Why Are the Palm Trees So Shaggy on Oso Creek Trail?

Oso Creek Trail is a tapestry of treasures weaving its way through the heart of Mission Viejo.  The sound of Oso Creek babbling on its way down the trail, surrounded by the spectacular beauty of the well-thought-out landscaping, parks, observation benches, and focal points like the Butterfly Garden, the Plant Maze, the Peace Obelisk, the Festival Murals, and Character Garden give you something new to look forward to at every turn.  With all this beauty making up the Oso Creek Trail experience, I have to wonder about the pelthroa of shaggy palm trees dotting the otherwise breathtaking scenery. 

With so much beauty abounding on the Oso Creek Trail,  I stare in wonder at the hairy palm trees lining the creek.  These trees look like they have never, ever been trimmed.  No frond has been forced to leave the mother ship here.  Every single dead and decaying remnant that has not been removed by rodents or rain or wind is still hanging in there – on public display for the world to see.  That’s just not a happy sight.  Wouldn’t the stately palms of Mission Viejo' Oso Creek Trail look much better if they were trimmed up a little bit?  Do some palm-scaping perhaps?

Well, I set out to get to the bottom of this frond-athon.  I went right to the source and phoned up Jerry Hill, the Mission Viejo city employee who's been responsible for the Oso Creek Trail since 1997.  After complimenting him on the beauty of the trail, I got right to the heart of the palm matter.  Jerry, I said, what's with all the shaggy palm trees scattered all over the trail?  Well that was all it took to get Jerry started.  Here's what I learned.

The city of Mission Viejo, just like any other business, family, or city, has to look at its budget and its priorities.  The shaggy palm trees are not currently on the top of the city landscape maintenance list of chores.  Keeping the Plant Maze trimmed and the trail cleared and the grass green are much higher up on the list of maintenace items for the Oso Creek Trail part of the city's budget.  And here's the kicker - the palm trees were never intended to be there!  They are what Jerry calles "volunteer" palms, mostly planted unwittingly by birds flying over and making a deposit, if you catch my drift.  After snacking on some palm seeds from a neighbor's back yard, they evacuate the seeds along the trail.  Which has lead to palm trees growing where no one ever intended or imagined.

So what to do about the shaggy palm trees? Regardless of their origin, they are pretty ugly.  And I would think unhealthy.  What's living inside those dead fronds?  Are they likely to go up in flames or be full of rabid rodents?  Thankfully, Jerry said the fire department is not considering them a threat.  Jerry said the ultimate solution is to remove the trees entierly.  Which is probably why the city has not paid to keep them trimmed - they'd much perfer to pull them out.

Because here's what I learned from a commercial aborist - the more years of growth that needs to be removed, the more expensive and dangerous it is to do.  Yes, dangerous!  Falling fronds or falling from the tree are real dangers to tree trimmers.  And you have to be able to get the cherry picker in next to the tree - other wise the trimmer have to climb the tree to trim it. 

So my quest to answer the question about why the Oso Creek Trail palm trees are so shaggy was at least answered, satiafyingly or not.  And OK - I get the budget thing.  And the priority thing. At this point, I agree with Jerry.  Let the shaggy palm trees alone until the city has the money to remove them.