Early Manteca pioneers might be a bit startled at today’s landscape.
A century ago, trees -ornamental and otherwise -were at a premium. Much of the area that is south of Yosemite Avenue today was a sandy plain where tumbleweeds were more likely to roll on a windy day than leaves fluttering in the breeze.
Manteca is no longer an inhospitable place for trees. The arrival of surface water through the formation 100 years ago of the South San Joaquin Irrigation District allowed for the cultivation of fields as well as the planting of orchards.
And perhaps nowhere is that transformation more stark than in Manteca itself.
At the end of 2008, the City of Manteca was maintaining 8,801 trees in the public right of way and another 7,596 trees in parks and at the golf course. The overall number of municipal trees -16,397 - is almost double the 8,567 trees the city had in 1998. Manteca’s population, meanwhile, increased by about 40 percent from 47,114 in 1998 to 66,451 in 2008.
The Manteca Garden Club - in conjunction with the Parks and Recreation crews - Thursday Friday helped increase those numbers even more by adding six more trees to Woodward Park in observance of Arbor Day.
Manteca recently secured its 18th consecutive Tree City USA award bestowed by the National Arbor Day Foundation.
Not all street trees are maintained by the city. Some, such as the Spreckels Avenue corridor between Moffat Boulevard and Yosemite Avenue, are part of a privately-owned landscape maintenance district.
A century ago, trees -ornamental and otherwise -were at a premium. Much of the area that is south of Yosemite Avenue today was a sandy plain where tumbleweeds were more likely to roll on a windy day than leaves fluttering in the breeze.
Manteca is no longer an inhospitable place for trees. The arrival of surface water through the formation 100 years ago of the South San Joaquin Irrigation District allowed for the cultivation of fields as well as the planting of orchards.
And perhaps nowhere is that transformation more stark than in Manteca itself.
At the end of 2008, the City of Manteca was maintaining 8,801 trees in the public right of way and another 7,596 trees in parks and at the golf course. The overall number of municipal trees -16,397 - is almost double the 8,567 trees the city had in 1998. Manteca’s population, meanwhile, increased by about 40 percent from 47,114 in 1998 to 66,451 in 2008.
The Manteca Garden Club - in conjunction with the Parks and Recreation crews - Thursday Friday helped increase those numbers even more by adding six more trees to Woodward Park in observance of Arbor Day.
Manteca recently secured its 18th consecutive Tree City USA award bestowed by the National Arbor Day Foundation.
Not all street trees are maintained by the city. Some, such as the Spreckels Avenue corridor between Moffat Boulevard and Yosemite Avenue, are part of a privately-owned landscape maintenance district.
