Tree toppled in Santa Rosa

Crews on Tuesday began cutting down a large cedar tree adjacent to the Luther Burbank Home & Gardens in Santa Rosa. The tree, which was not planted by the famed horticulturist, was in danger of toppling because of a bark beetle infestation, according to Rachel Spaeth, a garden consultant at Luther Burbank.

Spaeth said in addition to providing shade, the tree’s needles helped promote acid in the soil where two varieties of the garden’s blackberries grow. She predicted the ripened berries will taste sweeter with the additional sunlight streaming on the vines.