Not a bird or a plane.. It’s a.. It’s A… FALLING TREE! We hardly get any rain and God forbid we get a leaf or two that change color or fall but we definitely get wind. Lots of it. L.A. was attacked last night by gusts of wind. A big-rig almost ran me out of my lane on the 405 from almost being blown over. Also worth a mention was all the garbage that was flying down the road. This tree also fell victim, (get it? Fell? ok-corny I know) to the winds at my work. Due to budget cuts, I’m sure this will become a permanent fixture along with the unfinished construction. You say, “why so bitter Marga?” -I’m not. Actually I’m elated at the change of weather even if it is just wind. I miss the cold, guys! Now I will go into hiding for my crazy statements. I’m sure there is a lynch mob outside my house waiting to make me pay for asking for something below 70 degrees.
The irony is that the lynch mob would have nowhere to hang you. Last night our power went out, so a reminder to everyone to stock up on emergency lamps. check your windshield wipers, and do those very few winter preparations that must be made.
Note to be too serious, but not a lot of people are talking about WHY all these trees came down. Aren’t trees supposed to stay up when it gets windy? Your librarian and native gardener has three answers, in order of severity…
1) We plant a lot of non-native trees in California. Some of these trees don’t belong in a Santa Ana, or anywhere NEAR Santa Ana.
2) Most of the trees in Los Angeles either have a tiny square of dirt around them, or are covered by a lawn. I’m sure if you went up to Whitaker Peak by Castaic, where the wind hit almost 100 MPH, you won’t see as many downed trees as in Pasadena…because these trees have a taproot going ten feet down, and lateral roots extending 3x the diameter of the tree just under the surface. Roots don’t do that under concrete, asphalt and grass. Especially under a lawn, a tree will form a root ball (with no taproot) to gather up the little water it can that seeps between it and the grass. A strong wind (or a car) with take it out. If you want to experiment, run a car into a Live Oak up in Central California…you won’t even scratch it. These urban trees don’t live very long either…and it’s not from the smog but the shitty conditions of their roots. There are 9 trees on my property, all of them living under 3 inches of mulch with minimal water and loving it. There are some kinds of native flowers and grasses that will grow under trees without killing them…check out the Theodore Payne Foundation to learn and buy.
3) The weather is not just getting WARMER but more intense…stronger winds, wetter hurricanes, hotter summers, colder winters, more tornadoes…but almost half of this idiot country doesn’t believe in climate change. Oh well.