As a change of pace from our usual articles about tree care we decided to provide a little San Diego “tree-lore”. We hope you enjoy! Kathi Kirchmeier

It’s difficult to imagine the San Diego of yesteryear. We often forget that our natural climate is that of an arid desert and the native landscape would ordinarily consist of sage, cactus and other low growing scrub. Instead, we have beautiful vistas of pine, eucalyptus, cypress, palm and a vast array of other tree species. No where else in San Diego can you find such a diversity and wealth of trees than on Point Loma. It makes one wonder who we have to thank for this legacy of beauty. As we were researching the answer to this question we came across a history as diverse and interesting as the landscape we were investigating.

At one time it was believed that the peninsula now known as Point Loma was a deeply forested region. Whether this was true or not we may never know. The early residents of The Point were not blessed with an abundance of trees however, but rather a barren, weathered expanse of hardpan overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Reputed to be one of the oldest surfaces in California (of the Crustacean period), there were few who believed that anything would even grow there. Thank goodness for those few! It was from their vision that grew the Point Loma we know today. Perhaps the most instrumental of these visionaries was Katherine Tingley.

Katherine Tingley came to San Diego in the late 1800’s to establish the world headquarters and school for the Theosophical Society, a world-wide, non-denominational spiritual community still in existence today. Although not well received initially, Katherine Tingley and the Theosophical Society made a great impact on California agriculture and on the development of Point Loma. Her vision was to cultivate orchards and gardens that would provide an abundance of food for her community, and “fresh fruit every day of the year”. She was also determined to create a sort of ‘Eden’ where ornamental plants and trees would abound. She succeeded in all of these goals. With the same single-minded determination that she applied to everything she did, Katherine Tingley began planting. Groves of olive trees and eucalyptus appeared on the Point. She covered the grounds of the Homestead (as it was then called) with palms (many of which still line Catalina Blvd. today) acacia, and pepper trees. She brought in Torrey Pines and the more exotic Norfolk Island (Star) pine. In 1905, two former members of the U.S. Geological Survey took charge of the Point Loma forestry. Within five years the forestry department reported that more than 20,000 planted trees were established on the Society’s estate. By the third decade of the establishment of the Homestead, it was estimated that there were more than 50,000 trees thriving on this once barren acreage. The transformation was so impressive that the chief forester of the United States under Theodore Roosevelt made two excursions to Point Loma to view the progress.

Equally as impressive were the great achievements made agriculturally. Fellow Theosophist and horticulturist Orange I. Clark was put in charge of these projects and many of his experiments attracted the attention of the entire California agricultural community. One of his greatest achievements was his experimentation with new varieties of avocados. He was actually one of the early pioneers of avocado growing in California, starting in 1915 with only four trees. Within ten years, this humble grove had grown to almost three acres and 250 trees. More remarkable was the fact that he had nearly thirty varieties growing in this grove. Experiments were conducted on pollination, irrigation, fertilization and introduction of new species. By 1923, the Point Loma avocado groves were attracting the attention of horticulturists from U.C. Riverside, U.C. Berkeley, and were written up in the California Avocado Association’s annual reports. There were frequent visits by the United States Department of Agriculture and an article in the San Diego Union written by an expert horticulturist stated that avocado growers had “good reason to be everlastingly grateful to the orchardists of the Point Loma Theosophical Society”.

Not content with the success of their avocado experiments, Clark and his associates began researching more exotic fruit trees that could be adapted to our climate. They introduced a variety of peach from south China, Japanese plums, the Japanese Fuyu persimmon, the feijoa (similar to the loquat), the Pastelliere fig, the South American cherimoya, and numerous other species. Their success with these exotic species brought awards and recognition from all over the county. In fact, there were requests for information on their studies from as far off as Pakistan!

It took over two decades, but Katherine Tingley’s vision of Point Loma became a reality, Her goal of fresh fruit everyday was met, with up to eleven varieties being harvested on any given day. Their most productive year, 1927, yielded a grand total of 123,158 pounds of fruit. There were more than 1,000 varieties of ornamental plants, and a tree count exceeding 50,000. Not bad for an area that started with only cactus, chaparral and sage.