Gopher
ArboristSite Operative
What do we need to do to change the habits of nursery owners?
I ask this question (perhaps some of you are nursery people) because many of the issues we arborists deal with every day (especially concerning tree health) can be traced back to the "right tree for the right place" concept. It is my estimation after twenty our so years working on and studying trees that if someone walks into a nursery and wants apaper birch, that's what they will walk out with.
I am not implying that trying non-native species can't work, but to the degree that is still practiced I question.
This ties in with Nickrosis's post asking about how many of us think about the soil when we go to look at trees. If a nursery is going to sell someone a B&B tree that will reach a mature height of greater than, say twenty feet or so, then I think there should be a required soil sample showing that this tree has a least a fair chance to reach maturity. If the silvics of a species says the tree should be around for 75 years, and the soil is such that there is little chance of it making 30, then sorry, you'll have to choose something else.
I bring up the size because we can do an awfull lot with shrubs and smaller plants due to the fact that the root/soil volume is much easier to manipulate.
I realize I may be standing way up on my preaching pedestal, but isn't this where we ought to start? The soil and the new trees being planted always at a much greater rate than the professional care that can be applied to them down the road.
How many trees can the average city lot really hold? Not as many as the number we sometimes find. On Friday last week, we looked at the cost involved in removing an 80' silver maple from in front of a house. There are two maples about eight to ten feet on each side (somewhat smaller), the trunk flare has grown over the sidewalk, and the tree limbs reach over three homes and two sets of their power lines running to the homes. All three trees are chlorotic, and are starting to decline. You've all seen similar situations.
These trees were all planted there. There is not even room for one, but at least if there was only one, it would be healthier, and it would cost the current homeowner a bit less to have it sheped up or possibly removed. See my point?
Look at Tree Care Industry this month. We can do some wonderful things in preserving trees with structural pruning given the chance. However, we need to plant fewer trees and take care of a greater percentage of the ones that are there.
Thanks for listening. It's 90+ degrees and humid, so I really didn't feel like climbing today, and the fertilizer was getting a bit sticky.
Gopher
I ask this question (perhaps some of you are nursery people) because many of the issues we arborists deal with every day (especially concerning tree health) can be traced back to the "right tree for the right place" concept. It is my estimation after twenty our so years working on and studying trees that if someone walks into a nursery and wants apaper birch, that's what they will walk out with.
I am not implying that trying non-native species can't work, but to the degree that is still practiced I question.
This ties in with Nickrosis's post asking about how many of us think about the soil when we go to look at trees. If a nursery is going to sell someone a B&B tree that will reach a mature height of greater than, say twenty feet or so, then I think there should be a required soil sample showing that this tree has a least a fair chance to reach maturity. If the silvics of a species says the tree should be around for 75 years, and the soil is such that there is little chance of it making 30, then sorry, you'll have to choose something else.
I bring up the size because we can do an awfull lot with shrubs and smaller plants due to the fact that the root/soil volume is much easier to manipulate.
I realize I may be standing way up on my preaching pedestal, but isn't this where we ought to start? The soil and the new trees being planted always at a much greater rate than the professional care that can be applied to them down the road.
How many trees can the average city lot really hold? Not as many as the number we sometimes find. On Friday last week, we looked at the cost involved in removing an 80' silver maple from in front of a house. There are two maples about eight to ten feet on each side (somewhat smaller), the trunk flare has grown over the sidewalk, and the tree limbs reach over three homes and two sets of their power lines running to the homes. All three trees are chlorotic, and are starting to decline. You've all seen similar situations.
These trees were all planted there. There is not even room for one, but at least if there was only one, it would be healthier, and it would cost the current homeowner a bit less to have it sheped up or possibly removed. See my point?
Look at Tree Care Industry this month. We can do some wonderful things in preserving trees with structural pruning given the chance. However, we need to plant fewer trees and take care of a greater percentage of the ones that are there.
Thanks for listening. It's 90+ degrees and humid, so I really didn't feel like climbing today, and the fertilizer was getting a bit sticky.
Gopher
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