Ficus

Pleased to find a parking spot in the shade, Ira Jaffe climbed over the jagged curb and stepped smack into the middle of the Brentwood tree controversy. He appreciates ficus trees and their year-round leafy lushness, Jaffe acknowledged. But he has learned the hard way about the power of ficus tree roots. "See that dent?

The first casualties in West Hollywood's Master Plan to revitalize and redesign its 2.7-mile segment of Santa Monica Boulevard are the street's ficus trees. Next month, when construction begins, all but 14 of the 122 ficus that have lined the boulevard for 20 years, before West Hollywood became the city of West Hollywood, will be summarily uprooted. Some may be relocated, assuming a corporate entity ponies up the hefty 10 to 12 grand necessary to transplant each 25-foot mature tree.

My husband and I enjoyed Robert Smaus' article of April 29 regarding the invasive ficus plants ("Beware: Ficus Failings Are Hard to Root Out"). We only wish we had this knowledge about a year and a half ago. It would have saved a lot of work and trouble. We had a Ficus benjamina tree growing in a pot for about six years. As it grew, we repotted it several times into larger containers. We moved into a new home three years ago, and a year and a half ago we decided that the ficus would look lovely at the end of the yard near our patio and walk-way.

Ficus, in my mind, are what one fellow gardener used to call "garden thugs." I should quickly point out that I have several specific ficus in mind: Ficus microcarpa (also sold as F. retusa) and the closely related F. m. nitida and F. benjamina. These are by far the most commonly planted of the 800 or so ficus. These ficus can be handsome container plants, indoors and out, but let them loose in the garden or on sidewalk medians, and be prepared to defend yourself. Not everyone agrees with me.

It was buzz, whoosh and crunch Thursday morning as workers turned the last of a row of sidewalk-cracking ficus trees on San Fernando Road into neat stacks of branches and firewood. Rows of shiny cars, vans and sport utility vehicles stood mute witness on the Rydell Automotive Group car lot between Chatsworth Drive and Wolfskill Street, where the trees met their fate. Not a protester was in sight.

On Monday Manuel Montanez stood up for a tree, actually 18 trees. Driving to work, he noticed a tall ficus being chopped down by San Fernando city-contracted workers. When he learned that, as part of a city beautification project, 18 mature ficus trees lining San Fernando Road were being cut down to be replaced with 66 tulipifera saplings, he immediately took action.

Shade tree lovers are trying to ax a growing campaign by Hollywood civic leaders to get rid of hundreds of ficus trees they claim are uprooting the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The showdown has been budding for more than five years, since 31 curbside ficus trees were chopped down by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority as part of the Hollywood Boulevard subway project.

When East Coast natives Beth Colt and P.K. Simonds moved to L.A. for jobs in Hollywood, they wanted to live like Californians. So five years ago, once they found the requisite Spanish house in the Hollywood Hills, they went to work almost instantly on its landscape. They yanked clotted vines from a picturesque jacaranda tree, planted a ficus hedge for privacy and installed a fence to keep their dog from chasing his ball into the street.

QUESTION: I have a ligustrum hedge. Lately, it is growing leaves that are green but curling. Some turn yellow and have spots as well. I have tried spraying to no effect. Could you give me some advice? --G.I., Pacific Palisades ANSWER: Usually, curling leaves indicate some kind of sucking insect, like aphids or thrips, which is surprising because privet, or Ligustrum japonicum, is one of the more bullet-proof plants. The dwarf Texas privet, L.