City Trees is a premier publication focused on urban + community forestry. In each issue, you’ll learn how to best manage the trees in your community and more!
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/765222
www.urban-forestry.com 15 Palo Alto lost pine trees to an extended drought followed by an epidemic bark beetle infestation. What tree species are your best performers? What are your species diversity guidelines? WP: Native oaks are probably the most ecologically important species and produce substantial benefits. Valley oak (Quercus lobata) is the apex species in the oak savannah ecosystem that traditionally dominates Palo Alto. Performance is a subjective term because a species like valley oak does require a large growing space, is intolerant of shade, and it is susceptible to damage from frequent landscape irrigation. The tree ordinance protects valley oak and coast live oak (Q. agrifolia) greater than 11.5 inches/29 cm diameter and coast redwood (Sequoia sem- pervirens) greater than 18 inches/46 cm diameter. The City was named after a coast redwood that grows along the bank of San Francisquito Creek. El Palo Alto has been a visible and unique monument under which people have congregated for more than 1,000 years. While El Palo Alto is irreplaceable, redwoods in general were not as numerous throughout the ecological history of the area; those planted in the last hundred years often conflict with homes and infrastructure due to their large size and extensive shallow roots. Understanding that there are no perfect trees, the City strives to plant an increasingly diverse palette with an emphasis on native and drought-tolerant species. At present only one species exceeds 10% of the street tree population—southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) at 11%. What are some technologies you are employing? WP: Palo Alto prides itself on being an innovation leader. Currently we are implementing programs of the Palo Alto Urban Forest Master Plan to enhance technological capabilities that include adding new inventory and analysis tools for improving utility line easement data and collecting open space and pri- vate property data through a crowd-sourced platform. GIS will act as a hub to link multiple data sets as part of a centralized infrastructure management system. Managing impacts from development is a major focus for which the popular Palo Alto Tree Technical Manual will be revised and augmented with a landscape technical manual. Standard details and specifications will be updated, policies and municipal code revisions considered, and standard comments