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May 28, 2009
Danielle Gillespie , Staff Writer
Rehabilitation has begun on the historic eucalyptus grove that was established in 1887 in Rustic Canyon Park.
For more than 20 years, residents have campaigned to restore the grove, which the State Board of Forestry originated as an experimental forestry station. Many of the trees are dying because the soil is hardpan and the tree roots are skimming the surface underneath the mulch, said Pacific Palisades landscape designer David Card during a presentation at the Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association's annual meeting on May 19.
A subcommittee of the Park Advisory Board at the Rustic Canyon Recreation Center, headed by Norman Cowie and including historian Randy Young, his mother, Betty Lou Young, and SMCCA members has developed a landscape plan for the grove. Card and Robert Oyakawa, L.A. Department of Recreation and Parks landscape architect, provided their design expertise.
The Park Advisory Board, Recreation and Parks, and the Cultural Heritage Commission still have to approve the plan. In November 2008, the city designated the grove as an L.A. Historical Cultural Monument. The grove was granted state landmark status in 1971.
In the past two weeks, Recreation and Parks started some of the preliminary work by pruning the trees and transporting 66 granite boulders from Westchester to place around the grove's perimeter. The boulders, originally from a quarry on Santa Catalina Island, will prevent vehicles from entering the grove and damaging the trees.
SMCCA President George Wolfberg told the Palisadian-Post that this is a common problem because 'people come to the park for a picnic and, while they are there, the parking lot gates are closed for the night. They are desperate to get out, so they drive through the forest. Secondly, kids go in and drive around in there at night.'
Park employees also placed one of the granite boulders inside the grove to serve as a bench in memory of Santa Monica resident Scott Gerwehr, who died in a motorcycle accident on Sunset Boulevard in May 2008. A small plaque will be placed on the bench, which can comfortably sit two people, Wolfberg said. Friends and family of Gerwehr have offered to donate 40 trees to be planted in the grove.
As part of the landscape plan, the group envisions creating a path made of decomposed granite along Latimer and another from the corner of Hilltree and Latimer to the parking lot at the pool. They also want to design an interpretive map that identifies the different varieties of trees.
Another goal is to loosen the hardpan soil without harming the tree roots. Arborist Carl Mellinger will experiment with an air spade, a hand-held tool that uses a stream of air to dislodge soil, to determine whether this is the best method, Wolfberg said. Otherwise, alternative solutions will be considered.
'We also really need an irrigation system to get the water where it belongs,' Card said. In the meantime, Recreation and Parks has trained seven community volunteers to hand-water the trees.
If more money can be raised, the group intends to install an arbor at the path entry near the back of the parking lot. 'We would also like to take some erosion-control measures,' Card said, noting that there is extensive erosion along Hilltree. 'Perhaps a little bit of fill or planting will hold the soil together.'
To donate to the project, click on Join/Donate SMCCA under Community Pages on the group's Web site: www.neighborhoodlink.com/la/smcca. If interested in helping to hand-water the grove until an irrigation system can be installed, contact SMMC member Chris Casady at ccasa@mac.com or (310) 454-5218.
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