Member Column

by Jack Nelson

LW contributor

Some years ago, I had the good fortune to walk past just as the gardeners were trimming this tree. I took a straight branch, thinking of a walking stick for an upcoming trip in the Sierras.

The green bark peeled easily after some hammering to split and loosen it.

The wood was light yet quite sturdy after drying it for a few days. The long stick was a great help on the backpacking journey, easing every step up or down, reaching farther, like an extra leg, and light enough to carry comfortably on the striding flat.

I don’t know the walking stick tree’s real name. There are many of them in Leisure World, among the tremendous variety of trees that flourish on our commons.

I would wish for a map or catalog of all the different trees here, to greet them by name as I walk through our fascinating gardens. The buildings themselves are boring, plain and uniform. But the personal expressions in each patio and garden tell about our wonderfully diverse community.

A tree catalog keyed to building numbers could encourage more of us to stroll the greenswards, visiting our remarkable trees and finding greetings across the community.

I would even suppose that the catalog already exists in the landscape contractors’ wonky spreadsheets, just waiting for a creative communications expert to make them user-friendly with ink or app.

Editor’s Note: A tree inventory was prepared for the Golden Rain Foundation in 2015 by James Komen of Class One Aboriculture Inc. The 361-page document contains individual observations, including pictures, of trees on GRF Trust property.

The GRF has about 56 species of trees, with the most common being junipers and Italian Cypress.

It has changed over the years; for example, the ficus trees in the median of St. Andrews Drive are now gone. But it proves that LW does have an amazing array of trees.