Caledonia Street Improvements

Planting of new Street Trees
In February of 2020, eight new trees were planted at the north end of the street, which Sausalito Beautiful has been advocating for several years.  In mid-2019, the City budgeted money for the tree installation , while Sausalito Beautiful had already set aside money  to pay for the trees themselves. All eight trees are Tristaniopsis lorena, or Water Gum Trees, which join 26 other Water Gums on the street. A big THANK YOU goes out to:

• Project Director Carolyn Revelle for championing this project
• Tom Wilhite for managing the installation
• Sausalito Beautiful President (and Landscape Architect) Bill Hynes for marking the preferred locations for the trees
• Sausalito Public Works Division Manager Loren Umbertis for partnering with us and marking the utilities
• GSI Landscaping for performing the actual installation

Several years ago, at the south end of the street, our partnership with the City of Sausalito resulted in the replacement several unhealthy cherry trees with Metrosideros on Caledonia and flowering plum trees on Johnson Street.

Did you know that Caledonia Street is lined with 55 trees of five different species?  34 water gums, 8 carob, 7 sycamore, 3 callery pear, and 3 metrosideros. We plan to plant even more trees on Caledonia in the coming years.

Expert Tree Care for existing mature Street Trees

In 2014, Sausalito Beautiful launched a project to assess and improve the health of all the street trees on Caledonia.  We requested that Sausalito City Council set aside money for the maintenance of the mature trees on Caledonia Street.  As a result, Bartlett Tree Experts pruned and fertilized the 128 trees  surrounding the Civic Center and 44 additional trees lining the street.

New Plantings on the south end of Caledonia Street

In 2015, Sausalito Beautiful commissioned the replanting of sidewalk planters located on the south end of Caledonia Street in front of Sausalito Optometry, along the front of the Fire Station and towards the back of the Police Station. These planters now contain drought tolerant, regionally appropriate plants that are well suited to our Mediterranean climate.

The plantings were professionally designed by Shades of Green in Sausalito and demonstrate how sustainable, resilient perennial gardens can be beautiful, colorful and attractive throughout the year.

Have you seen a plant that you like in one of the planters but didn’t know its name?  The list below will help.  In fact, you can print the list and take it with you on your next walk to Caledonia to learn important information about the plant: its botanical name, its common name, whether it’s deciduous or evergreen, the color of its bloom and its mature size.

Seeing the collection of plants in each uniquely shaped planter will help you to see the size and color of the bloom, the texture, shape and color of the leaves, and how the individual plants look when combined.  You may decide to introduce some of these plants into your own garden, and you will know what to ask for at the nursery.

Important to remember is that in our area where clay soil dominates, most plants prefer well-drained soil.   Amending the soil (with compost for example) before you purchase plants will greatly increase their ability to survive, bringing you joy for years.

Caledonia Planting Plan – Printable Version