Perhaps you’ve wondered about the trees lining local streets.
Learn which trees color the hills of San Benito County, how Morgan
Hill’s London plane contributes to fall and why Gilroy’s crape
myrtle is a favorite
– By Kelly Savio Staff Writer
You drive past them every day, but the trees that decorate our communities aren’t easily identifiable. It’s time to meet your friendly green neighbors.
Gilroy Trees
There are about 17,000 trees maintained by the city of Gilroy. Todd Barreras, Operations Services Supervisor for the city of Gilroy, and Raul Caballero, Tree Maintenance Specialist for the city of Gilroy, provided the following information.
– Crape Myrtle
“Everyone likes the crape myrtle, and they want them in their yard because they’re so pretty. They mature slowly, and when they drop their leaves in the winter, they do it gradually. Plus, the leaves are small. A lot of people get frustrated with trees like a sycamore that tend to drop all their leaves at once and clog the streets.”
– Chinese Pistache
“These turn beautiful fall colors – orange and yellow and red. The berries turn red, too. What we try to do, and what many cities do, is assign one tree to certain streets. That way, if we have to treat the trees, it’s easier, and if we have to replace them, we can do it easily. It’s also good to make sure we don’t have too many of one kind of tree. If we have a whole bunch of one kind of tree, and they get some sort of disease, it’ll wipe out a huge chunk of trees. This way, we don’t run that risk.”
– Trident Maple
“These trees turn yellow and red in the fall, too. These are still being established, and with any tree that isn’t established yet, you have to keep them watered, but don’t over-water them. You also have to be careful with weed-whackers around their base.
“People either love having trees in their neighborhood, or they hate them and complain about them. People even call us about private trees. They get upset when the neighbor’s tree’s branches come over on their property or when their leaves fall on their property. Other people love their trees and get upset when we try to prune them, even though it’s beneficial to the tree, because they think we’re killing it.”
– Sapium Trees
“With the new trees we plant, like these trees, we’re trying to avoid having the roots push the sidewalks up. That’s one of the main complaints we get about the city trees. So, we put in root barriers under the ground and we put in watering tubes, which take the water down to where the roots are so they don’t have to come up to get the water. If people keep about a 5-foot area open around the base of a tree and they don’t plant grass or flowers there, the roots are less likely to come up for water and then push up the sidewalks.”
– American Elms
“People love the historic American elms on Fifth Street. They were supposedly planted by Henry Miller, and when we hit those weeks of triple digits, the homeowners were particularly grateful for all that shade.”
Morgan Hill Trees
There are about 4,500 trees maintained by the city of Morgan Hill. Anne Beale, Maintenance Supervisor of Morgan Hill provided the following information.
– Honey Locust
“This tree has a nice canopy with light-filtered shade. In the fall, they turn yellow and when they drop their leaves, they drop them gradually. The leaves are also small enough that they don’t tend to clog the gutters. Clogged gutters are one of the tree complaints we get. Another is tree roots lifting sidewalks. No tree is perfect, I suppose, but I think the positives far outweigh any problems they may cause.”
– Live Oak
“The street median is a harsh environment for a tree. The soil is compacted, the heat from the pavement and car exhaust is intense, but the oaks do well here. They don’t get as big as they would out in a field, but they manage.
“If residents have vacant planting space in the right-of-way (the dirt area in a public sidewalk), the city will plant a new tree there at no charge if the homeowner promises to water the tree until it’s established.”
– Cedar/California
Christmas Tree
“The cedar is an evergreen, so it doesn’t drop its leaves. This particular kind of tree is tough and drought-resistant. They also manage to do well in a street median, which is good because I think the trees are a big part of what makes our downtown special.”
– London Plane/Sycamore
“This tree is also very tough. We have more than 400 London planes in the city, more than any other kind of tree. They have a nice canopy, and they turn colors for the fall, too. Their bark is kind of a patchy gray and light brown, which makes them distinctive.”
San Benito County Trees
There are about 3,200 trees maintained by the city of Hollister. Sergio Garcia, Livestock Natural Resource Advisor for San Benito County University of California Cooperative Extension, provided the following information.
– Blue Oak and Valley Oak
“There are all kinds of oak trees on the central coast, but the blue oak and valley oak are two of the endangered kinds. We haven’t figured out why they aren’t maturing well. They regenerate well – we can find a lot of seedlings – but we can’t find any poles, which is what we call a medium-sized tree. We have mature trees that are pretty old, but the seedlings are dying off now. We’ve had this problem for about 20 years, and we still aren’t sure what to do about it. It’s a big concern to people here at the university and to anyone who is concerned about native trees.
“You can look toward the foothills even now and you can tell the difference between a blue oak and the other oaks. They have a darker green, slightly blue-ish color to their leaves.”
– Big Leaf Maple
“The big leaf maple is native to California, and they have a tendency to grow along creeks where there’s a water supply.”
