by Charlotte Tenny
Although the gardener has a vision in mind when planting a tree, that tree will grow according to its own wisdom. And that turns out to be the story of the San Diego Herb Club’s “Trees for Health Project” in Balboa Park. It has been branching out and bearing fruit in ways quite unexpected.
It was a modest, community service concept, back in 1997. At a regular monthly meeting of the San Diego Herb Club, member Barbara Carey casually mentioned that there was a grant available through California ReLeaf/Urban Forestry to plant trees on public access lands. There ensued the usual club debate over what constituted an herb. The Medicinal Herb sub-committee carried the day by pointing out the many tree substances were used by traditional herbal healers, therefore qualified as herbs. Who could argue against Eucalyptus?
Flush with victory, the committee channeled its enthusiasm into conceiving a way to carry their message to a larger audience. It was decided to propose a short term project of a few months duration to identify and map trees of medicinal value in Balboa Park. The grant proposal paperwork, along with a sketchy budget, was written up and submitted to Urban Forestry and to the City of San Diego’s Parks and Recreation Department. No one was more amazed than the Medicinal Herb Committee when its proposal was accepted, not only by the horticulturist at Balboa Park, but also by Urban Forestry. Yikes! Now they had to actually do it.
Not realizing that they were expected to choose only one of the listed objectives of the grant, the committee thought that they had to fulfill the Public Education one, as well planting and mapping the trees. Consequently, they scrambled to schedule speakers who would talk at monthly seminars. They filmed the speakers. They photographed. They researched. They created a map and an informational guidebook. By the end of 1998 they had not only purchased and planted 15 new tree specimens, they had also created and printed a thousand brochures, and contributed an (albeit amateur quality) instructional video series to the Natural History Museum. This was all done with massive volunteer efforts, and a mere $5000 of grant money. Their naiveté in going overboard has set the stage for what was to come.
Fast forward to the year 2002: The Herb Club, based on its past record of success, is invited by Urban Forestry to write for another grant. The San Diego Herb Club, being primarily a recreational group that meets once a month in Balboa Park, was honored by the invitation, but concerned about entering into another large and demanding project. With trepidation, the Medicinal Herb Committee was sent to discuss the idea with Kathy Puplava, the horticulturist at Balboa Park. The Herb Club’s proposed plan was very deliberately simple: Purchase and place posts with ID plates for each of the thirty trees listed in the project. Quick and modest.
But, fate and timing took a hand. The hundred-year-old Balboa Park was suffering from a massive die-off of the original trees, mostly Eucalyptus, which had been all been planted back when Kate Sessions was in charge of things. The park’s plan was to diversify by planting a wide variety of new trees that had differing life-spans and ecological niches. They not only loved the Herb Club’s “Trees for Health” project. They insisted on enhancing it into one of their themed collections.
Balboa Park first and foremost wanted the medicinal tree specimens all located in one, centralized area. They designated a section of land for a medicinal tree grove to be located on the West Mesa, just north of Quince Street on Balboa Park Drive. The park staff solicited donors for new tree specimens. Eagle Scout volunteers from a troop in Poway were brought in to build the gravel walkways and construct the informational kiosk that would mark the beginning of the new trail. The park staff seemed to have resources and answers for all objections. There was just no way to say no.
Urban Forestry grant reviewers were elated to fund such elaborate project and approved it right away. They were getting tremendous public relations value and community involvement in exchange for their modest amount of grant funding. The Medicinal Herb Committee volunteers began the process of making a new map to reflect the new garden area and getting the redwood ID posts made. But mostly, they just got out of the way of the stampede of helpful organizations and park rangers.
By the end of 2003, the park arborist and horticulturist, Paul Sirois and Kathy Puplava, had included the “Trees for Health” self-guided walk in their newly published book about the plant collections in Balboa Park . The entry even referenced the new website that some eager community volunteer had insisted on creating to showcase the project . To top it all off, there was a dedication ceremony for what the Park is now calling a “World Class Arboretum”. Wow. From little acorns … as they say.
And then, we come to this year, 2006. The Park currently needs to clear out some brush from areas adjoining the medicinal tree grove and wishes to expand the “Trees for Health” project into the newly cleared land, effectively doubling its size. This time with no funding at all, the Herb Club members are consulting with the park on what plants to add, new ID labeling and how best to update the guidebook. And the trees keep growing at their own pace, keeping their deep-rooted thoughts to themselves.
Come see for yourself. The San Diego Herb Club will be giving guided tours of the newly expanded project as part of their HerbDay Information Fair on October 14th.
Charlotte Tenny is an herbal educator who gives classes in phyto-medicine applications at Mira Costa College and at Shakti Rising. She has over 20 years of training and experience in growing and using medicinal plants and is a long time member of The San Diego Herb Club, as well as secretary of the local chapter of the American Herbalist Guild.
Note: The San Diego Herb Club meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 7 P.M. in room 101 of the Casa de Prado building and guests are always welcome. Go to TheSanDiegoHerbClub for more information.
Posted with permission of Charlotte Tenny.
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