Tree Boxes: Small Way to Make a Big Impact on the Sidewalk

By Eric Richardson
Published: Wednesday, March 12, 2008, at 11:42AM

Eric Richardson

These tree boxes in front of the International Jewelry Center feature wood chips and small plants.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES —

They may have been this way for years, but something made these tree boxes in front of the International Jewelry Center catch my eye yesterday. The wood chips and small plantings both look nice and seem like a functional approach to handling the space around street trees.

Though a pretty small thing, “tree boxes” (the cut in the sidewalk through which a tree is planted) are a big issue. Downtown is littered with box treatments that are missing, ugly or broken. Ineffective treatments not only look bad, they allow rats to burrow under the sidewalk and can be a safety hazard.

Whether this particular treatment is new or not, it’s worth making a mention of.

Comments

jim winstead writes:

while small plantings and even the little fenced-in ones look nice, i have to say that wonton appreciates the metal-grate style more, such as the ones on the trees in front of the santa fe lofts on 6th street. he's still able to get to the tree to lift a leg, and the run-off just disappears down the grate.

# on Mar.12.2008 AT 12:30 PM

Eric Richardson writes:

Were the grates adjusted as the street trees grew, the grates would be fine. As it is now they're typically either ill-fitting, knocked out of place or just missing. I think the rats prefer them too.

# on Mar.12.2008 AT 12:44 PM

Joe Cornish writes:

Ruby is a fan of these trees, and she reports that the chips and plantings around the trees are new. Like her pal Wonton, she loves the metal grates, but she's always had a weakness for wood chips.

From a human perspective, the wood chips look great but are difficult for the street cleaners to really clean. Eventually chicken bones, cigarette butts and small pieces of other garbage mix in with the chips. The wood chip treatment works best when the chips are replaced with fresh ones on a regular basis.

For some reason, many downtown pedestrians think it's just fine to throw garbage at the base of trees. I'm not sure why.

# on Mar.12.2008 AT 12:51 PM

Joe Cornish writes:

.....oh, and it's also hard for street cleaners to clean dog shit from the chips. Unfortunately, there are way too many dog owners who are not properly cleaning up after their dogs. This riff-raff element seems drawn to the wood chip covering, which somewhat camouflages their crime.

# on Mar.12.2008 AT 12:58 PM

Mountain Girl writes:

Let's not talk about burrowing rats. We don't want to unduly scare people up at city hall now.

# on Mar.12.2008 AT 01:17 PM

Cornish Hen writes:

".....oh, and it's also hard for street cleaners to clean dog shit from the chips."

Unfortunately it's not just dog shit we're talking about either.

# on Mar.12.2008 AT 02:14 PM

Dennis Smith writes:

Ruby is correct. The box treatments(small plants and wood chips) were just installed last weekend when landscaping crews were also trimming the trees that shelter the lunch patio of the International Jewelry Center. Frankly, far more difficult than feces removal will be the number of cigarette butts that get jettisoned on that stretch of sidewalk.

# on Mar.12.2008 AT 05:47 PM

Metro Local writes:

Yes, the chips are new and an improvement over the previous bare dirt that was there for years. Chips can easily be shoveled up with garbage (of whatever source) and replaced.

What's nice, and what I think the point of the posting was to begin with, is that little touches like this make a big difference and show that property owners and managers are starting to care again about sidewalk appearance Downtown.

Now will someone do something about the planter debacle on 600 S. Main?

Those things ARE now human toilets for one and two...

# on Mar.12.2008 AT 11:26 PM