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Welcome to this seasonal issue of “Branching Out” —
The place for fostering kinship with the many trees of Cypress Lawn Arboretum!
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Dearest friends, neighbors, and tree lovers near and far -
Our experiences with trees are often shaped in passing - walking along the sloping forest trail, with graceful giants framing the meandering path ahead; on a bike ride through the park, wind whipping in our hair and also in the branches above; even a momentary glimpse out the window on a drive through Cypress Lawn Arboretum.
These fleeting vignettes of the life all around us, standing still, are so simple to forget, to just not notice in the busyness of our days. By slowing down, breathing in… then out… and letting go, of whatever it may be - to be present and embrace a moment with a tree - you may find that the passing experience is really the one to savor.
My own meditations in the quiet company of the forest are guided foremost not by knowledge, growing long and slow, but by grace, an awareness that the wooden ones offer a safe and gentle respite from the frantic world. A sanctuary, even, from our human worries, fears, and pains.
I believe that this truth, which I hold in my heart, is why trees were chosen, by our founders and stewards so long ago, as the living beings that define the grief landscape of Cypress Lawn Memorial Park. Trees can nourish our spirits, and foster the healing of our wounds, young and old. I may be a dreaming man, but I hope that this message of meaning, this dream of mine, may someday soon come true for you. All it may take is a passing moment…
Your ever-humble Arboretum Director,
Josh Gevertz
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JUST HAPPENED ON APRIL 22, 2023:
In celebration of National Arbor Day, the first-ever ticketed Arboretum trolley tour, “Dancing on the Brink of the World," a special event hosted in-person by Arboretum Director Josh Gevertz, featuring our namesake tree and its global cultural story. This recurring Monterey cypress showcase tour includes a lecture at the historic 19th century Abbey Chapel at Olivet Gardens, visits to Hesperocyparis macrocarpa specimens at Olivet, West, and East campuses, a poetry recital in the shade of a champion tree, and catered lunch and refreshments. All proceeds go towards the ongoing care of our many trees! Stay tuned for future dates in the seasons to come, for this feature tour of our signature Arboretum species.
HAPPENING ALL SPRING:
Comprehensive 5-year interval tree risk assessment survey for over 1,000 and post-mature specimens throughout the Arboretum, in collaboration with consulting arborist firm Tree Management Experts. This report will inform priorities for tree service and risk mitigation for our living collection throughout Cypress Lawn, this year and into the future.
HAPPENING NEXT MONTH:
Continued seed collection for the growing Arboretum Heritage Project, in collaboration with climbing arborists of Christopher Campbell Tree Design and young tree care professionals of Devil Mountain Wholesale Nursery. Propagation of direct offspring of select veteran trees, for a variety of species in the post-mature collection of the Arboretum, will be an ongoing effort in the years to come, with eventual planting of the next generation of trees for our Memorial Park, as youthful companions to the original mother trees.
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COMING UP THIS SUMMER:
Indoor Arboretum exhibit in the main lobby and adjacent rooms of the Cypress Lawn office building at 1370 El Camino Real. This follow-up showcase to the “Living Color” botanical art gallery exhibition will feature photography of Monterey cypress trees both in our living collection and from around the world, poetry by Arboretum Director Josh Gevertz, wood samples and natural artifacts from actual tree specimens, and more! Stay tuned for further details.
COMING UP ON JULY 14, 2023:
In collaboration with the Western Chapter of ISA, Cypress Lawn Arboretum will be hosting a regional conference for tree professionals, themed “From Roots to Crown: Exploring Tree Health Less Than Six Feet Under!" This educational event will feature a morning lecture series from practicing professionals with expertise in root care and management in the urban environment, as well as afternoon field demonstrations of best management practices in nurseries with containerized plants, as well as for mature tree care with a focus on the process of root crown excavations.
CONTINUING ALL SUMMER:
Wood reclamation projects on East and West campuses, in collaboration with Structural Concepts Design Build. Projects include custom-milled slab benches in front of Noble Chapel, Monterey cypress cant benches in the shade of our champion cork oak, a conference table for our main offices crafted out of the heartwood of a 100-year-old cypress, as well as an outdoor classroom space, including a presentation podium carved out of the trunk of a recently deceased Lawson cypress tree, at our developing Arboretum Center.
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GIVING TREES A SECOND LIFE – WOOD RECLAMATION AT CYPRESS LAWN ARBORETUM
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Loss is a hard truth in this life, for us and the wooden ones. Cypress Lawn was founded as a grief landscape, a safe place that is here – for you, for anyone – to come and process challenging emotions, grow towards healing, and celebrate the lives gone by.
At the Arboretum, the hardship of death is also becoming a meaningful opportunity for us to foster a special kinship between people and trees. Giving trees a second life, through our newly founded program of wood reclamation, is a way of honoring our past while inviting a future that we may all share together.
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DANCING ON THE BRINK OF THE WORLD – VOLUME XI – COAST
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Trees, for me, and cypresses in particular, are a wellspring of creative inspiration. As a source of wellness, for mental and emotional sustenance, I will often just sit and be, for a moment beneath a Monterey cypress, looking out to the ocean.
On the coast, where I live in Pacifica, California, Hesperocyparis macrocarpa frames the landscape, defining a place worth knowing. Reflecting on life’s challenges and adventures, in the shade of a giant, is a way I know to get grounded, discover the calmness that may be, and to channel my personal muses into a bit of writing, perhaps a painting, or even a poem.
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| 650-550-8808 · cypresslawn.com1370 El Camino Real, Colma, CA 94014
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