Ventura Tree Trimmers Branch Out

On Varsity Street the olive branches grew so low the trash trucks couldn’t squeeze by.

Snip.

On Halifax Street the branches grew so high, they got tangled in the power lines.

Snip snip.

And on Preble Avenue on Tuesday, city workers prepared to remove a ficus tree whose roots are destroying a sewer line.

Snip snip snip.

But as fast as Ventura’s tree trimmers go, they cannot seem to snip or clip fast enough.

With El Nino-driven storms leaving a swath of broken trees in their wake and budget cuts curtailing trimming cycles, work crews are scrambling these spring days to keep the city’s trees in check.

“As the trees continue to grow, of course you get a slight backlog. And that’s what’s happening now,” said Terry Murphy, park supervisor in charge of special operations.

But the city definitely cares about the way it looks. It recently hired a new parks manager and a new tree coordinator. And the City Council has tentatively earmarked $1.5 million for a community image improvement program to trim city-owned street trees and those growing on scruffy medians.

Moreover, said City Manager Donna Landeros, a new tree policy is in the works. That policy could come before the council for approval as early as Monday.

“We’ve had a lot of complaints from residents and businesses about how dilapidated Ventura looks,” Landeros said. “I think the council heard those complaints very clearly in the last election.”

Aside from making stop signs more clearly visible, and protecting pedestrians and cars from plummeting branches, Landeros said well-pruned trees give property owners an incentive to invest in their property, thereby boosting its value.

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The city has a sophisticated method to plan its pruning schedule. “We have a computerized system, and every tree in the city is cataloged into the system,” Murphy said.

Trees are classified into short-, medium- and long-range cycles based on factors such as growth rate and strength of wood.

For example, short-range cycle trees--like the Chinese elm-- are trimmed every four years, while long-range cycle trees--such as the holly oak--are trimmed every 10 years.

Palm trees are a different story. Because of past budget cuts, the city no longer trims palm trees regularly. But Landeros said palm trees will be included in the city’s revamped tree policy.

In the meantime, tree trimmers have streamlined their methods.

For example, big trees such as ficus, carob and tristania, which workers once would have pruned completely, are now having their leafy crowns reduced by only 30%.

“What that allows us to do is prune the tree, then move on and get to another street,” Murphy said. “If we did a complete fine prune it would take more time.”

Although some trees have been given Marine Corps-style buzz cuts, by and large, citizens are thrilled to have the tree crews come and shave away.

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In cases where the trees have gotten so big they are tangled in power lines or devouring sewer lines, they are removed completely.

Jim Hobbs, for one, is happy about that.

Hobbs, who lives at the corner of Petit Avenue and Halifax Street, had three full-headed, 45-foot-high ficus trees in his front yard until last week.

Now he has two stumps and a bald-looking tree.

He said he was ready to call the city when one of the trees started cracking the cinder block wall in his backyard.

Then all the grass on his front lawn started to die. His house grew dark.

The street lamp on the corner was totally encased inside the ficus so that it stayed on 24 hours a day.

“I loved the trees for quite awhile,” he said, standing on a stump. “But eventually they became a burden--dropping big blue berries that squish all over my camper. I literally hosed them off everyday. It got to the point where I started worrying about whether they were going to fall on my house.”

Not everyone feels that way.

Lawrence Flores, who owns a house across the street, has had to replace his root-bound sewer line once. But he still won’t have his tree removed. He says he likes it.

Some residents grow so attached to their trees they run out of their houses to stop the trimmers. Occasionally an irate resident will refuse to move their car as a protest, said Tim Downey, a tree maintenance leader.

“When a tree has been there for 40 years, you get used to it,” he said. “It’s hard to see it disappear.”

What it comes down to, Murphy said, is that some people are just not tolerant of trees.

“A lot of folks, if there was a plastic tree you could plant in front of their homes they would be extremely happy,” she said. “But there’s no tree that doesn’t shed a leaf or a branch. Trees are growing, living things.”