Beloved cypresses get fond farewell

San Diego Union Tribune – San Diego,CA,USA
ENCINITAS – Leucadia lost two of its oldest trees yesterday, but
not before residents held a candlelight ceremony to say farewell.

ENCINITAS – Leucadia lost two of its oldest trees yesterday, but not before residents held a candlelight ceremony to say farewell.

Two Monterey cypresses planted in the 1890s that had anchored Leucadia Roadside Park at Leucadia Boulevard and North Coast Highway 101 were chopped down. They were the victims of rot and termite infestations, city officials said.

It took the giants more than 115 years to reach 80 feet in height and respective diameters of 36 and 74 inches, but it only took work crews six hours to carve them up with power saws.

The trees will continue in another form.

Most of the wood was donated to Palomar College’s woodworking program. Some residents stopped by the park yesterday to salvage slices of the trunk for remembrance.

“I’ll make a little table for my yard,” Nancy Chodur said.

Andrew Gemmell, a San Diego resident who works in Leucadia, picked up some cones to grow bonsai.

Another resident, Mary Fleener, snapped digital pictures of the trees when she and 60 other residents gathered at the foot of the cypresses Monday night to bid them farewell in a glow of candlelight. Yesterday, she was back for more photos.

Leucadia 101 MainStreet Association also is collecting written memories of the two trees.

The cypresses date to the neighborhood’s beginnings, when the Leucadia Land Co. began developing the area. The company, formed by a religious group from England, planted trees and named the streets after Greek mythology, according to historical accounts.

The void left by the trees will be filled. Two replacements will be planted May 11.

The cypresses, which had exceeded the normal life span of their species, had been decaying for a long time, city officials said.

Three-quarters of their trunks had rotted and termites had infested them. Their foliage was dying, city Park and Beach Supervisor Terry Smith said.

The fatter tree was leaning toward the road and posed a danger to pedestrians and motorists, consulting arborist Mark Wisniewski said.

The thinner cypress had sustained pockets of decay as deep as 32 inches into the 36-inch trunk. It also had 1-to 2-foot vertical cracks on opposing sides of the trunk. During last week’s high winds, the cracks opened another 1½ inches, Wisniewski said.

Some time ago, someone poured concrete into a decayed spot in the bigger tree to plug the damage. Six years ago, the city removed bee hives from that tree and filled the holes with expandable foam. The trees also were given fungus and disease treatment.

By March, city officials realized the inevitable, and after consulting with arborists, including Wisniewski, the city decided to spend $4,200 to cut the trees down.