Local Groups Plant 94 Trees in Panorama City

Community groups--including those made up of teenagers, children, mentally disabled people and local graffiti busters--finished a project this weekend that resulted in 94 young magnolia trees being planted along Woodman Avenue in Panorama City.

“It was such a big project” that it had to be spread over two weekends, said Gail Lippner, a citizen forester with TreePeople, an environmental group that promotes tree planting in urban areas. The Los Angeles Conservation Corps co-sponsored the project.

Volunteers planted half the trees--from Lanark Street to Strathern Street--on March 1 and then returned Saturday to extend the plantings to Saticoy Street.

Lippner had secured a nearly $10,000 state grant for the project, which paid for the trees but left nothing for the equipment needed to break through the asphalt along Woodman.

The conservation corps made up the difference with a grant that covered the cost of tree-root barriers and stakes. The corps also bought shovels, pickaxes and other hand tools needed for the project, she said.

Among the groups that supplied volunteer labor were Harvard-Westlake High School, the Grant High School Key Club, the Panorama City Graffiti Busters and the San Fernando Assn. for the Retarded. Fourth- and fifth-graders from local elementary schools also helped, Lippner said.

Each tree was given a name as it was planted, either after a volunteer’s relative, a nearby street or one of the volunteer groups. One tree was named New Horizons, which is an alternate name for the San Fernando Assn. for the Retarded. Another was named Cantaloupe for a street and another was simply called Hector.

The 8-foot trees are expected to be blooming by summer, Lippner said. “I’ll be happy just to have one flower on each tree.”