goal was to create a luxuriant green wall to
visually block out the freeway and to miti-
gate the sounds, smells, and other negative
impacts of the cars. The species mix includes:
• Catalina cherry (Prunus ilicifolia)
• Catalina ironwood (Lyonothamnus
floribundus subsp. aspleniifolius)
• California buckeye (Aesculus californica)
• Western redbud (Cercis occidentalis)
• toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia)
• Pacific wax myrtle (Morella californica)
• coffee berry (Frangula californica)
• common manzanita
(Arctostaphylos manzanita)
• Ray Hartman ceanothus
(Ceanothus 'Ray Hartman')
• Mexican sage (Salvia leucantha)
• sticky monkey-flower (Diplacus auran-
tiacus) (syn. Mimulus aurantiacus)
• California fuchsia (Epilobium canum)
• deer grass (Muhlenbergia rigens)
"These were all planted in a semi-systematic
pattern, mostly following the mature shape
of each plant," Kesterson says. "But after the
volunteers helped with the planting, we had
a nice touch of magical randomness adding
a good natural vibe. We planted a diverse
palette to hedge our bets; we'll know what
really works in a year or two, then can replace
as necessary. So far, so good—a year in, you
can barely see the ground." What Kesterson's
learning from this project could be replicated
elsewhere in the city—on medians (that
don't have sight-line issues), or in narrow
open spaces in parks, or along pathways.
Kesterson, staff, and volunteers also
planted 250 trees between the frontage
road and the lagoon. "The goal here
is to plant large-maturing >>
ucfsociety.org 33
Tree wells needed to be created as seen here, along with Urban
Forestry Trainee Cesar Garcia. You can also see some of the first
101 contractor-planted trees that went into the ground, which
includes an island oak (Quercus tomentella) next to Cesar.
The "before" photo of the southern end of the
one-mile-long tree planting strip.
