 |
|
|
|
|
Caltrans axes dead pine trees on Highway 9
By Oakley Brooks
Caltrans tree workers removed five disease-ridden Monterey pine trees last week along the Saratoga-Los Gatos Road section of Highway 9.
The removals came after residents along the road complained to local authorities that they feared the dead trees might topple into their yard.
Because the trees sat on the edge of the right-of-way controlled by the state, Caltrans was responsible for them. Tree workers spent most of two days felling the trees and dicing them to be carted away.
This year's removal follows another effort several years ago to take out six more pine trees along Highway 9.
According to Caltrans' Bob Cordille, a tree specialist, all 11 of the pine trees were stricken with pitch canker, a fungus that constricts the flow of nutrients through a tree's vascular network. As a tree begins to decay, Cordille says, it is susceptible to boring insects, which create holes in the tree's trunk. Sap from a tree's interior then weeps out of the holes created by insects.
The airborne fungus can also affect other species of pine, such as Douglas firs, sycamores and eucalyptus. And it has spread throughout much of the state, from San Diego north to Mendocino.
|
|
|
|
Saratoga, California Since 1955
