Palms on Oak Street – update & call for photos

There are a number of dead or dying Washingtonia palms on the median on Oak Street. The City has surveyed these palms, and begun the permitting process for their removal. The ailing palms are marked with red ribbons.

Although the City needs to test the soil to determine the cause of the die-off, their tentative plan is to replace the Washingtonia palms with Florida-native Sabal palms.

A look back

Some of the ailing Washingtonia were planted by Owen Burns, the original developer of Laurel Park.

Neighbor Jack Notestein provided this photo from 1973 showing he and his wife walking along Oak Street with the palms in their glory.

If you have other historical photos of the neighborhood, please email them to the Laurel Park Newsletter editor, Chris Jaensch.

Chris is hoping to assemble a gallery of photos documenting the evolution of the neighborhood for inclusion in an upcoming Newsletter.

Moving forward

A delegation from the LPNA met with the City to discuss the palm situation, and inquired as to the feasibility for a more comprehensive landscaping plan for the median. While tree replacement is routine and covered by the City budget, underplanting would require the addition of irrigation to the median, which the LPNA would need to pursue via a County grant. If you are interested in helping with this, please contact the LPNA.