but fortunately we have a few people with long, accurate memories around town.  Tom is looking on and is pleased.

Jack London and more history on Eucs

I just read an interesting article in Eden magazine--the Journal of the California Garden & Landscape History Society--titled Jack London's Ranch of Good Intentions.  It is a lengthy retelling of London's life with an emphasis on his love of the land, his extensive and acquisitions in Glen Ellen and the trials and tribulations of building and losing to fire his "Wolf House".  It is available to members on their website at www.cglhs.org, but I want to highlight the bits about eucalyptus trees in California.  The piece notes:

To improve his bottom line London participated in the sweeping introduction of an Australian tree, the genus “Eucalyptus.” From the mid nineteenth century and well into the twentieth the planting of Eucalyptus was a near mania. President Theodore Roosevelt and his chief forester Gifford Pinchot declared a “hard wood famine” in America, issuing government bulletins on methods of cultivating select species for greater yield. The fast growing, aromatic tree became an urgent cause especially in California. Beginning with the La Motte property London planted tens of thousands of trees in waves. Ultimately, he planted a total of five groves, some 140,000 seedlings.

The impoverished old vineyard property along Graham Creek was destined (or as it turned out ill-fated) to become London’s future ‘cash crop. Jack planted the recommended species, E. globulus, E. viminalis, E. tereticornis. E. camaldulensis, E. rudis. However, it was found as early as the 1910s that the maturity of the wood—decades, if not centuries— was the key to financial success. Many of the Eucalyptus growers throughout California arrived at the same conclusion and many groves were abandoned thereafter.

The hundreds of thousands of trees planted from the gold rush era into the 1920s were abandoned up and down California, and left to acculturate themselves into a different soil, a different continent, and a different hemisphere. Several mature Eucalyptus trees remain in Jack London State Historic Park and can be seen on walking trails on the northside of the Ranch.

I'm told our Big Boys on ECR that were planted by McLaren are the E. globulus variety.  One wonders if they might not take centuries (plural) to truly reach maturity.  I guess that except for the Lucky 9%, we will never know.  Here's Jack at work at his outdoor desk in Glen Ellen from Eden magazine.

Caltrain give the eucs a major haircut

In a classic case of closing the barn door after the cows have departed, Caltrain has done a "hard prune" of the remaining eucalyptus trees along the railroad right of way.  Of course, doing this before the massive storms and wind that we had in January would have reduced the wind load on the trees and possibly prevented the track closures we endured.  Better late than never I suppose, but one hopes they realize a hard prune means the foliage comes back strong.  Better put another trim on the calendar for October or November 2023.

Update:  In a classic case of what happens when you assume something--you make an ass of you and me--I stand corrected on who closed the barn door.  I'm told this part of the euc grove is actually owned by the city unlike the part of the grove that is north of Oak Grove; which is Caltrain's and some other agencies' section.  These had been pruned a bit but never topped and thus were quite tall.  I'll leave the title of the post as is to avoid confusion and so it's clear where we are talking about.

Spring Treehugger Post: Gimme a double

Happy May Day everyone.  It feels like it has been a long time coming.  I happen to be in Tahoe and there is still a 6-foot snowbank next to my walkway!  Spring skiing has been excellent with enough sunscreen on.  We have a double shot of tree hugging this Spring-- something old and something new.  First up, my brand-new street tree.  The old sycamore had reached its time and the city tagged it for removal and replacement.  It was a smooth operation.  Mark all the utilities which are numerous and very colorfully marked.  Cut it down one day, grind the stump another and plant a new one another day.  We paid the fee to get a larger tree.  Hard to tell from the photo, but my neighbor also got a replacement--standard, no charge size and there is a difference.

The second photo is a lovely apple blossom from my really, really, old Gravenstein apple tree.  A family of squirrels has taken up residence in the trunk, but that has not affected the blossoming thus far.

Euc Watch: Another One Bites the Dust, Another One....

Another one bit the dust today.  I was awakened by the grinding of the giant shredding machine.  No "High Winds or Downed Trees" on this beautiful Spring Day in B'game.  We are indeed "privileged" by our hard work to live here.  One has to wonder if Caltrans' plan is to kill the Euc grove via "death by a thousand cuts"?  I doubt it since that would imply Caltrans has a plan.  But nonetheless, one of the "Big Boys" was levelled this morning.  If you are crossing ECR from the West Side to go to St. Catherine's (first stop) or walking downtown, the Big Boy who was your sentinel at the corner is gone.

I got an SMC Alert about something in San Bruno, but the closing of both lanes, both directions of El Camino in B'game apparently didn't qualify for an alert.  Nothing to see here.  The deployment of forces--giant crane, grinder, multiple dump trucks, trailers, etc felt just a tiny bit like they were building a section of high-cost rail in the Central Valley and didn't want anyone to notice.  ECR was fully closed for about 5-6 hours.  One down, 390 to go.  Here's the scene and the healthy stump--at least it looks healthy to me.

High Winds, Downed Trees

The windstorm that blew through two days ago took down a lot of trees in the County.  Per the DJ article

More than 50 trees and 62 power structures fell or were damaged and 42,000 Pacific Gas and Electric customers were still without power midday Wednesday from high winds that swept through the Bay on Tuesday.

None were more dramatic than the redwoods that went down at BHS.  I was able to get a short video from a friend (not sure of the original videographer) that caught the action as one tumbling redwood took down another.  In total, four went down at BHS and Washington Park.  One Euc apparently went down on Easton and the city is worried enough about three more that they are coming down proactively.  Oddly enough, so far the 390 on El Camino Real held up under the crazy wind loads above 60 mph!  They must not be that unhealthy.  Check out the video and you may have to play around with your sound settings, but the audio is there.

Download BHS tree falling

And check out the size of the trunk and roots

Update 2/28:  PG&E reportedly repaired 200 downed power poles in San Mateo County and among the businesses that had their signs uprooted was this local landmark.

91% of 390 Trees is a Lot of Trees

Last night's big confab with Caltrans and city officials regarding the El Camino Real renewal project was eye-opening for a lot of people.  Probably not regular Voice readers since we have discussed it in 2021 here and here.  The most eye-opening statement made last night was during the Q&A when Caltrans was asked how many of the giant Eucs were scheduled to be cut down.  The answer was "about 9% will remain".  There are about 390 of the historic ones in the 3-mile stretch.

The other way to phrase that is 91% of 390 Eucs will be taken out.  That's 355 giant trees.  Buried in the details of compacted soil, broken sidewalks, retaining walls, sight triangles, sulfur fungus, poor trimming around the power lines, etc is the lead:  355 eucalyptus trees are history--well, we thought they were historic since the grove is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but really they're just history.  There will be 35 survivors who will stand in testament to their fallen brethren and to the ECR that once was.

There were a number of long-time B'gamers there and one that I had not seen in at least 6 or 7 years came over after the Q&A and asked the Big Questions.  He asked "how many people know about this?  And what are they gonna do when they find out?"  I've been asking myself the same question.  Another knowledgeable long-time local has asked 30 people if they are aware of the tree situation over the last few days.  General awareness is close to nil. 

This project has been in the works for years.  Maybe Caltrans and the city hasn't had a good idea of how many trees would have to go, but they do now.  In the interest of transparency, shouldn't the city send out the short, to-the-point notice that this is coming?  You bet.  Then wait for the outrage to arrive.

I'll double back with more on the proceedings soon.  There were numerous displays and a tabletop exercise looking at the Hillside and Bayswater intersections with measurements, planning tools and tree options.  In the meantime, here is Mayor Brownrigg introducing the B'gamers who are on the ECR task force with some Caltrans people seated behind.

Fall 2022 Treehugger Post

I try to stick to B'game and our trees for the Spring and Fall treehugger posts like last year that you can find here.  But this time around, a stunning pair of brilliant trees in the Baywood section of San Mateo just stopped me in my tracks.  They are near the famous Baywood tree that the neighborhood is named after.  Even a native New Englander was taken by these gorgeous examples.

Commissioners' dinner returns

Another pre-Covid Burlingame tradition made its return last night when the annual Council-Commissioners' Dinner was emcee'd in person by mayor Ricardo Ortiz and city manager Lisa Goldman.  This has been a fun event for decades offering the opportunity to get to know new commissioners from the various city bodies and, most importantly, to recognize outgoing staff, councilmembers and commissioners.  It's a small thank you for their service.  Past councilmembers (and their partners) get to tag along, too.

The agenda is a short intro from the mayor which Ricardo delivered.  He focused on the hope that we can accommodate growth without losing the charm and livability that we all enjoy...or enjoyed.  It's a hope that is going to take some hard work to achieve given the pressures from Sacramento and the economy.  Then each commission chair introduces their colleagues and recognizes anyone leaving the commission.  Notable departures mentioned last night came from the Planning Commission--long timer Richard Terrones and William Loftus.  We also heard from the Measure I Oversight committee chair, Mary Hockeridge, and the Storm Drain Oversight committee chair, Eric Klein.  It was fun learning that Rena Gilligan has taken over for Joe Galligan as our representative on the San Mateo Mosquito & Vector Control District.

The two biggest bits of recognition came for outgoing city arborist, Bob Disco, and outgoing councilmember Ann O'Brien Keighran who both got resounding rounds of applause.  Bob's been a popular caretaker in this City of Trees for years and is retiring.  Ann's tenure on the Planning Commission and City Council will get a full recognition at the December 19th council rotation which is scheduled to also happen live in council chambers.  Here's Ricardo Ortiz at the mic.