Re: Monterey Pine

Blow down of Pinus radiata and Cupressus macrocarpa is highly dependent on what the soil type is, and initial size of tree planted.  In Marina/Fort Ord sand dune soils, I would expect that seedling grown trees would be deep rooted and lone trees would not be so suspect.  On the other hand, most of these trees are planted as either 5 gallon or 15 gallon sized trees, that may have kinked/circling roots at initial planting.  Combine the initial larger size tree with poor root structure and plant on a slope with clay soils over hardpan, and you have a recipe for blowdown of tree as it gets larger, especially under water saturated soil conditions and winds that vary from the normal prevailing winds direction.  100's of mature Pinus radiata have blown over in Golden Gate Park in some years where we had extreme winds, and once a hole was created in the tree canopy, the remaining trees were even more at risk of also blowing over in lesser velocity wind storms.

Planting smaller sized trees initially, and making sure to avoid underpotted large trees too old for their container size is a good start, but I would still caution people who fall in love with the beauty of this tree when mature to think about the long term constraints.  Branch drop of large dead limbs on Pinus radiata is also fairly common here in the Oakland Hills, and I often see large broken dead limbs snagged within the tree canopy and waiting for the right combination of conditions to fall to the ground.

Pinus contorta is a more manageable size tree for the typical suburban garden, with a similar look but doesn't grow 70 to a 100 feet tall.

--- On Tue, 1/12/10, B. Garcia <paroxytone@gmail.com> wrote:

> From: B. Garcia <paroxytone@gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: Monterey Pine
> To: "Medit-Plants Plants" <Medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
> Date: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 10:41 AM
> I live near one of the native stands
> of Monterey pine, and the two native stands of Cupressus
> macrocarpa (which we call Monterey Cypress, despite being in
> Carmel's territory), and both are incredibly common
> trees for people to plant (although in recent years people
> have been going for more interesting trees, in my opinion).
> They are actually "non native" where I live, and
> the cypresses seem to have been the tree of choice the
> Military planted along the border fence for the former Fort
> Ord.Neither are known for being particularly prone to
> blowing over or dropping branches however. There are many
> mature specimens around town standing on their own and
> they've withstood the big wind events we've had. By
> far, the most fall/branch drop prone trees here are the
> Eucalyptuses, Acacias, and Myoporum laetum. 
> 
>  
> I think a lot of the popularity of Monterey pine and
> Monterey cypress here is that these are very fast growing
> trees. They can grow several feet in one season, and the
> pines are especially fast growing. The seedlings that came
> up after the 1986 Pebble Beach fire are at least 40 feet /12
> meters tall and unless you knew a fire swept through that
> area you can't tell. Monterey cypresses also tend to be
> deep rooted, not pushing up pavement even after many decades
> (the base of some trunks seem to "melt" over
> concrete that was laid around them. Of course, fast growth
> means a short life, and it's only a matter of time
> before the trees senece and die. Pacific Grove seems to have
> taken a pro-active approach and planted seedling cypresses
> at the base of the oldest trees at Lovers Point. 
> 
>  
> Unfortunately, with pine pitch canker hitting trees
> hard, the pines have become far less popular, and i'm
> seeing people planting things such as the Marina variety of
> Arbutus unedo instead.  
> 
> 
> On Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 1:52 AM,
> Pamela Steele <pamela.steele@re-taste.com>
> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dear
> Alison
>  
> You
> will have seen the huge plantations of Pinus radiata in the
> New Zealand North Island grown in place of native endemic
> trees for timber export and pulp and paper industry.  Also,
> most trees grown on sheep farms throughout New Zealand
> (initially put there for wind protection) are Pinus radiata
> or macrocarpa.  Both of these when individually grown can
> break limbs and fall over in high winds.   The New Zealand
> countryside is littered with them.  In my observation in NZ
> and here in the Costa Blanca, pines need to be in stands or
> groups for their own protection (as in the
> plantations).    Immediately cutting down some pines
> from a stand makes the others very vulnerable.  It is a sad
> thing here people cutting down these beautiful trees (Pinus
> halepensis) for spurious reasons and then suffering the
> consequences...just a thought.
> 
>  
> Best
> Pamela
> 
>
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