Trees for Your California Native Yard

Thanks to all the readers who responded with questions (so many questions, so little time).  There is one that I have heard more than once, so I guess that is the question du jour.

 Q:  I want to transform my yard into a native garden.  Are there any good native trees for home gardens? 

The short answer is yes.

The City of Benicia has been working with West Coast Arborists with some input from the , the local and other private citizens to create a suggested tree list for the citizens of Benicia. This list will be available through the city for reference, especially when a person applies for a tree-removal permit.  The tree list is not intended to include the only trees you can plant. It will be a list of trees that do well in Benicia with enough information so that you will be able to choose the right tree for your location. Since I am an active tree person, I have looked at the list and, yes, there are some native trees on it.

Since this is the middle of the cold, cruel months of winter, let’s look at a few evergreen native trees that are expected be on the Benicia “preferred list.” Now don’t get your hackles up. This is not a complete list and the city is not proposing banning any trees. I just wanted to find a way to wax poetic about a few trees!

Calocedrus decurrens, Incense Cedar: This plant comes from high altitudes (2,400 to 8,200 feet) and would prefer great drainage with a bit of summer water. It does well on Southampton hillsides and can create a lovely grove in a few years. It can mature to more than 75 feet tall and 10 to 15 feet wide (allow for it to spread).  It is a little slow to start but after the first couple of years, it can grow about 2 feet a year.  In the heat of the summer you will have the pleasant pungent scent of incense.

Heteromeles arbutifolia, Toyon: Its picture is attached to the article. This plant is a tough player; it grows throughout much of California from 0 to 4,000 feet.  It can be grown as a shrub and sheared to keep it 6-10 feet tall and wide or trained as a single or multitrunk tree. One of the common names for this is Christmas berry, because the red berries ripen from late November until about now. Birds love the berries but, according to what I have read, if eaten uncooked they can make you pretty sick. So if you eat the berries (and they are good for jellies), cook them first. This plant needs good drainage or you run the risk of losing the plant to root rot.

 Quercus agrifolia, Coast Live Oak:  Picture attached to article.  This is a tree that is native to all of Coastal California (including Solano County) from 0 to 4,200 feet.  It gives a wonderful sense of “place” and is easy to grow as long as your drainage is OK.  It gets big, even in the garden but it takes awhile.  The first year or two, the tree mostly stands there looking a little gawky. Then it will put on a foot or more each year for 50 years. It will easily get 50 to 70 feet tall and even wider, that is a whole back yard (along with your neighbor’s), for most of us. It drops leaves and acorns, it has occasional oak moth caterpillars and produces a root fungus that is hard on many other plants BUT it is one of the most magnificent trees in California. By the way, it only requires a little water to get established and then, you can take it off the irrigation line.

Sequoia Sempervirens, California Coastal Redwood:  Picture attached to article.  This tree does well in Benicia. It is native to the Coast Range between 0 and 3,600 feet and matures to a whopping 70-90 feet tall and 15 to 30 feet wide in 25 years, so give this baby some space. In Benicia, you will find it needs summer water to do well.  It also does best if planted in groves. A number of my clients spray up into the foliage once a week or so in the summer to emulate coastal fog and their trees all seem to look great.

Umbellularia californica, California Laurel:  A native to most of California, from 0 to 5,000 feet, it also called California Bay Tree. In forests, it grows slowly to over 75 feet tall and 100 feet wide. Along the coast, it stays smaller. The "Sunset Western Garden Book" says the trees will stay 25 feet tall and wide (I hope your tree can read!) in the garden. This tree has gotten a bad rap over the past 15 years or so because it is a carrier of Sudden Oak Death.  If you buy this tree, you should buy it from a grower that is inspected by the Department of Agriculture regularly and keep it in a quarantine area for eight weeks before planting.   

These are a few great native trees that can be used in your landscape. Thanks for asking!

Alison W Fleck is the owner of Simply Perfect Gardens, a Benicia-based landscape design company.