Saratoga News

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City council votes to remove two redwoods to save oak tree

By Shannon Burkey

The Saratoga City Council voted at its March 7 meeting to remove two redwood trees from the city's historical park, in order to give a 125-year-old oak tree a better chance of survival.

The oak tree sits in the center of the park, in between the two 30-year-old redwoods. The trees are only 10 feet apart and, because they are so close, they compete for sunlight. The oak now sits in the shade of the faster-growing redwoods and is experiencing limb dieback as a result.

The issue of the trees first came before the council on Feb. 7. At that time the council voted to remove the oak and leave the redwoods in place, despite the city arborist's report supporting the opposite.

The Saratoga Historic Foundation asked the council to revisit the issue. The foundation is in the process of redoing the landscaping in the historic park in the middle of the historic museum, the McWilliams House and the Book-Go-Round.

Foundation members said they could not go forward with the landscaping renovation plans until they knew which trees would be removed. The foundation will either have to plant greenery that thrives with minimal sunlight or with a lot of sunlight, depending on which trees are in the park.

Chuck Schoppe, president of the historic foundation, said the redwoods have grown so quickly they are dominating the park.

"This oak tree and the other one in the park are suffering because the large redwoods have overtaken the height of the oaks," Schoppe said. "They're not getting the sunlight they really need. They're both reaching for the sun, but unfortunately, the redwoods are winning."

Councilwoman Ann Waltonsmith said that it was not often the council "got another crack at things." In the last meeting, Waltonsmith voted to remove the oak, but after revisiting the issue she said she now supports the removal of the redwoods.

"The oak tree is older, it's stable and it's a representation of the oak woodlands that were here for so long. I think we need to give it a good chance to survive and live. It's a thinning that's going to make all the remaining trees healthier and give them a longer life," she said.

Councilwoman Jill Hunter, who has always been an advocate of protecting trees, said she could not back removing any of the trees at this time. Hunter was the lone dissenting vote.

"I can see the redwoods from Neale's Hollow. I can see the redwoods as I sit and have my nails done. I can see the redwoods from across the street at the Napkin Ring. I think it's a shame for those city trees to be removed by the city. I think it's a bad lesson to people that they can remove trees that are large and healthy," Hunter said.

The city will plant two new redwoods somewhere else in the city to replace the ones being removed.

Now that the council has decided on the fate of the trees, the historic foundation can start planning its new landscape design for the park. A garden, typical of the Civil War era, will be planted in front of the museum and the McWilliams House. The foundation also plans to plant a variety of plants and shrubbery, developed specifically for the Saratoga microclimate by local botanists, in the park.