Photograph by George Sakkestad
City Councilman Stan Bogosian asks for information about the oak trees in the city's Heritage Orchard while League of Women Voters President Marjory Bunyard looks on and Vice Mayor Evan Baker peruses an oak tree.
Tiny acorns grow into huge controversy
Keep the oaks or cut them down--Saratoga council must decide
By Kate Carter
Deciding what to do with the Heritage Orchard's oak and silk oak trees is no walk in the park for the city council, but on May 9 it seemed like one.
That morning council members enjoyed the beautiful weather and surroundings as they strolled through the orchard, joined by city staff members, arborists, ecology specialists and orchard overseers Matt and George Novakovich. The trip was designed to provide the council with plenty of information to decide if some of the orchard's non-fruit producing trees should remain or be removed.
It remains to be seen whether such complete information will lead the council to a consensus on how to best serve the orchard and the trees. The council will make a final decision about the trees at its June 5 meeting.
What to do about the trees--in particular six oaks among the fruit tree rows and two silk oaks near the place a future barn is planned for the site--has been a question for the council since the beginning of April. Without too much fanfare, the council voted April 3 to remove all six oak trees that some say will kill nearby fruit trees. The silk oaks were also to be removed because of concerns they might be a safety hazard. Five oaks along Saratoga Avenue and another near Fruitvale Avenue were to be moved to other locations.
After a public outcry and opposition by the Novakoviches to the decision, the council reconsidered it May 1, with one councilman, Stan Bogosian, recommending that all the trees be saved. Councilwoman Ann Waltonsmith said she would rather all the trees were removed. The rest of the council members fell somewhere in the middle, and they decided to do some more research.
May 9 was the day for that research, and city staff brought in all the experts: two arborists from Los Gatos to address concerns about tree health, two ecological consultants to offer perspective about tree habitats for birds of prey, and the Novakoviches themselves.
Matt Novakovich said he had always supported removing some of the oak trees among the fruit trees and indicated to the council the ones that he thought would be most appropriate--two of the three nearer to Fruitvale Avenue, which stand very close to each other.
"We just kind of want to strike a balance," he said.
Los Gatos arborist Deborah Ellis said she would defer to Novakovich's opinion on keeping or removing the trees, as he is more familiar with the orchard, but said that it would be "reasonable" to remove a couple of the trees. She responded to some council members' questions about pruning the oaks, saying she would advise doing as little as possible. She also recommended that the orchardists avoid cultivating the ground near the oaks or watering in that area, to keep them healthy, and possibly even moving some of the existing fruit trees near the oaks further away.
"Keeping the oak trees will necessitate a change in practices," she said.
Photograph by George Sakkestad
Interested individuals joined city council members, arborists, ecology specialists and city staff in a morning tour of the Heritage Orchard May 9, trying to decide what to do with the orchard's oak and silk oak trees. The council will make a final decision June 5.
Ellis also told the council that it would be very likely--even if healthy oak trees were removed with as much of their root systems as possible--that an oak root fungus would spread and infect nearby fruit trees.
"When you take out trees, expect that you will see some of this problem," she said.
As for the silk oak trees, Ellis said that the trees had probably been damaged by frost about 12 years ago and that some of the branches would likely fall. She recommended removing the trees unless there was some reason not to.
Ecologists from San Jose's H.T. Harvey and Associates, however, pointed out that the silk oaks serve as perches for red-tailed hawks and other pest-eating birds. They added, though, that artificial perches could be installed throughout the orchard to attract birds of prey.
Ellis said that the five oak trees planted along Saratoga Avenue in 1993 as a beautification project could easily be moved to other locations, which could allow for another row of fruit trees and a better view of the orchard.
After all the opinions were in, though, it was still unclear what the council would decide. In a message to the Saratoga News, City Councilwoman Ann Waltonsmith pointed out that the Novakoviches said they would have removed the oaks years ago when they were small, but were told not to by the then-city council. However, at the orchard, some council members were mulling over the possibility of accommodating some of the oaks.
Matt Novakovich summed up the dilemma best: "A long time ago we wanted to take all the trees out," he said. "But they're here now. And they're big."
Saratoga, California Since 1955
