The Moreton Bay fig tree thrives in California

While attending California State Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo many years ago, I had the great fortune to work at the Dos Pueblos Orchid Company in Goleta, just north of Santa Barbara. I worked on weekends and the summertime as one of five full-time estate gardeners for the main ranch-style house gardens alone.

This 45,000-acre ranch land expanded from the Pacific coastline up to the Santa Ynez Mountain Range to the east. Highway 101 and the Amtrak trains runs through the Dos Pueblos Rancho along the coast.

The hacienda rancho was located on a mesa, which had a 2-acre lawn facing toward the Pacific Ocean. This panoramic picture was flanked by dozens of huge 40-foot Moreton Bay fig trees on each side of the expansive turf which made a majestic frame for the main gardens.

Just below this mesa was a lower terraced, fenced grassland pasture where registered Hereford bulls munched in the open field.

The owner of the Dos Pueblos Rancho was Sam Mosher who owned Signal Oil and Gas and purchased the large rancho parcel back in 1943. The ranch was his Shangri-La getaway from the hustle and bustle of the business world, and Sam was an avid gardener and loved the ranch as his retreat.

Mosher would leave his Los Angeles home and come up to his rancho to spend the weekends inviting a collection of business associates and the Hollywood crowd of those days for a great retreat. There was a wonderful ambiance of pleasure and enjoyment at his sprawling hacienda home and orchid farm.

The orchid company was located in a different section on the ranch where thousands of exotic cut cymbidium and cattleya orchids were cultivated in hothouses and shade structures for the floral industry and shipped across the country while in their blooming season.

I lived in the bunkhouse with other ranch workers, and one day I drove out to the zoo on the ranch. Driving along the dirt road out through oak and sycamore woodlands and along free-flowing creeks is where the spirit of the California landscape infiltrated my soul.

It was almost like traveling back in time through Sherwood Forest and envisioning a band of Robin Hood's men camping under these magnificent California native trees. So, I have fond memories of those days on the rancho in Goleta.

With the grand alley of Moreton Bay figs at Dos Pueblos Rancho, I also sought out other trees in the area and came upon the great Moreton Bay fig tree located at the Santa Barbara Amtrak train station. I was in awe of this historic giant tree.

It has been said that an Australian sailor gave a seed to a little girl who grew it and transplanted the young tree over to its current location back in 1877.

Tourists from all over the world come to enjoy its wonders as it is the largest of its kind in the continental United States.

In Fallbrook, there is a similar Moreton Bay fig tree behind Carl's Jr. This fig tree has been designated as a historic tree in San Diego County, with a plaque on-site.

The Moreton Bay fig is from the eastern side of Australia near Queensland. It is said that some old and mature specimens can cover from 3 to 5 acres per individual tree.

With our Southern California Mediterranean climate, this species of ficus macrophylla has found happiness growing up and down the coastline with some grand specimens dotted here and there.

But if anyone wants to venture just a little closer to view one of the state champion Moreton Bay figs, go visit the great one in Balboa Park near the San Diego Zoo.

This tree was planted for the 1915 Panama-California exposition and has become a dominant tree feature in Balboa Park. It is located just off the main Prado.

A few years ago, this tree was measured to be 78 feet in height but with a whopping crown width of 123 feet and an immense trunk. Anyone who is into trees and wants to see a tree that they'll never forget should go pay a visit with the children. And consider packing a picnic and sitting out in the lawn area surrounding this famous and unforgettable tree.

This ficus tree is now recognized as a state champion in the California register of big trees. Learn more at http://www.ufei.calpoly.edu/data/bigtrees. This site is a resource to discover other big trees in California by specific species.

This ornamental fig tree is cordoned off to keep the public from climbing on it and to keep the soil from being compacted. The tree also has very large buttress roots above ground, a unique feature that aids in supporting the weight of the huge tree.

There are also aerial roots extending downward from some of the horizontal branches, nature's way of relieving some of the load off the heavy branches, giving the tree added support, almost like nature-designed crutches.

The ficus family is very large, and many fig species are grown from around the world in California gardens, ranging from large shade trees to fruit trees, clipped ficus hedges and interior house plants to creeping vines on walls.

I hope I have planted a little interest in trees, nature and the environment. I highly suggest an outing to Balboa Park to view the park as a green jewel here in Southern California and its trees.

A book that I highly recommend is "Trees and Gardens of Balboa Park" by Kathy Puplava and Paul Sirois. We must also give great thanks to Kate Sessions, who is the mother of the park. She showed fortuity, enthusiasm and plant skills in the landscape layout of the park. Her plant and tree introductions have been the bones of San Diego as a Mecca for plants from all over the world.

"He who planted trees believes in all the tomorrows to come."

Roger Boddaert, the Tree Man of Fallbrook, can be reached at (760) 728-4297.