Tree wells to receive upgrades in Corona del Mar

The Corona del Mar Business Improvement District has voted to spend $5,000 to improve village tree wells that have broken irrigation systems, and dead or missing plants.

“We did a tour of tree wells, and what we found was disgusting,” B.I.D. board member Scott Laidlaw said at the group’s Thursday meeting at the Civic Center.

At least 35 of the tree wells had irrigation systems that were not operating, Laidlaw said.

A new contractor had recently taken over maintenance of the tree wells, but during the transition, many of the plantings in the tree wells weren’t getting enough water.

In other places, he said, the irrigation hoses are loose and spray water onto the sidewalk and onto nearby parked cars.

In July 2011, the B.I.D. planted about 100 tree wells in the village, but within two months, many of the plants had died, were trampled or stolen.

The B.I.D. arranged for irrigation in the tree wells about 15 years ago, with members asking businesses if they could tap into their private water lines to water the wells, said Scott Palmer, a board member.

Laidlaw said many of the plants from 2011, which were drought-resistent and included many succulents, did not thrive as well as they had hoped.

“The drought-tolerant approach sounds great, but it really isn’t, “ he said. “They aren’t traffic-friendly.”

Meaning, he added, that “People open their car doors and walk through them.”