INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS TO HYDRATE TREES
Overlooking the Pacific Ocean,
nestled on a bluff, sits the San Elijo
Campground, a place Vince Mikulanis,
production manager with Davey
Resource Group, remembers fondly
from his childhood camping days.
On Arbor Day, DRG, the San Diego
R/C office and over 70 volunteers
teamed up to help revitalize the
campground, hit hard by drought and
myoporum thrips.
The replanting effort installed more
drought tolerant trees that can
withstand the salt-spray from the
ocean and sandy soil, said Daniel
Kump, district manager of the San
Diego R/C office. Catalina ironwood,
Catalina cherry and Torrey pine were
some of the trees installed at the site.
They also planted smaller shrubs.
In talks with the new park ranger one
issue remained. How would the trees
stay hydrated? But, then they came
up with an idea – ice from coolers.
Campers would dump their leftover
or unused ice on the ground or in
the streets, Mikulanis said. It is not
uncommon to go through 20 pounds
of ice, which adds up to being about
five gallons of water. Signs were
made and installed throughout the
campground to encourage campers
to take the ice over to the trees
and dump it.
"Hopefully, we can keep the
enthusiasm up and the park services
can talk to the campers, and everyone
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The Davey Bulletin | September/October 2017
can lend a hand to become an even
cooler campsite to stay at," Kump said.
Mikulanis said he hopes 20 years
from now, when his children are
camping at San Elijo, the improvements
they made to the site this year are
still there.
In June, Mikulanis visited the site
and reported people are heeding the
recommendation and watering the
trees with their cooler ice and water.
Other employees involved from DRG
were: Chris Fleming, tree growth
regulator supervisor, and his family;
Ben Vasquez, consulting utility
forester; and Daron Dondero, project
manager, and his family. From the San
Diego R/C office employee Matt Kirk,
foreman, and his family attended.
Daniel Kump and his son Briar, 5,
help plant trees and shrubs at San
Elijo Campground on Arbor Day.
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