Islands Cleaned Up as of May, 2005: Your Contributions at Work!
With help from the City (special thanks to Dennis Pawl, Mark Camfield and Tony Zumba – all dedicated members of the City’s Parks and Recreation Dept. who are invaluable friends of the Park and partners in our cleanup projects), we are making progress! Steadily and surely, we are applying the Association’s funds to our islands – giving the trees the extra TLC they need, and supplementing the care that the City can provide given stringent budget constraints. Where we have active, committed Park residents who will organize a volunteer effort among neighbors to help keep a refurbished island weed and litter free, the homeowners’ Association works with the City to define, get a permit for, conduct and pay for an intensive cleanup plan for an island. (Note: Nothing is done on our islands without the required permits from the City!) Park residents who take an active interest in “their” islands are key to this effort – without these island representatives and neighborhood volunteers, these investments in cleaning up our islands would soon be degraded by the inevitable weeds and litter that accumulate. Other Park residents who are near neighbors of the islands listed below have contributed generously to our island cleanup fund: you will find them acknowledged gratefully in the “Island Benefactor” section of this website. So read on to see what we, in partnership with the City and some of your dedicated neighbors in the Park, have accomplished!Cork oak island on Warren, between Hurlingham & Crescent
This is a signature island in the Park, with a magnificent stand of cork oaks. For the past few years these stately trees have been suffering, and their decline in 2003 -2004 was rapid and alarming. The City did a lot of research into both diagnosis and state-of-the-art treatment possibilities. In the end, the Association shared the costs with the City for extensive soil sampling, radial trenching (turning up the soil in trenches radiating, like spokes, from each tree) to allow water and oxygen to penetrate the severely compacted soil, followed by irrigation and fertilization. Davey tree care company did the trenching and fertilization work, with very encouraging results to date! Take a look: new growth is evident and trees that looked as though they were on their last legs now appear to have a new lease on life… Further treatment to help the trees’ roots flourish may be indicated, but the signs are distinctly hopeful. Keep your fingers crossed, and please keep off this island so that we do not compact the soil again! Investment by the Park Association to date: $1,100.
Cork oak and palm island at the intersection of Hurlingham & W. Bellevue
This island was marred by inappropriate, unhappy shrubs, grassy weeds, ivy growing up the trees and damaging them, deadwood and dead fronds in the trees, and debris building up around the trunks of the oaks that was causing them to decay. The homeowners’ Association hired gardeners, and Board members worked with them to clear the ground of all but the ivy. The City removed two truckloads of debris from that effort alone! Arborwell (whose arborists and work plan were approved by the City) gave us a very favorable bid for the tree work in support of this community effort, and did an excellent job for us. As one resident remarked, “The trees look loved!” – and the island has been transformed from a bit of an eyesore to a sight for sore eyes. Investment by the Park Association: $820. Island representatives: Mary and David Ballestrieri .
Two islands, at the intersection of Sycamore & Hurlingham, and mid-block on Sycamore
Park residents, John Adams and his next-door neighbor, Kurt de Grosz, took on both of these islands with gusto! With the necessary permits from the City (arranged by the homeowners’ Association), they contributed the labor (both personal and hired) to clear the ground of encroaching ivy, weeds, and thickets of redwood shoots. The City removed three truckloads of debris and approved naturalistic planting of sword ferns for the redwood island on Sycamore. The Association is providing the ferns. Park residents and stalwart island supporters, Lane and Scott Poms, are procuring the plants for us at wholesale cost through their landscape company, Scapes, Inc. With City approval and oversight, the Association also contracted with Arborwell tree care company to do a thorough cleanout of deadwood from the oak on the island at Sycamore & Hurlingham. Total expected investment by the Park Association: approximately $550. Island representatives: John Adams and Kurt de Grosz.
Magnolia island on Clark, between Crescent & Dorchester
Thanks to years of diligent watering by Brad Bruce, the magnolias on this island are in good shape. But they needed a good cleanout of accumulated deadwood, which was done admirably for us (with permits and supervision from the City, of course!) by Timberline tree care company. Then, the ground was cleared of weeds and a hodge-podge of water and labor intensive plants that had not been authorized by the City and did not meet its maintenance requirements. In their place are fresh chips and, on each end of the island, a group of white flowering, dwarf, rock roses. Thanks to Park resident, Ton Sonsini, who contributed the ground cleanup and rock roses through his landscape company, Alpine. Investment by the Park Association: $1,500. Island representative: Jane Venturi.
Large, triangular island at the intersection of Clark & Dorchester with mixed tree species
Major deadwood removal and some trimming where trees were interfering with each other were badly needed. Timberline tree care company won the bid to clean out the many trees on this island. Our work was complicated when bones at the base of the large palm and reports from neighbors alerted us to a family of owls nesting in that tree! The owls turned out to be an endangered species, so we deferred cleaning out dead fronds from the palm until the fall (when nesting season was over) and were careful to maintain the ledge that the owls have found so hospitable. The City removed a dead magnolia and replaced it for us with a valley oak, per the Park’s master planting plan. Weed suppression on this large island and the declining health of the magnolias continue to be concerns. Investment by the Park Association: $2,000.
Italian stone pine island at the intersection of Clark & Hurlingham
Leggy, ugly oleanders, encroaching ivy and weeds were removed by the combined labor of hired gardeners and Association Board members. Deadwood was pruned out of the pines, and the City (as usual) saved us quite a bit of money by removing two truckloads of debris. Investment by the Park Association: $280. Island representative: Linda Bogue
Redwood island mid-block on Clark, between El Camino & Hurlingham
A crew of gardeners removed scraggly, out-of-control, volunteer shrubs. Association Board members worked alongside to weed the entire island. We also removed encroaching ivy from around the bases of all the trees and cleared built up debris, dirt and mulch from the trunks. The City removed two truckloads of debris from this effort. The City also planted three new redwoods and a dawn redwood to fill out the island’s grove. Investment by the Park Association: $170. Island representative: Marilyn Tragoutsis, with able assistance for watering the new trees from Carley Rydberg.
Tiny island with one redwood at intersection of Poplar & Costa Rica
An Italian stone pine on this island was growing sideways, along the ground, and looking more like a bush than a tree. The poor growth habit could not be corrected, so the City removed the tree and replaced it with a dawn redwood. This tree has a better chance of growing past the overhead lines without being topped by PG&E than did the wide-spreading pine. (The fossil record shows that the unusual, deciduous dawn redwoods used to be found in this area. However, they were believed to be long extinct in the world. Recently, some were found in a remote area of China, and now we are reintroducing them to the Park! You can see another on the tiny island at the intersection of Poplar & Hillcrest.) Investment by the Park Association: $0! Yeoman hand watering (which requires her to haul buckets of water to the island from her house some distance away): Linda Zucker