Best trees to plant for plenty of shade in Sonoma County neighborhoods

Planting the right trees between sidewalks and streets can make your neighborhood cooler and a nicer place to stroll.|

Planting the right trees between sidewalks and streets can make your neighborhood cooler and a nicer place to stroll

There is a reason why Hollywood, homebuyers and real estate agents are in love with tree-lined streets. Shady drives are so much prettier, and that leafy appeal translates into higher property values. The USDA estimates street trees add up to 10% to the market value of a home.

But there are a multitude of other reasons to give some loving attention to that strip between the sidewalk and the street.

“Trees provide a buffer. They make sidewalks more comfortable for walking and separate from traffic,” said Bill Montgomery, a Santa Rosa landscape architect. “They also provide shade to the streets and shade to the cars.”

Adding trees to that “parkway” between the sidewalk and the road is one way homeowners can do their bit for the environment, said Montgomery, who worked for 32 years in city park and tree design management. During his 13 years with the Santa Rosa Recreation and Parks department, he recognized the importance of trees as part of “the urban forest.”

By planting lots of trees, a homeowner and, collectively, an entire city can provide habitat for birds and other wildlife. Planting can reduce ambient temperatures by 10% or more, leading to lower heating and cooling costs, according to the National Academy of Sciences Journal. The Trillion Trees project estimates that if 1 trillion trees were planted around the world where there is space for them, that could offset the global carbon increase for a decade.

Homeowners’ duty

On a micro level, for the average homeowner, street trees have the benefit of slowing down traffic and reducing perceived noise, Montgomery said. They make a street more appealing, both visually and as a cool place for a stroll on a warm day.

“Trees have a huge impact on cities. All you need to do is look at a street with little or no street trees and then a street with beautiful street trees and you know immediately what you like most,” he said. “But for some reason, people don’t feel the need to make that happen on their own street.”

Santa Rosa used to oversee all street trees. But during the Recession in 2009, the city cut its parks maintenance staff in half to lower costs and shifted responsibility for trees in the space between sidewalks and streets to property owners. That included selecting, planting and maintaining them, said Assistant City Manager Jason Nutt.

“With the number of trees in our community, we simply couldn’t keep up,” he said.

The only way the city might prune or cut a tree is if it posed a health and safety problem. It won’t intervene for aesthetics, Nutt added.

Petaluma also places responsibility for street trees with property owners.

Many property owners, however, are unaware that it’s up to them to maintain the trees in front of their properties. Even if they do know, Montgomery said he’s seen far too many trees in recent years poorly maintained or removed and not replaced.

“The care of street trees is so critical,” Montgomery said. “I see people destroying perfectly fine trees in a desire to keep them smaller or possibly to not break up the sidewalk. They may hire tree companies that do abominable work that can destroy trees. I’ve seen perfectly beautiful trees chopped back to stubs that will never fully recover.”

One of the culprits that may have dampened enthusiasm for street trees was the liquid amber tree, also known as sweetgum, that was planted like mad in the 1960s and 1970s. As they matured, they proved to have root systems that spread and broke up sidewalks. Afraid of the expensive maintenance and potential liability, a lot of people opted to take out their trees, diminishing the shade and beauty of their street.

What to plant

Many cities like Santa Rosa encourage people to plant street trees and offer lists of recommended trees, based on the size of the planting area between sidewalk and curb. But not all landscapers, horticulturists, arborists and public officials agree on which trees to plant.

Sonoma County Master Gardener Bill Klausing is all about natives. Other trees might be well adapted to our climate or may be drought tolerant. But it’s the the natives that best support local wildlife, he said.

Insects evolved with very specific varieties, and they are the beginning of the food chain. So if you plant a tree away from its native habitat, it won’t have the same biodiversity, he said.

“I tell people, ‘Think of a tree as an insect hotel.’ ”

One tree that seems to meet universal approval is the western redbud.

“It’s lovely in spring with that purple-lavender bloom,” Klausing said. “The western redbud also gets a seed pod in the fall that adds some interest. And for the more novice gardener, they are relatively easy to care for.”

Montgomery has his own ideas about which trees are best. He said while native species are often the wise choice in other situations, few make good street trees. In addition to the western redbud, he also likes the marina madrone, a California native that is evergreen with small flowers.

He has several rules of thumb for homeowners to consider when leafing up their planting areas along the street. First, consider the width. If your street or your strip is narrow, plant smaller trees. The city of Santa Rosa has a list of recommended trees categorized by size. A small area would be 2-3 feet, a space good for a western redbud, various maples and the ever-popular crape myrtle that bursts into color in the summer. These are trees that grow no taller than 20 to 25 feet.

By the same token, you want a larger tree if your street is wider or if you have an extra-wide planting area. Scale is important for visual appeal, Montgomery said. One good choice for a wide street or a larger planting space of 6-8 feet would be an autumn gold ginkgo, which delivers magnificent color this time of year. Just remember they could grow up to 50 feet tall.

Be considerate to the next generation. Don’t grow trees that will overpower a regular-size house. Throughout Sonoma County you’ll find gorgeous redwoods that now tower like forest trees over tiny houses, breaking up yards, fences and sidewalks and requiring a small fortune to remove.

Montgomery said it’s also good to consider consistency. If a street has trees of similar size, it will be more attractive. Of course, you may not be able to negotiate with your neighbors.

When deciding what to plant, consider the growth pattern of a tree, its drought tolerance, how often it needs pruning, how much its roots will spread, its lifespan and whether it will drop fruit or other messy material.

Montgomery said it’s also good to look for trees that have year-round interest. That may mean flowering blossoms in the spring as well as colorful leaves in the fall or striking bark that stands out in winter.

For fall glory, now is the best time to shop and plant. Great varieties include Chinese pistache, red maples and ginkgoes, all good for wider parkways. Ornamental pears offer spring flowers.

For narrow parkways, Montgomery likes crape myrtles for summer flowers and fall colors; English laurel, which is evergreen with small spring flowers, and western redbud, which has both spring flowers and fall colors.

Maintenance

Whatever you plant, treat it right. Any plant, even natives, needs watering during its first few years while it establishes roots. Don’t skimp on pruning. Hire a landscaper or arborist trained in tree pruning. Poor pruning can ruin a tree.

“Some trees people starve and butcher,” Montgomery said. “They look OK in summer. But when the leaves fall, you see the butchered branches and it looks bad.”

If you’re not inclined to invest the time or money in good pruning, choose trees that don’t need it.

For information on Santa Rosa’s recommended street trees visit bit.ly/2FGEWNH

You can reach Staff Writer Meg McConahey at 707-521-5204 or meg.mcconahey@pressdemocrat.com. OnTwitter @megmcconahey.

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