The saved Torrey Pine on the 4600 block of Long Branch gets trimmed. (All photos by Frank Gormlie.)
Beginning this morning, Wednesday January 26th, the Torrey Pine on Long Branch Avenue in Ocean Beach, got its trim job.
Having obtained a permit from the City of San Diego, Theron Winsby of Pro-Trees, and his crew began to take off about 20 to 30% of the top foliage. They had arrived on Long Branch around 8:30 and planned to be on the job into the early afternoon. (These photos were taken over a period of time from about 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Local tree activist Richard Agee financed the trimming, as he had earlier hired Winsby to lend his expertise in a two month campaign promoted by the OB Rag to save the Torrey Pine from being cut down by the City. In early January, at the Ocean Beach Planning Board monthly meeting, a City representative announced that they had agreed with local activists that the tree was not a hazard and agreed not to remove the Torrey Pine.
City staff had marked the tree back in early November 2010 for removal and had threatened to chop it down as early as the end of last year. Winsby’s company had conducted a root collar evaluation and had found the tree to be healthy and not in danger of falling.
Agee and Winsby then moved to obtain a permit and to carry out the trimming – which Winsby had said the tree needed. Winsby, Agee,and the City have all pledged to monitor the tree to ensure that it does not present a hazard. Winsby had recommended that it be monitored for at least a year.
Meanwhile, the City has thrown a new asphalt patch over the buckled sidewalk.
So, another chapter in this tree’s saga of living with humans has ended, and it has finally gotten its needed pruning. And it got it the “OB way.”
Here is a gallery of photos taken during the morning trim (click on the image for a larger version).
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Alert!!! If you live near or visit someone on this block DO NOT park anywhere under this tree. The sap will be running from the cuts, and this sap is unbelievably difficult to remove. For some reason the sap from this tree puts normal pine tree sap to shame. Known locally as “the sap from hell” You been warned.
Thanks Jettyboy for the warning. Yes, the sap is tougher than nails to remove from hoods and tops of vehicles. I still have a couple of spots on my car from when I lived on that block. Indians used to use the sap for a type of glue and other uses. But I’d rather see the sap than feel like a sap in allowing the City to cut down that beautiful tree.
I think it is grossly unjust that the act of saving this tree was paid for by one individual and that cutting down the tree would have occurred at public expense. The cost of trimming the tree was far less than the costs of removal, and the City of San Diego should assume that cost, not Richard Agee.
The city is broke, or haven’t you heard?
you could always offer to pay or help Mr. Agee with the cost
if you feelso strongly about it
1.I have “heard” that the city had the money to remove this tree. 2. Pruning a tree is less costly and the city should pick up the tab from the amount allocated to removal. 3. Please do not give me the aggressive presumptive bullshit that “you could always offer to pay or help Mr. Agee…” You don’t know anything about what I have done or intend to do as a citizen.
WOW, they took a lot off.
I was superized those winds and rains we had a few weeks ago didn’t knock it down.
Cool – I’ll have to go take a look and see how the final job turned out…
We just received this email from Theron Winsby:
Hi Richard. Thank you you for all of your diligence with the city and our trees.
We need more people like you.
We took out about 2 tons of wight of the tree.
It might not look like it was cut to heavily but thats the art of doing it right.
We may want to do more maintenance in future winter months to keep training the tree to go south.
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