Rotting but worth saving
At the next meeting on Sept. 7, the City Council will decide on the fate of a group of eucalyptus trees, the subject of today's A3 article. If the council chooses, the trees on Hellman Avenue between Base Line Road and 19th Street, will get historic landmark status.Although the trees are much loved, they're in bad health. They are aging, diseased and damaged by insect attacks.
Planning Commissioner Rich Fletcher, who has eucalyptus trees at his home, said the trees often look good on the outside but are actually rotting from the inside.
"My neighbor's trees had a limb that just fell off," Fletcher said. "It had a rope swinging from it."
Although they are unhealthy, the Planning Commission believed the trees are still in tact and deserve to be protected. The five member voted for the landmark designation.
Staff Photographer/Jennifer Cappuccio Maher
There are other trees and plants that have landmark designation. Here is a partial list from the Planning Department of landmark trees:
Highland Avenue Street Trees
Highland Avenue Street Trees
Location: Highland Avenue
Year planted: 1883
Use: Windbreaks
Significance: Palm trees were chosen by William Chaffey for street trees on Highland Avenue. The Eucalyptus trees replaced less drought-resistant Cypress trees. They served as windbreaks to protect the orchards and added definition to the Etiwanda Colony that was designed by George and William Chaffey. These and other windrows have been deemed eligible for the National Register of Historic Places because combined, the windbreaks and rock curbing of Etiwanda form a whole and unique rural landscape pattern. Many of these trees have been placed in a conservation easement over the residential lots located south of the I-210 Freeway and east of Etiwanda Avenue.
Victoria Avenue Street Trees
Location: Victoria Avenue
Year planted: 1883
Use: Windbreaks
Significance: The Palm trees were chosen by William Chaffey for the young Etiwanda community's street trees. The Eucalyptus trees served as windbreaks and added definition to the Etiwanda Colony that was designed by George and William Chaffey. Eucalyptus trees were planted to replace the original Cypress trees that could not withstand drought conditions and severe winds.
Walnut Trees
Location: Lining Beryl Street
Year planted: 1936 & 1938
Use: Landscaping
Significance: In 1936 and 1938, the Toews family planted walnut trees lining Beryl Street 660 feet north of Hillside Road. In 1943, Mike and Victoria Carrari continued planting walnut trees south of those previously planted by the Toews family to Hillside Road. The trees planted on the east side of Beryl Street provided a supplemental cash crop to the orchards and vineyards already prevalent in the area. Several older residents, such as Mr. Bob Perdew, remember walking to Boy Scout Camp in the foothills and stopping to eat walnuts from the trees in the 1930s. The walnut trees have lined Beryl Street for over 50 years and are one of the last reminders of the agricultural period in the Alta Loma community.
Canyon Live Oak Tree (Q. Vercus Chrysolepis)
Location: 12194 Base Line Road
Age: 150+ years
Use: Vacant Land
Significance: This Canyon Live Oak tree is a native oak and is 13 feet, 10 inches in circumference at a point 3 feet above the ground; its spread is 66 feet. This particular tree is believed to be the largest oak tree in Rancho Cucamonga. While its exact age is unknown, experts have estimated that this wild oak tree is over 150 years old and probably grew from an acorn washed down from the upper foothills.
Night Blooming Cereus (cactus)
Location: 7850 Valle Vista Drive
Age: 50-70 years
Use: Plant (Cactus)
Significance: The Cereus peruvianus cactus is approximately 50-70 years old. It is one and a half stories high, 12-15 feet in circumference, and is believed to be one of the oldest of its kind in Southern California. This plant originated in Peru and is one of the earliest varieties of cactus in the United States. It bears large flowers at night during the summer months.
eucalyptus trees,
I saw one explode at one of our fires.
They are a big firehazard. So are the pines with the save.
They should try to save as much trees as they can...trees are very important to a city.
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