Upper Santa Monica Canyon to Get an Influx of Jacarandas
By Laurel Busby
News & Information Editor
Last year’s Jan. 7 fire severely altered Pacific Palisades’ tree canopy.
“The fire was one of the worst things that could have happened to the urban canopy of the Palisades,” said David Card, a landscape designer and president of the Palisades Forestry Committee. “Tree canopy coverage decreased from 27 percent to 9 percent in the town.”
To address the damage, Card and fellow committee volunteers have been working to obtain free trees through a program funded by LADWP, Card said. The group was recently approved for nine jacarandas and one Western Redbud, which will be planted in Upper Santa Monica Canyon, an area with standing homes and residents who can commit to watering the trees as they become established.
“We’re optimistic that this month we’ll be able to plant those trees in Upper Santa Monica Canyon,” said Card, who noted that homeowners have a choice among native sycamore, cork oak, jacaranda, and redbud trees. “All but one person picked a jacaranda…. Some people hate the jacaranda, but a lot of people love it for the beautiful purple flowers that carpet your lawn. It’s one of LA County’s iconic trees…. With fires, the trees can catch flying embers to keep them from hitting houses.”
The process of obtaining the approvals was a multi-year effort that began in 2022 when Jenny Li, a committee block captain in Upper Santa Monica Canyon, surveyed her neighborhood for spots where trees might be planted. She discovered 11 locations that seemed to fit the city's guidelines, which specify distances from power poles, water meters, gas lines, other utilities, and driveways, according to Card. Unfortunately, the application was delayed by Covid and eventually denied because the program shifted to providing trees to parts of the city with less canopy coverage than the Palisades.
As a result, the committee, which began as part of the Pacific Palisades Community Council, incorporated as a nonprofit to do fundraising. But when the fire occurred last year, the Palisades again became an area that could be approved for the free tree program.
To reapply for the trees, committee volunteers Card, Li, Marilyn Wexler, and Cindy Kirven again canvassed the neighbors who then provided their permission to plant the trees, Card said. Part of the approval process requires Urban Forestry, a division of the Bureau of Street Services (Streets LA), to verify that the chosen spots fit the program’s criteria. One potential tree did not, but the others met the standards.
Card expects Urban Forestry to soon issue the permit to plant, then City Plants will buy the trees, and LA Conservation Corps, a worker training program, will plant them, Card said. In December, the city planted a Monterey Cypress at the corner of Temescal Canyon and PCH due to the committee’s work, and the committee’s next focus will be the El Medio and Asilomar Bluffs area.
“On that whole mesa, the rim houses burned, but not the houses in the center of the mesa,” Card said. “We’re only planting in front of standing houses with operable irrigation.”
A second effort of the committee and the community council has been watering street trees that withstood the fire, but no longer have adjacent residences whose owners can water them, Card said. Tracey Price’s landscaping company used their 2,000-gallon water truck to help save the trees, while Valeria Serna assembled a truck with a trailer that holds 500 gallons. The community council provided $50,000 to fund both of these water trucks, which have continuing costs for gas, water and labor. Additional funding came from City Councilmember Traci Park's CD11 Foundation.
In order to more quickly find further locations that can accommodate free street trees, the Santa Monica College geography class that has been mapping Rustic and Santa Monica Canyons will be assisting with the effort, Card said.
In addition, a Palisades resident who lost his home in the fire has assembled a team to create a Palisades urban forestry master plan, which will include a breakdown of trees that would work well for each street in the town. The team includes landscape architects from firms that previously completed urban forestry master plans for the cities of Santa Monica and Culver City, Card said. The committee is an advisor to the group, as is Randy Young, and the current goal is to finish the plan by spring of 2027.
“I’m very hopeful about reforesting the Palisades,” Card said. “If people want street trees in front of their houses, we’ll be able to better accommodate them once we know which trees would be good for their streets.”
To learn more about the committee, visit palisadesforestry.org, which offers information about trees, including fire-tolerant trees.
