Cities Are Turning Over a New Leaf

Fifty years ago, the ficus seemed to be a perfect fit for Ventura County’s coastal communities.

Similar in appearance to a citrus tree, the tall, leafy green ficus blends nicely with the county’s orange and lemon trees. Ficus, thought to be pest resistant, provided a shaded canopy from the Southern California sun.

But as these trees matured, the shallow roots of the ficus caused problems.

Cities found sidewalks buckling and streets cracking as the aggressive roots of the massive trees made their way above ground.

In an effort to protect pedestrians from injuries and themselves from lawsuits, cities including Camarillo, Oxnard and Ventura over the years launched programs to remove the trees from alongside city sidewalks.

“It was a real popular tree, but we just didn’t think it through,” said Bob Westdyke, Camarillo’s public works director.

Crews spent the first half of May removing ficus trees and some diseased pines and magnolias along Arneill Road, between Ponderosa Drive and Las Posas Road.

Once common in the city, the ficus on Arneill are among the last to go in Camarillo, Westdyke said.

The final removal project has been divided into three phases spread over as many years to make the transition easier on the community.

“We started with the northernmost part of the block first because that’s where the most damage has been done,” Westdyke said of the initial phase, to be completed by mid-August. “If it goes well and people say that wasn’t so bad, we might accelerate the next phase.”

Along with planting more than 30 new trees, the $180,000 project will include a new irrigation system, sidewalks and shrubbery.

Once completed, the street will be lined with a variety of colorful trees including jacarandas, golden rains and liquidambars.

Assistant City Manager Larry Davis said the overall community response has been favorable.

“We know people who live adjacent to Arneill are happy to have the sunlight back,” Davis said. “For so long Arneill has been associated with the canopy of the ficus trees, but I think it will still be a very attractive street.”

Landscape architect Tom Bostrom, chairman of the Ojai Street and Park Tree Committee, said he hates to see any tree cut down.

“The whole business of replanting trees is the silver lining,” Bostrom said. “Trees don’t live forever and it’s important to have a strong planting program, especially in urban environments where trees are constantly challenged.”

Knowledge regarding trees in urban areas has advanced tremendously in the last 40 years, he added.

“You would think street trees in urban settings would be simple, but it’s fairly complicated,” Bostrom said. “There are a lot of built-in conflicts like roads, curbs, sidewalks and underground utilities.”

In Oxnard, ficus are periodically removed when they encroach on sidewalks or damage curbs, said David Gorcey, the city’s parks development supervisor.

“You have a big tree wanting to survive in a 4-feet-by-4-feet space,” he said. “Ficus trees are very opportunistic and aggressively push their roots to where they’ll survive.”

The council discussed ficus trees last week as part of a consultant’s study about trees downtown. Council members indicated they want to continue replacing ficus where there are problems, such as in front of retail stores, with more-appropriate choices.

Ventura faced a similar dilemma in 1998. The solution was a plan that includes removing approximately 750 ficus and olive trees, although scores of the trees not causing damage to streets and walkways will remain.

Ventura parks supervisor Daryl Wagar said the program will be spread out over 10 to 15 years.

“We are not only removing trees but planting new ones and catching up on pruning the 30,000 street trees in Ventura,” Wagar said. “We will be planting about 1,000 new trees over the next five years.”

Approximately 100 trees have been planted in the last couple of months. A wide range of species are being used, including carrot woods, small magnolias, palms, Chinese elms and soapbarks.

“It’s really an art and science to selecting proper trees,” said Ojai tree advocate John Christianson. “We can learn from what happened with the ficus trees that when it’s not done properly, the result is damage to sidewalks and curbs and the ultimate loss of a tree.”