The drought situation in California is a tragedy that is affecting every fiber of society from top to bottom, but what isn’t discussed that much is the effect the drought is having on California’s trees. Take Orange County’s Newport Beach, for example. The city has had to increase its tree budget by $400,000 to remove dying trees and plant new, more drought-resistant ones. The economic impact alone is making some Californians sweat, but the effect that the removal of trees has on a neighborhood’s ecosystem is making everyone nervous, and having them question why such trees were in the neighborhood in the first place.
“So many of the trees that are dying are species that probably shouldn’t have been planted in California in the first place,” according to this article from America.aljazeera.com. “Communities are learning their lessons and replacing dying trees with native plants. This wave of dying trees in California comes on the heels of a two-decade push for the greening of cities.”
While the planting of trees is a good thing, something we encourage at Cold Stream Farm, you must recognize the conditions of your neighborhood. Some trees are better suited for different neighborhoods. A fish out of water dies; we can’t let the same happen to our trees, which is why the upcoming California save-the-trees campaign will try to educate people to ways they can save their trees, such as different ways to water them and what trees to plant where. Remember, education is important when it comes to trees.
