July 1 (Bloomberg) -- The bill is coming due for Los Angeles, decades after ficus trees were planted to supply shade for a city bathed in sunshine almost year-round.

The thrusting roots of mature ficus are tearing up sidewalks, triggering complaints and lawsuits.

``Ficus trees are notorious supersizers,'' said Pieter Severynen, an arborist and landscape architect with North East Trees, a nonprofit environmental group in Los Angeles. ``Almost everything grows in Southern California. It becomes a curse when the cute little tree you planted turns into a monster.''

Los Angeles budgeted $8.4 million in May toward mending 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) of damaged sidewalks, said Victoria Villa-Agustin, an analyst at the Bureau of Street Services. It paid about $415,000 to settle 99 claims involving tree mishaps from July 2007 through April 2008, according to documents provided by Frank Mateljan of the City Attorney's office.

``The people that have contacted us usually suffer strains or sprains from falling over tree roots or uprooted sidewalks,'' said Steven Glickman, a personal injury lawyer for Glickman & Glickman in Beverly Hills. Other claims are for limbs from ficus and other trees falling on houses, cars or people.

Developers lined neighborhood walkways with trees as they built houses to accommodate the burgeoning population of Los Angeles and its suburbs in the 1950s and '60s. They favored the Ficus microcarpa, whose broccoli-shaped crown can grow to more than 40 feet (12 meters) in diameter. Ficus roots can stretch as far as 90 feet from the trunk, Severynen said.

``They have been way overplanted, and planted where there was no room for them,'' he said. ``They can be a nightmare.''

Fatal Blow

In Anaheim, efforts to rein in growth of a ficus proved fatal for Michael Gandy, a resident of the town 25 miles south of Los Angeles. Gandy, 49, was killed last year when a 50-foot- tall ficus fell on his parked car.

His family alleged that the town had pruned the tree's roots, making it unstable. Anaheim agreed in February to pay Gandy's relatives $700,000 in an out-of-court settlement, said David Nunley, the city's claims manager.

``The danger to pedestrians plus the cost to the infrastructure is immeasurable,'' said Helga McGinnis, 70, referring to the ficus trees on a main thoroughfare in nearby Whittier. ``Older people or people with disabilities definitely can't walk there.''

Fixing tree-damaged sidewalks was homeowners' headache until the city government took responsibility under a 1973 ordinance. Los Angeles is asking private property owners to share the cost under the 50/50 Voluntary Sidewalk Reconstruction and Repair Program, started three years ago.

Palms, Elms

The Ficus microcarpa, also known as Chinese banyan or laurel fig, is related to smaller ficus varieties that are potted for use indoors or on patios. It represents about 9 percent of trees along Los Angeles streets, while palms are the most common, said Ronald Lorenzen, the city's assistant chief forester. Chinese flame goldenrains, American sweet gums and Chinese elms also are prevalent.

The ficus, an evergreen native to Southeast Asia, does more than shield against the sun.

``Give a big ficus a chance and it will clean the air, even if it tears up the sidewalk in the process,'' Severynen said.

Every $1 spent on a tree returns about $1.91 in benefits, such as reducing energy use, removing carbon dioxide from the air and absorbing rainfall, Lorenzen said.

Drought-Tolerant Trees

Ficus isn't on the planting list as Los Angeles adds to its tree population under Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's Million Trees project, started two years ago. Participants are encouraged to choose native varieties that withstand drought better. They may include coastal live oak, valley oak, California sycamore, California walnut and California bay trees, Lorenzen said.

The city, neighborhoods, businesses, and individuals are planting and caring for a million new trees where they are needed most, such as schools and underserved communities.

``We are trying to learn from past mistakes,'' Lorenzen said. ``We are trying to give trees the optimum space and work with urban developers to make sure they are putting the right tree in the right place.''

In Santa Monica, 15 miles west, a grass-roots community group calling itself Treesavers is petitioning officials to preserve trees. The city is moving some mature ficus to help reduce problems and plans to replace others.

For 23 of the ficus, it found a permanent solution: Maintenance workers sawed them down.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nadja Brandt in Los Angeles at nbrandt@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 1, 2008 03:02 EDT