In past years, our approximately 230 Brazilian pepper street trees along Paseo Sombra and Paseo Tranquilo have been over-pruned consistently in the spring to reduce the mess they make in the summer months. 40 years of this along with several other issues has produced these heavily stressed and declining trees. We have a lot of problems with these trees, including hazardous branch failures almost every week. We have determined with the help of consulting arborists that these trees are at end of life.
We have changed the plan this year for less trimming to minimize this stress in an effort to extend their life as long as possible while a replacement plan is formed and adopted. This year, we have already lost 4 of our street trees and 4 more still have to be removed soon. An additional 51 trees are identified as needing some pruning. A list of the proposed work and specific trees involved is available by contacting the Landscape Committee by email.
We have also started creating a plan to replace all the street trees over a period of several years. We are only in the planning stages for this. In the next few months, we will be asking for community help in determining the vision for our future street trees.