Eucalyptus row is shrinking

Tape blocks a sidewalk that runs between eucalyptus trees and Del Norte High School’s football field. The Daily Triplicate/Kurt Madar

The row of 22 Blue Gum Euca­lyptus trees that run along Wash­ington Boulevard are getting a haircut.

And some are disappearing altogether.

 The problem, according to Curt Zlokovich, director of facilities and operations for the Del Norte Unified School District, is that all the trees were overdue for trimming and some “were deemed hazardous.”

Even to the untrained eye the need for trimming is obvious.

The golden and green smooth trunks are disrupted in places by seams and holes of rot, often directly below large horizontal branches where support is the most needed.

“We’re taking out some of the worst ones,” Zlokovich said. “And making the rest safer.”

Four of the 22 trees will be completely removed.

Mountain Power owner and climber Gavin Scott has spent the last week in and out of the trees, “bringing them down and making them tighter.”

“There was a lot of rot up there,” Scott said. “The trees have been topped once before, and that is where a lot of the bad spots were.”

Zlokovich isn’t sure how long it’s been since they were trimmed, but he did know that it was a long time ago.

That fact makes Scott’s job harder.

“With a job like this, where you have to take a lot off, it’s harder to make it look good right away,” Scott said. “But we try to maintain the shape so that as the canopy grows back it will fill back in.”

Depending on the weather, Zlokovich expects the project to take another week.

“These trees are going to need more attention,” Scott said. “What we’re doing now will keep for the next five years or so.”