Goleta Celebrated Arbor Week with Tree Plantings at Stow House and Lake Los Carneros

Mayor Perotte and the Goleta Valley Historical Society Help Improve Cultural Landscape and Native Ecosystem

The City of Goleta celebrated Arbor Week with the planting of seven trees at Rancho La Patera and Stow House near Lake Los Carneros on March 14, 2024.

Six olive trees were installed along the historic driveway leading up to the Stow House and a native coast live oak was planted to replace a large oak that died several years ago. Goleta Mayor Paula Perotte, Goleta Valley Historical Society Director of Operations Lisa Potter, and the City’s Parks and Open Space Division had the honor of planting the latest additions to Goleta’s diverse urban forest.

Arbor Week was kicked off at the Goleta City Council meeting on March 5 with an official proclamation presented to Public Tree Advisory Commissioner Ken Knight and Parks and Recreation Commission Chair Richard Jenkins. View the proclamation here: https://tinyurl.com/2dxa3f8a.

City of Goleta Parks and Open Space Manager George Thomson said “Arbor Week is a special time of year when we reflect on all the wonderful things trees do for our community. We took this opportunity to look at the unique collection of trees at the Stow House and ensure we’re replacing historic trees that were recently lost. The new olive trees and the native oak are important cultural and environmental parts of this landscape and we’re so pleased we can help improve this area for future generations.”

The Rancho La Patera and Stow House grounds include a unique collection of exotic and native trees that are open to the public during daytime hours. The gardens have been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places for Cultural Landscapes. Some highlights of the tree collection include the largest brush cherry (Syzygium australe) in California and the largest Spanish fir (Abies pinsapo) in the nation. To learn more about visiting this wonderful place, please see https://goletahistory.org/visit/.

There are more than 14,000 publicly owned trees along our streets and parks managed by the City’s Public Works team. We hope you can find some time to enjoy our beautiful trees which are not only good for the environment but are a source of joy and spiritual renewal.