<< Prev Next >>

Image 1 of 6

Loading images

Even though autumn had its official start three weeks ago, I had my first foray into fall on Saturday's tree tour through my own neighborhood Arden Park, hosted by the Sacramento Tree Foundation.

The tree tours were started over five years ago by longtime Sacramento Tree Foundation member Fran Clarke. It was Clarke's goal to make the community aware of the many spectacular trees found in Sacramento.

Eighteen resident citizens, from 2 years age to retired, gathered at La Sierra Park for an informational walk-about with Sacramento Tree Foundation stewardship coordinator Luanne Leineke.

"The trees are not only beautiful, they play important roles in our community," Leineke said. "They help clean up pollution. The leaves attract particles of pollution so people don't breathe them in. They also provide shade which helps lower the ambient air temperature which is especially important in a hot location like Sacramento."

Before the mile-and-a-half walk began, each participant was handed a detailed brochure and map entitled "The Magnificent Trees of Arden Park." The handout illustrated the location of 51 mostly deciduous, "leaf-losing" trees spread out over a many-mile radius.

"This particular tour is best done on a bike," Leineke said as the tour started. But there were plenty of trees to see on an abbreviated walking tour.

Starting out in La Sierra Park, we admired the blue atlas cedar with its dominant pyramidal shape, viewed two sickly looking Black locusts and learned to differentiate between a variety of oaks, including the Southern Live oak, the valley oak and the pin oak.

"Oaks have very lobed leaves," Leineke informed us. "But the pin oak's leaves are very lobed and it has crunchy, vertical bark."

This educational adventure continued into the neighborhoods as we ventured down Los Molinos Way, up El Sur Way and over on Castec Drive. Lieneke has an extensive knowledge of hardwood trees and worked hard to inform our group about proper care for a tree, average tree maintenance costs (approximately $9 a month per tree), pruning techniques and basic plant biology. We made special note of the planting differences of east-west streets that strive for shade and the more open north-south streets.

Leineke emphasized planning ahead when choosing a shade tree for your yard. She stressed that consideration must be given to the eventual size of the tree and the importance of a healthy root system.

"Wet soil is not healthy for most trees," Leineke warned. "With wet soil, there is not enough oxygen in the soil for the tree to stay healthy."

During our walk, we stopped to appreciate many trees, including ginkgo, elm, tulip tree (yellow poplar), tupelo — which was starting to get some of its intense red fall color — Southern magnolia, liquidamber and the redwood. Perhaps the most stunning tree on the tour was the wide-branching blue oak that caused many participants to exclaim, "Just beautiful!"

We also learned about the "shade history" of the Arden Park neighborhood. Historically, many streets were lined with the graceful Modesto ash; however, because of its susceptibility to mistletoe and anthracnose (a hardwood tree disease), many of these trees have been removed and replaced with more stable shade providers such as the London plane.

"How do you tell a London plane from a sycamore?" questioned one participant.

"By its balls," answered Lieneke, jokingly referring to the soft brown seed balls that hang from the branches in two-pair clusters. Lieneke indicated that sycamore's seed balls form in clusters of three to five.

Four additional tree tours will be held throughout the fall season and will highlight a variety of community settings. All tours are free and open to the public. The tours begin at 10 a.m. and conclude by noon. Further information can be found on the Sacramento Tree Foundation's website.

The Tree Tours schedule:

Oct. 24: American River College, meet at the administration building, 4700 College Oak Dr.

Oct 30: River Park Community tour, meet at the shopping center, 5493 Carlson Dr.

Nov. 7: Capitol Park tour, meet on the east steps of the Capitol

Nov. 14: Sacramento State campus, meet near the bus stop at the J Street entrance