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Green giants improve quality of life

Wendy Lewis enjoys the shade of a Deodar Cedar tree, recently at Kuns Park while her daughter plays on the jungle gym. The Deodar Cedar, native to the Himalayas, grows to 80 feet tall and 40 feet wide and is usually planted for Christmas trees. Lewis said she thinks it is great that La Verne has been named the “Tree City” “I'm a tree lover myself,” she said. / photo by Sylvia Castellanos
Wendy Lewis enjoys the shade of a Deodar Cedar tree, recently at Kuns Park while her daughter plays on the jungle gym. The Deodar Cedar, native to the Himalayas, grows to 80 feet tall and 40 feet wide and is usually planted for Christmas trees. Lewis said she thinks it is great that La Verne has been named the “Tree City” “I’m a tree lover myself,” she said. / photo by Sylvia Castellanos

by Max Zänker
LV Life Editor

You see them everywhere, those sometimes ancient, sometimes young giants of nature, the trees of La Verne.

They look nice, improve air quality and even win an annual award for the city for 17 years.

Each year, the National Arbor Day Foundation honors cities with the ‘Tree City’ award.

To qualify, the city has to have a tree board or department, which in La Verne is the tree trimming department.

The city also needs a tree care ordinance, which is in La Verne the tree preservation office, part of the city planning department.

The last requirement is a community forestry program, and its own annual arbor day.

“Getting the ‘Tree City’ award is just a bonus for us, we would fulfill all those requirements anyway,” said Mel Crudge, spokesmen for the tree trimming department.

“Not many people know about this award, but people recognize the many trees, so we do it for the city, not for the award.”

Kathy Wolf from the Center for Urban Horticulture at the University of Washington in Seattle researches the benefits of trees in cities.

“There are economic benefits like environmental and energy savings, retail and commercial environments and residential property values,” she said.

A 25 foot tree reduces heating and cooling costs by 8 to 12 percent per resident and cleans 260 pounds of oxygen annually, 67 percent of a persons need, and reduces stormwater by 327 gallons, saving the city a lot of money for taking care of those issues.

Wolf calls urban trees, “the lungs of the city,” or “pollution scrubbers.”

“We use trees for example as a tool to fight the air pollution, caused by the new 210 freeway,” Crudge said.

According to Wolf, businesses also benefit from the trees as consumers prefer shopping at a site with trees, commercial land values an occupancy rates raise and trees improve employees attitudes, well-being and motivation, which results in a higher product quality. Her study shows that workers without the possibility to view nature from their desk claim 23 percent more time of illness.

Another benefit for a city with many trees are an increase in home value and, sale prizes and buyers price flexibility.

“And there are also individual benefits for the citizens, especially for families with children,” Wolf said. “It is proved that trees work as a reducer of stress, domestic conflicts and aggression.”

La Verne’s roots to it’s trees go back to the day of the citrus industry. “It’s been a city of trees from way back,” said Marlin Heckman, historian for the city of La Verne.

From 1919 on, mainly to the 1940s, lemon and orange trees dominated the city of La Verne. Then, a fruit malady struck the trees and many were chopped off to make room for housing tracts. But the city never lost it’s reputation as a city of trees and the ones who profited from it were the new house owners and citizens.”

Max Zänker, LV Life Editor
Max Zänker
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