76 STREET AND HIGHWAY PLANTING. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE LOCAL PROBLEM. 



Before any reasonable planting can be done there must be a careful 

 study of the street or streets to be planted. There should be a complete 

 record, including statistics, as to the nature of the soil, the width of 

 the street, parkings and sidewalks, the nature of the buildings 

 whether residential or business the direction of the streets, and pre- 

 vailing local sentiment. 



California cities are particularly fortunate in regard to the matter of 

 soil. In most cases it does not need to be especially considered. These 

 soils do show great variation, and a knowledge of the variation is 

 essential. A knowledge of the depth of soil is also of advantage. For 

 example, in Santa Barbara streets which run from the hills to the water 

 front, as State street does, show great differences in soil depth, the soil 

 on the higher levels being much more shallow than that on the lower 

 level. Again, in San Diego, all that part of town built on the mesa, 

 which in most ways is the best residence district, has a great handicap 

 in having hardpan very close to the surface of the soil. Here is a very 

 large problem for San Diego to work out. The inevitable practice 

 will be blasting. This necessitates that planting will be done before 

 the street work is done, which is the wisest practice in any case. Of 

 course this will entail extra labor and forethought, as the true level of 

 the street must be ascertained in each case before planting. A suffi- 

 ciently large area must be opened up for each tree so that it will not 

 be a tiny pocket of good soil in a large mass of rocks. And good soil 

 must be put in place. All of this means expense and great expense. 



The best way of meeting this expense is another problem. If the 

 co-operation of the property holders is to be attained it is evident that 

 an expense of forty or fifty dollars can not be demanded offhand for 

 each hundred feet or so of frontage. Some way must be found to give 

 time for payment, or some other way. San Diego has done much good 

 municipal work in her forestry work and there is no doubt she will 

 find a way out of this matter. 



One other solution, which may lessen expenses slightly, was offered 

 for San Diego by one who knows the conditions there. It was based on 

 the fact that the climate of San Diego is cf such mildness that it is not 

 greatly dependent upon shade for its comfort. The idea was this: 

 "Why not substitute a pergola treatment, with vines, to occur at inter- 

 vals, instead of the trees. Not a large formal affair but a small pergola 



