Pampering Plants

Bryce Alderton

HE IS

Passionate about plants.

A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING

Chris Lanier likes planting and getting his hands dirty. He pulls,

prunes and pampers trees dotting Surf City’s landscape as an equipment

operator for the city’s Park, Tree and Landscape Division.

Lanier, 45, spends most of his 9 1/2-hour days lifting, pruning,

planting and removing anything from pines and oaks to sycamores and

oleanders.

On this day he sat wearing his yellow hard hat and safety goggles in

the tractor, ready to remove a 20-foot oleander tree from a plot of dirt

alongside Atlanta Avenue. The diseased tree had become infested with an

insect called a leaf hopper.

The arm of the tractor reached out and grabbed the tree, pulling it

down toward the street in a matter of seconds, as if it was a twig.

But Lanier said he has to use caution when he’s uprooting a tree.

“You have to be careful safety wise with people and cars,” he said.

That’s all -- until the next tree comes along.

After the knockdown of the oleander, Lanier and 10-year partner Jack

Orris planned to plant coral trees near the corner of Goldenwest Street

and Summit Drive.

“We travel efficiently, get done quick and get out,” Lanier said. “I

work with the best equipment, great guys, outside, and today is different

than the next day. We know what each other is going to do.”

Among the numerous machines Lanier operates, is a root cutter, which

has a 36-inch wheel that can cut through rocks and wood. He also handles

a stump grinder, which has a blade that shifts side-to-side to grind a

tree stump down to two feet below the ground if needed.

A LIFELONG LOVE

Lanier’s father, Robert, introduced him to gardening in the yard of

their Huntington Beach home, which Lanier calls, “an organized jungle.”

“My dad was really into planting an organized jungle,” he said. “My

yard is similar to that. I love being outdoors and working in the dirt

and working with equipment.”

Now Lanier lives with wife Melanie and their three dogs in Huntington

Beach. But his yard is a bit toned-down from that of his father.

“We have a big California pepper tree out back, but it doesn’t fit

into the jungle motif,” Lanier said. “I like to work outside. I’ve always

been around plants and what better way than to go into the plant

department to plant and take care of trees. I really like palms.”

TESTING FOR TREES

All 11 members in the city’s tree maintenance department are certified

arborists who must pass a 250-question test on identifying plants.

Arborist’s identify what a tree’s needs are and if it has to be

removed, Lanier said.

Lanier passed the test five years ago and now teaches volunteers how

to prune and plant trees.