Joint tree project beautifies downtown parking lot

FALLBROOK — In 2006, the Fallbrook Village Association and the Friends of the Fallbrook Library contacted Save Our Forest (SOF), an affiliate of the Fallbrook Land Conservancy, to see if trees could be planted in the parking lot that extends from the Art Center to the library.

This was not to be as easy as most tree plantings because, with a new library being planned, the ultimate configuration of the parking lot was unknown.

As a first step, Jackie Heyneman, who heads SOF, contacted Alfonso Ramos of TY Nursery in Pauma Valley, who arranged to have 13 15-gallon Chinese elms donated for the project.

The Village Association purchased 24-inch plastic pots and SOF volunteers planted the trees and spaced them through the parking lot. Volunteers from SOF and Care-Rite Vocational Services took on the ongoing responsibility for watering the trees.

In order to provide greater space for growing trees, and to add to their prominence, it was decided earlier this year to transplant the trees into much larger wooden containers. This time, Bill Wedas, manager of Pardee Nursery, was contacted and he arranged to have 13 large (36-inch) wooden tree boxes donated for the cause.

Several individuals, organizations and businesses stepped in at this point to make the larger project a success. Fallbrook Equipment Rentals handled the storage of the boxes and a skip loader for placing and filling them. Vince Ross helped with funding for the potting soil. The boxes were lined with roofing felt before being filled.

The tree boxes needed to have some artwork for visual appeal, so Mary Perhacs, executive director of the Art Center, and Mac Werthmuller, SOF volunteer, met to come up with some pleasing designs.

The trees were planted in their boxes and placed throughout the parking lot this March. Then, other volunteers stepped in to do the artwork on the boxes. They included students from the AVID program and other high school students.

This has been another in a long list of community projects for which Fallbrook is famous. Community organizations, volunteers of all ages, businesses offering goods and equipment all worked together for Fallbrook beautification.