Plant Now or Pay Later: Why University Heights Needs More Trees
Happy Earth Day (Apr. 22)! We’ve had more crazy weather recently, even hot and windy Santa Ana days during winter. Predictions from the National Weather Service suggest we’ve got a lot more heat to come this year. Unfortunately, the effects of climate change will multiply faster than previously predicted, spurred on by destructive federal policies. But there are still actions we can take to sustain livability in UH, including planting healthy trees along our sidewalk easements and on our own properties if our lots are large enough. We need the air-filtering, shade-producing, leafy excellence of mature street trees now more than ever.
The new “Zone Zero” requirement that we establish 5-ft ember-resistant perimeters around our homes will mean our community will lose hundreds of mature trees in the next few years, in addition to the hundreds already lost to multi-family housing developments, with more of those to come. Climate change has also led to trees being felled by diseases and infestations. Our urban tree canopy has suffered, in other words, at a time when it should have been increasing.
It’s been quite a while since we’ve heard anything from City Hall on this issue, and the city’s “Urban Forestry” webpage contains mostly outdated documents and dead links. But private groups have stepped into the breach, including Tree San Diego, whose website might be a good place to start for those seeking to help with the effort (www.treesandiego.org). Some neighbors have had success with “free” trees from the city that have thrived along our streets and sidewalks. Those “free” trees that do survive take many years to grow tall and wide enough to provide shade cover, however, and shade cover is what we sorely need now and in the very near future. Local and migrating bird populations, insects, and other wildlife also need mature, healthy trees to survive and thrive.
Most of us know how uncomfortably hot it will get with fewer trees to shade us and our surrounding landscapes from the sun’s rays. We also know how air quality is affected when there is no healthy leaf canopy to filter pollutants. Those of us who can afford to plant large trees along our street easements or in our yards outside that Zone Zero perimeter will be doing ourselves and our neighbors a huge favor by planting the biggest, most mature specimens we can find. Such trees can make a world of difference. And our world can really use them right now.