The decision to keep ficus trees on Main has been a most difficult decision, but it has been made after much thought and in consultation with professional arborists and landscape architects.
The replacement trees selected for Main Street were the first choice of the city’s Tree Committee Members and the California licensed, landscape architectural company the city hired in 2010 to put together a Tree Master Plan for us.
The ficus was the tree chosen by this consulting firm in conjunction with new cultivation and watering techniques to allow for deep rooting of the trees rather than shallow rooting.
The reason I support ficus trees on Main Street is primarily because ficus trees are what is already here and for the last 50 years they have preformed well.
To replace what we currently have, we either had to take out the existing ficus trees, start over and wait 25 to 30 years for an established mature canopy on our Main Street or use the new techniques that have been developed and work with the ficus.
However, the good news is this: Arborists now know we were handling the trees all wrong. When a tree is severely pruned back, its roots grow out of control because it goes into shock.
That’s what we had been doing prior to 1996. Also, we had covered the root base with concrete, which caused condensation under the concrete bringing the roots to the surface for the water. Since 1996 we have installed pervious brick pavers in sand on the sidewalks and around the existing tree wells allowing the water to drain down to the roots rather than have the roots come up to get water.
The old ficus trees are not perfect, but they are beautiful and their canopies unequaled.
The new ficus trees will be treated properly so their roots will grow down and not to the surface.
The tree canopy will be “laced out” rather than severely pruned. While the two canopies will take time to equal out, with proper pruning of both old and new, it will happen sooner.
To completely start over will denude Main Street for many years destroying its charm. This is an investment in one of our greatest assets.
The positive aspects of ficus trees is that they can tolerate saline soil, salt water spray and our high winds off the ocean.
Other tree varieties may tolerate one or two of these environmental conditions, but can’t withstand all of them.
Trees that can’t tolerate all of these conditions may die, under perform, or drop leafs and/ or branches causing new liability issues.
Another benefit of the ficus trees is that the branch pattern and canopy trend to grow upward to the sky and not horizontal towards the storefront building facades, first hiding the business signs and eventually growing into the facades.
All trees will have roots that spread under the streets and businesses. Arborists are telling us that by deep rooting the trees with a deep watering program for the first two years that the roots will grow down to reach the water. Because the old trees depended on surface watering to water them, the roots grew to the surface to get water.
This decision was one of those no-win decisions. Some people want to chain themselves to the ficus and others want to take a chain saw to them. I hope this helps to explain why, after much research and soul searching, I support ficus trees on Main Street.
Ellery Deaton is the Seal Beach District 1 city councilwoman.
