The environmental value of trees has been clearly proven.  No one argues that healthy trees add to the dollar improvement of a homeowners property.

Trees contribute tremendously to the overall economic well being of a community.  But what about the benefit that is beyond economics?  What about just plain old fashioned beauty, and the pleasure of gazing at a special tree?

Our town of Woodland is very fortunate in that we have a large population of truly magnificent tree specimens.  These ‘Treasure Trees’ range from ancient oaks to new plantings. Let’s go for a literary walk around town and check some of them out.

Needless to say, the first stop has to be the wonderful old giant valley oak on Casa Linda Street.  The whole town loves this tree.  And though it lost it’s perfect shape to the massive (but necessary) pruning it received, it still stands as an emblem of Woodland, the City of Trees.  Other famous Woodland valley oaks include the two bookending Main Street.  At the east end of downtown we can see the oak surrounded by the fairly new office building.  And toward the west end of Main is the oak at Cottonwood.  All three of these magnificent trees were threatened with removal but were saved by concerned citizens who insisted they be preserved.

In walking around the part of town near Douglas Junior High, one can see all sorts of arboreal beauties.  One favorite is the  copper beech at the corner of Bartlet and Elm.  This is special not only for it’s shape, size and color, but also because beech trees generally do not grow well in this climate.  Moving down Bartlet takes you past the spendid live oak on the south side of the street. Not far away is a lovely redbud on Pendegast between First and Second Streets.  Another beautiful redbud stands at the northwest corner of Dingle School, at Elm and Oak Streets.  Don’t miss the Buckeye hanging over the fence from its backyard home on Cross Street, just west of College.  Another unusual specimen is the carob tree growing in the planting strip on First Street bewteen Oak and Lincoln.

When driving down Gibson one can see several nice trees, some quite old, others notable for their size and height.  Not far from East street is a very fine example of a Deodar cedar with amazing width and height. Peruse the grounds of the Gibson House and you can observe many old and wonderful trees; oaks, olives, casuarinas.  Continuing west on Gibson, there is a very large fruitless mulberry that is worth noting.  Generally this species of tree is badly maligned, usually butchered with poor pruning, and never appreciated for its natural attributes.  However, this tree on Gibson was allowed to grow naturally and was well pruned up until recently when the power company hacked it away from the power lines.  Even with the chop job done to it, one can see how beautiful it had been. 

While Woodland has many notable old oaks and cedars, a favorite of many people are the saucer magnolias which bloom all over town during the early spring.  A great example grows on the north side of town on Third Street, not far from Beamer. It lives in a lovely Victorian garden and is a harbinger of spring.

The last tree to mention is no longer in existence.  This was a truly spectacular specimen of another saucer magnolia.  Every year it could be seen south of Gibson Road, near McKinley, rising up above the housetops , pure glory in its massive bloom.  It is no longer visible, so was either pruned below the roof line or removed completely.  No critical judgement is passed on the homeowner, for removal or severe pruning is sometimes necessary.  But that tree is definitely missed by those who looked for it each spring.

These are just a few of the ‘Treasure Trees’ of Woodland.  Compiling a list of everyone’s favorites would be a challenging but very fun project. While the benefits of trees can be catagorized in economic and environmental terms, it is important to value trees for their pure aesthetics and the simple joy and awe they can inspire in those who open their eyes to see.