Great Tree Search Update

This scarlet oak on Antioch is a car magnet because of the cooling shade it produces all summer.

By Greg McPherson

Nineteen trees were awarded Great Tree status in Tree Davis’s Great Tree Search. Great Trees were designated because of their unusual size, species, form, or history. Awardees ranged from 12 to 380 years old, 11 to 129 feet tall and 1 to 20 feet girth. Fascinating stories on what made each tree special were captured in a series of Davis Enterprise articles this spring and can be found online at the Tree Davis website http://www.treedavis.org/programs/great-tree-search/.

Each Great Tree has a Necklace with species name, fun fact, and a QR code that points one to more information on the website.

Also on the website is a map with locations and fun facts on each Great Tree. A graphic design class at Sacramento City College produced unique Tree Necklaces that adorn each tree with species name, fun fact, and a QR code that points one to more information on the website.

Three short videos are posted online. The first provides an introduction to the Great Tree Search, the second illustrates how a malformed young ginkgo was rescued and inspired residents to replant their street with ginkgo trees. The last video describes how a street tree planted 50 years ago in Davis as an experiment, became the godfather of 200,000 genetically identical Espresso Kentucky coffee trees planted worldwide. It demonstrates how a scientist’s keen eye for a remarkable tree and a nurseryman’s unrelenting pursuit of a dream combined to create something very special. 

Readers can print and use the online map to visit the Great Trees at their convenience, or join the bike tour that Dr. McPherson will host this fall. Be part of the Great Tree Search when it begins again in the fall by nominating a tree you love and appreciate because of its species, size, form, history, or whatever. Readers can nominate trees on-line by clicking on the Great Tree Search banner, downloading a paper form on the website at http://www.treedavis.org/city-of-davis/gts-final-v2-2/, or requesting a form at (530) 757-7337.

Greg McPherson is Vice President, Tree Davis Board of Directors and retired US Forest Service Urban Forest Researcher. This project is made possible by support from these Tree Davis sponsors: F Street Dispensary, Symphony Financial Planning, and Davis Cannabis Collective.