People want to save first tree of Christmas Tree Lane. ‘It’s part of our history’
Greg and Dana Pratt admired new growth on a cedar tree in front of the home they own in Fresno’s Old Fig Garden neighborhood on Friday.
“Yes!” Dana said of a sprig of youthful, silvery needles. “It’s not dying. It’s still trying.”
The fate of this struggling tree isn’t just important to them. This is the deodar cedar that turned a stretch of Van Ness Boulevard into beloved Christmas Tree Lane with its decoration a century ago.
The tree is over 100 years old now, with many lopped limbs and a thin, scraggly canopy. The Pratts are trying to keep it alive.
William and Mae Winning first decorated the tree in 1920 in memory of their 14-year-old son, who died from a fall in a pump house on their property. Neighbors decorated trees in front of their homes in solidarity with the grieving parents.
“Her (Mae’s) neighbors took care of her, gathered around her, when she was grieving, and that’s what that tree and this house represents to me,” said Dana, who bought the home with her husband in 2016. “I think it’s so important for Fresno that it be restored and maintained and enjoyed. It’s part of our history.”
That neighborly concern was the spark that started Christmas Tree Lane – now a nearly two-mile stretch of Van Ness Boulevard between Shields and Shaw avenues where some 140 homes and 300 trees are decorated for the holidays each December.
The lane opens Tuesday with one of its two December walk nights, where the road is closed to vehicles and open only to pedestrians. A sign noting the first tree’s significance leans against its trunk each year.
“It’s not just, ‘Oh, let’s decorate our neighborhood.’ It has meaning,” Dana said. “A spirit-of-Christmas kind of thing – at least I think so.”
That spirit is in the couple’s motivation to save the first tree of Christmas Tree Lane and the house behind it. They’ve been making renovations a little at a time.
A lung cancer diagnosis earlier this year for Greg slowed their progress, but the couple has vowed to keep the work going. Greg recently finished chemotherapy treatments and said he caught the cancer early.
The couple hired certified arborist Steven Stubbe with Example Tree Service last year, and he trimmed some of the tree’s dead limbs. It spooked neighbors.
“My goal is to save it, not destroy it. … They literally thought I was cutting it down,” Greg said, “because at the time, I was removing trees along Pontiac (Avenue) and inside that are dead. The fear was that I was going to cut it completely down.”
Stubbe said 30% to 40% of the tree’s canopy was dead when he cut some dead branches last fall. He said it appeared the tree had been topped a long time ago – what he described as an improper practice that greatly reduced the tree’s energy, leaving a “big open wound that’s hard to heal” and future sprouts with weaker attachments.
There are plans to install a drip line to help water the tree after the holiday season. Greg also wants to plant more trees.
The Fig Garden Homeowners Association also has an arborist, and takes orders from residents who want to plant new trees that match the neighborhood’s historic plan.
Greg said the tree he’s been working to save, which sits close to the road, isn’t actually on his property.
The Pratts own other properties and spend much of their time in the Pismo Beach and Shaver Lake areas, but that could change. While they haven’t decided whether to keep or sell their Christmas Tree Lane property once its restoration is complete, they are falling more in love with the idea of making it home.
“The dogs love it here,” Greg said with a smile.
Either way, Dana wants Christmas Tree Lane visitors to know they’re determined to bring the property “back to what it was when Dr. and Mrs. Winning were so happy here.” Greg said he loves to see “everyone happy here.” They want Christmas Tree Lane’s first tree to continue to be part of the joy.
They hope the cedar will live at least until the lane’s centennial celebration. This is the 97th year – the street was dark for a few years after it was first lit in 1920.
Can the tree hold on that long?
“This one seems to be fighting for sure,” Stubbe said, “but only time is going to tell.”
How to enjoy Christmas Tree Lane
- Open: Dec. 3 to Dec. 25
- Location: Van Ness Boulevard between Shields and Shaw avenues
- Hours: 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday
- Cost: Free
- Walk-only nights: The street is closed to vehicles Dec. 3 and Dec. 11
