A casual observer may not notice that many of our neighborhood street trees are being stressed by the continuing drought. Some of the trees are even dying or have already died.
A short walk on Sunday along Van Ness Blvd with Scott Goldstein, chairman of the Windsor Square Canopy Committee, opened my eyes to the alarming condition of the trees, and the reason Goldstein is looking for volunteers to help the committee to re-survey all the trees in the Windsor Square Tree Master Plan, which was drafted in 1998. Since then, the Canopy Committee has planted more than 1,100 new trees in Windsor Square, following the city’s guidelines for parkway trees. But since the drought, many trees are showing signs of stress, especially the Magnolias, natives of the humid south, and many of which were planted more than 100 years ago when the neighborhood was first developed.
“Windsor Square has more Magnolias than any other species,” explained Goldstein. He pointed out several on our walk that are doing very poorly, as well as several which are managing well in the drought conditions. Â The healthy trees had an abundance of deep green leaves. In contrast, the stressed trees’ leaves were yellow or brown and curled on the edges. There were also fewer leaves overall on the stressed trees, making them look more woody than leafy.
Perhaps some of the healthier trees have tapped into an underground water source while others, even very close by,  are trying to survive only on  water from the surface, which just isn’t enough, speculates Goldstein. There is an underground stream that runs through much of the neighborhood and comes up in the Brookside neighborhood, he explained.
“Trees die slowly,” said Goldstein. “It’s not always clear what’s going on because when you look at a tree, you only see half of it; the rest is under the ground. But we do know that drought stresses trees, making them more susceptible to disease.”
Goldstein doesn’t know why the Magnolia was selected years ago, but he notes the current generation of homeowners are struggling with these inappropriate selections now that the climate is much dryer and hotter. Goldstein has been researching other city street tree plans that have a wider range of native and drought tolerant trees and is hoping to make better choices for the future. The re-survey will document which trees are distressed trees and the species that are faring best overall.
Currently, the master plan calls for different trees for different streets,depending on the width of the parkway and the space requirement of the tree. Â He pointed to the Live Oak thriving near his home as an example of an appropriate replacement tree for Van Ness and Norton. Other tree options include the Toyon, Camphor, California Sycamore and Chinese Pistache tree.
“It’s important that we conduct this survey now and we need help to do it,” said Goldstein.  No expertise is needed.  “We just want people who can walk up and down the street and note the condition of the trees and we will teach them what to look for,” said Goldstein. The committee hopes to have a good inventory of the condition of the trees so they can advise homeowners what to plant starting in late November when new trees will have the support of winter rains.
Interested volunteers can contact Goldstein at [email protected]. For more information, please read the Buzz series on the history of street trees in Windsor Square.
