The Climbing Tree at Piedmont Park - Photo by Brian Mahany

Piedmont Connect Nominations Receive Consecutive Heritage Tree Designations in 2021, 2022 and 2023

In 2023, Piedmont Connect nominations received a 3rd consecutive Heritage Tree Designation from Piedmont Parks Commission for the California Coast Live Oak at the Tot Lot in Piedmont Park.

Piedmont Connect 2022 nominations received a 2nd consecutive Heritage Tree Designation, a Deodar Cedar in the traffic island at Alta and Scenic received the coveted designation.

The beautiful, native California Bay Laurel tree, a prominent feature of Moraga Canyon’s Blair Park, was awarded Heritage Tree status by Piedmont Park Commission’s Heritage Tree Sub-Committee in 2021. The California Coast Live Oak, the magnificent tree species for which much of our Inner East Bay region is named, was nominated in both 2021 and 2022.

Piedmont Connect Submits a Record Eight Heritage Tree Nominations

Piedmont Connect put Piedmont’s recently-established Heritage Tree program on the proverbial map in 2021 by more than doubling the number of annual nominations this year. Launched in 2018, the fledgling Heritage Tree program gained broader community interest and momentum in 2021 when Piedmont Connect submitted a record 8 nominations for Heritage Tree designations.

Connect gathered tree species ideas from residents and neighborhood groups in many underrepresented sections of Piedmont. Connect’s Healthy Landscapes Committee gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the Piedmont Historical Society who substantively strengthened our nominations with historically-verifiable research. Please contact us with future nomination ideas!

A Deodar Cedar, Cedrus deodara, was runner-up for a Heritage Tree award, one of the few not located in a park or with a municipal facility.

Deodar Cedar in Alta Circle, Cedrus deodara, received a 2022 Heritage Tree award, one of the few Piedmont Heritage Trees not located in a park or beside a municipal facility.

This cedar’s name, Deodar, derives from Sanskrit that translates to "timber of the gods." According to arborday.org, tree expert Michael Dirr referred to the Deodar cedar as “the most graceful cedar.” It is native to the Himalayas and was introduced to the U.S. in 1831.

The grand, statuesque California Bay Laurel (Umbellularia californica) in Blair Park is one of five 2021 Heritage Trees. Photo credit by Brian Mahany

This arresting California Coast Live Oak gracefully provides shelter and shade at the Tot Lot in Piedmont Park.