Our little community sits on hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean. What really makes this seaside cluster of homes unique, is that the houses in Cambria are built in the middle of a Monterey Pine forest which I find to be both beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
I have always said that I have a “love-hate” relationship with nature. I love the deer that wander through our property (until they eat my favorite plants down to stubs). I love the hawks flying overhead (until they perch on the fence, peering down on my vulnerable hens). I love the fox and her two kits (until she stands outside the chicken run hoping a hole in the fence will magically appear). And most of all, I love those magnificent Monterey pines that surround us, until they crash down on homes during a mild windstorm.
This year, with average rainfall and a couple of wind storms, our Monterey pines have turned against us. Normally shallow-rooted, with the soil soaked, they toppled like dominoes. They have also been stressed by drought and attacks of pine beetles that have weakened them. It doesn’t take much for them to throw in the towel and lay down. Fifty-two homes in Cambria were damaged by falling trees and branches in January. And it’s not over yet.
Tree trimmers have been kept busy cutting up, chipping, and hauling away debris. Vacant lot owners who have “dead or leaning trees” have been contacted. I they ignore complaints, they can be held liable for damage caused by these sickly giants. It’s really a lose-lose situation for us who live in this Monterey pine forest. If we ignore the leaning trees we risk damage to our property. If we remove them, the very thing we love about our environment is altered.
About the only thing we can do to save our forest is to remove dead trees and to remove dead branches from the living ones so wind resistance is lessened. After that, we can acknowledge that we chose to live here, and indeed feel blessed to live here, and that fretting about falling trees is a small price to pay for the natural beauty that surrounds us.
Thanks for the Birthday wishes!
We had to cut the Monterey pines down when they got too tall. Their root systems are very shallow and they can just fall over for no good reason other than that they are off balance. There was one that fell over in the front of my daughter’s Montessori school in Aptos. That was a shock.
It is worth putting up with a lot to live in the woods. Love it!
I will, no doubt advocate Monterey Pines-Beautiful and Dangerous Central Coast Gardening to everyone whom I recognize. Notable Project. -Sanjuana Gerringer – Fashions officianado