For 19-years, Hayward had been designated a ‘Tree City’ by the Arbor Day Foundation until 2019. But what does that mean when many of the trees managed by the city are non-native and primarily benefit residents living in the hills? The City Council has discussed several updates to the Tree Preservation Ordinance, including the designation of Heritage Trees and an expanded definition of protected native trees to encompass private properties. They also discussed how they might persuade developers to preserve native trees and landscapes.
In 2023, Hayward contracted DUDEK to complete a city-wide tree canopy survey. The survey revealed that, “within the urban boundary of Hayward, the canopy coverage is currently estimated at 14.6% with the overall city-wide canopy coverage, which includes native oak woodlands on the upper hillside areas of Hayward, is estimated at 20.8%”. The report attributes lower canopy coverage in the Baylands to the environment stating, “no native trees would have naturally grown in these areas, resulting in far less canopy than other parts of Hayward”. But the report largely ignores Hayward’s history of often racist development practices in post-war housing – with the destruction of Russell City being a prime example.
But local native plant advocate, Josh Cheng-Rubietta, is part of a growing movement of people looking to take personal action on the restoration of urban landscapes. He feels the City Council is headed in the right direction but hopes environmental health and community well being are prioritized over the desires of developers.
“Considering the City's history of clearing native trees and vegetation for farming, neighborhoods, and acres of industrial facilities/parking lots, it is imperative that everybody realize the roles that keeping mature (ideally native) trees and planting significantly more young trees play in cooling our neighborhoods, mitigating air pollution, bolstering critical wildlife interactions, and absorbing more water in the rainy season.”
In 2021, Josh became a Hayward homeowner and like many new homeowners decided the front lawn needed some attention. As he started to sheet mulch the Bermuda grass in his yard using cardboard and wood chips a neighbor asked, “Are you going to plant natives?” Josh had always loved gardening but hadn’t really considered the many benefits of native plants – like reducing water usage. With research, time, and effort Josh converted his property into an oasis of native plants – with 70% specifically native to Hayward.
For the past two years, Josh has participated in the ‘Bringing Back the Native Garden Tour’ – a group of ecological gardeners with demonstration gardens. There are over 300 participating gardeners across the Bay Area but Josh is among six in Hayward to participate. He recently won the ‘Most Beautiful Yard Hayward’ contest sponsored by the Keep Hayward Clean & Green Task Force – proving that native landscapes are not only sustainable but beautiful.
The majority of Josh’s time is spent teaching piano, dance, and singing lessons to middle and high school students in Hayward and Santa Clara – but his spare time is spent educating the community on native plants through his home nursery Down By The Bay. Josh hopes to strengthen connections to the land through appointment-based tours and cultivating and selling native plants. He also reaches community members through his booth at the South Hayward Market. But Josh has a bigger dream: to open and operate a full-scale native plant nursery in Hayward.
Currently, Home Depot and Lowes are the only large-scale nurseries in Hayward – forcing many residents to leave the city. Josh is working to fill this gap by providing residents the education and resources to transform private properties and community gardens into native plantscapes. Increased access to native plant nurseries would not only benefit residents but help the city achieve sustainability and climate initiatives faster.
With a microgrant from the California Coalition For Clean Air and support from 100K Trees-Hayward, Josh is hosting a Clean Air Day event this Saturday, October 5 from 12p - 2p at Palma Ceia Park. Activities include the planting of several trees, free plants, a prize drawing, games, music, and snacks. But Josh is most excited to share how native trees and plants can make our neighborhoods beautiful and climate resilient.