the anti-palm movement begins....

[tropicalb]

thought this article was interesting....the way the article is written is kind of disturbing.

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/neighborhoods/article_f190d63a-e555-11df-a978-001cc4c002e0.html

Edited November 1, 2010 by tropicalb

[rozpalm]

Do you guys really pay $200 to have a queen palm trimmed? No wonder the trees go uncared for at those prices.

[quaman58]

Steering away from the reasons we're broke, suffice it to say I suspect the city pays more per tree for cleanup than property owners do. But I did find the "like living in a war zone" comment amusing. Someone needs to get that guy a ticket to Afghanistan. Might give him the opportunity to make a more informed comparison..

[Steve the palmreader]

2 points 1 the native plant nazis have been at this for awhile in FL. 2 It gives the govt. one more reason to overregulate and increase taxes, :rage: :rage: Remember to be wise with your vote

[Kumar]

I hope no one publishes such sensationalist news here. All that repeated mention of palms lifting footpaths would worry a lot of people most of whom have coconuts and borassus palms growing right next to their buildings.

[Rusty on Pine Is.]

Well, want to see a sidewalk lift...plant an oak!

The sad truth is that a huge portion of the population are Cave Dwellers, whose only idea of outside is that which lies, and impedes in many cases, their path between two insides.....

...it is always a battle between those that embrace nature, and those who do not...

...those that do not not demand a sanitary and safe natural world, Lysol bottle in hand!!!!

Rusty

[PALM MOD]

2 points 1 the native plant nazis have been at this for awhile in FL. 2 It gives the govt. one more reason to overregulate and increase taxes, :rage: :rage: Remember to be wise with your vote

BE FOREWARNED

You will need to stay away from discussing the politics (taxes, regulation, government, nazis, etc.) of all this. I know it will be difficult because it is probably inseparable. But if you don't, we will have to close or delete the discussion.

[Patrick]

I think we ought to just plant Pinus. Period!

"Less Pineapple, more Pinus!!!"

[Zeeth]

""We're going to have trees that are not going to be as healthy as they should be if they're properly trimmed. In a few years our sidewalks are going to be damaged as a result of the roots that are uplifting them," he said"

It's interesting, because neither of these 2 things is true

[Moose]

2 points 1 the native plant nazis have been at this for awhile in FL. 2 It gives the govt. one more reason to overregulate and increase taxes, :rage: :rage: Remember to be wise with your vote

BE FOREWARNED

You will need to stay away from discussing the politics (taxes, regulation, government, nazis, etc.) of all this. I know it will be difficult because it is probably inseparable. But if you don't, we will have to close or delete the discussion.

Don't say lemming either.

[BS Man about Palms]

What Keith said.

[Takil-Explorer]

About native plant nazis, I have heard that in some towns in Germany the people may only grow native stuff! Crazy laws you get sometimes.

Alexander

[tropicalb]

dean.....

can you just lock the topic now rather than waiting for the inevitable post that will cause you to have to delete it?

the information contained in the article is something palm people should know about.

[Mark Heath]

""We're going to have trees that are not going to be as healthy as they should be if they're properly trimmed. In a few years our sidewalks are going to be damaged as a result of the roots that are uplifting them," he said"

It's interesting, because neither of these 2 things is true

Bingo!

$200 bucks per tree is outragous. I figure City/County workers throughout their full day of work trim just one and nap the rest of the day.

In keeping to the threads point,,,, it's the palms that are in danger of being replaced.

Funny though, they will replace w/ an Oak or a Maple that will uplift the sidewalk for sure!

I am happy to see that someone is noticing articles that are published that are untrue.

Hopefully one or two of our palmtalk family who live in San Diego will write to this editor and correct them before the city breaks out the chainsaw.

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

There is no maintenance free plant for city streets...unless you are OK with the natural look. At least the palms aren't pushing up sidewalks! Maybe you should replace the Queens with something that won't bare fruit for eons...like Jubea!

[Eric in Orlando]

Wow, takes 30 minutes to remove the fruit from the sidewalk under a palm ???

Aren't oaks as messy or worse shedding large amounts of heavy acorns ???

[Eric in Orlando]

Wow, takes 30 minutes to remove the fruit from the sidewalk under a palm ???

Aren't oaks as messy or worse shedding large amounts of heavy acorns ???

[Trópico]

"Many of the native broadleaf shade trees in the city's inventory stay attractive with full bodies and minimal maintenance.

But palm trees were never meant in San Diego at all."

They must not be counting native Oak trees, try this time of the year: I hear "the familiar thump of [acorn] berries hitting the cars below." Nothing can be messier than that, and there is no preventative maintenance to prevent that from happening.

[Kim]

I can think of numerous street trees planted here in San Diego that are worse in terms of litter, and certainly far worse for lifting sidewalks. And reading the article carefully, I think they are talking about neglected trees in general, not palms, when they mention the sidewalks.

Downtown has many jacaranda trees and carrotwood trees. The jacarandas provide a sensational display of color in May and June, but for sure they drop a lot of litter. Beauty has a price... The carrotwood trees drop copious quantities of little orange fruits that roll underfoot, very messy and potentially ankle-twisting. Oh, and they're not attractive trees. Another common parkway tree is a monstrous red-flowering tree I hear referred to as a Brazilian pepper tree. It's huge, dense, and prone to dropping whole branches in a dead calm. A neighbor cut one to the ground, and within five years it had regrown to a 25-ft multi-trunked sidewalk-lifting monster.

To be frank, I think this article is an unresearched, lightweight, anecdotal piece, with a dose of personal bias. It's perfectly true that the city has cut way back on tree maintenance, but there is no reason to single out palm trees. A list of trees recommended by the city includes a number of palms: http://www.sandiego.gov/street-div/pdf/treeguide.pdf

An appropriate response would be to write a letter to the editor of the publication in support of palms and explaining how easily the fruit stalk can be removed before the ripe fruit falls.

[epicure3]

I have never even heard of this newspaper and I live here.

[fastfeat]

Well, fruit clusters can be removed before fruit ripens and needs to be raked/scraped from sidewalks...

As to lifting sidewalks, I remember inventorying washys in Santa Monica years ago where, in 3X3 wells (in pure sand), the sidewalks were noticeably displaced. I noted the damage (unusual as it was) on the survey. A few years later, a rollerblader sued the City for negligence, after hitting the uplifted concrete. The City hardscape inspector had failed to notice the damage, probably figuring "palms never lift concrete". The City wanted me to agree with their inspector "in the spirit of cooperation". I told them to "^*#@ Off!"...The rollerblader won the lawsuit...

[fastfeat]

BTW, if San Diego were really to plant "only" native trees, they'd effectively be reduced to planting the shrubby coastal scrub oak (Quercus dumosa) and CA sycamore (Platanus racemosa).

[sonoranfans]

How sad that san diego would even consider removing palms from the public landscaping. Without those palms the ambience away from the water would be a move towards albuquerque, eeech! It would surely be noticed by the tourists, many who think of san diego as a tropical getaway.

[Patrick]

Let's face it: some people are inherent complainers. If "grumpy guy" quoted above lived in the mountains he'd probably be complaining about the pine cones, or the squirrels, or the forest fire danger, or all the 'city folk' moving in, or the taxes.......

Bottom line is that you can't let these people impact you with their negative energy. He's one voice of many, and for as many of these people out there, there's just as many palm lovers, and there's EVEN MORE people who just don't care.

have a good day!

[sarasota alex]

This is exactly the kind of yellow sensational journalism that often triggers unnecessary laws, ordinances and regulations.

[amazondk]

A few years ago the city of Manaus decided that mangos would make good street trees. This policy was later abandoned. But, not before many streets received mangos lining them. Now that is a messy tree to deal with. And, many are now getting large increasing the risks of damage to cars and passers by.

dk

[Dave-Vero]

Locally, there's a few enormous mangoes serving as lawn trees.

Palms are excellent for the strips between sidewalks and streets because they don't raise sidewalks. If they blow over in a storm, thery're easily righted.

I've been watching the mature foxtatils at Heathcote Botanical Garden in Ft Pierce. Their fruit output is impressive. I think there was a recent comment here about Palm Beach removing foxtails from Worth Ave. out of frustration over the fruit.

Politically, I get the impression that San Diego County, if not the city, has always been small-government, at least on issues like firefighting. Street tree maintenance is arguably something that government can do efficiently, but check the example of New York City, where the City offers residents training in how to maintain their own street trees. [i think these comments qualify as urban horticulture, not politics].

A really nice Japanese pole pruner (Silky Hayauchi) costs as much as $300 and is a great investment, but it won't be tall enough for some taller palms.

[sarasota alex]

A few years ago the city of Manaus decided that mangos would make good street trees. This policy was later abandoned. But, not before many streets received mangos lining them. Now that is a messy tree to deal with. And, many are now getting large increasing the risks of damage to cars and passers by.

dk

Sounds like someone in the City Council received an envelope with cash in it from a local mango nursery.

[Palmateer]

The newspaper reporter apparently thinks palm trees are berry, berry bad.

[Surf Guy]

They should plant rare palms. All the seeds that fall would be cleaned up for free.

[Kris]

They should plant "rare palms". All the seeds that fall would be cleaned up for free.

[Zayin]

I think that they should plant coconuts. That way no one would be complaining if they got hit in the head by falling berries.