The Short Life Of Some Street Trees
Last week workers replaced the dead street tree in front of my building, it was planted in 2008. Other trees in front of the building are older, but this spot is where dogs go as soon as their owners take them outside. I’m not sure if that’s the cause of the short lifespan of the last tree or one of numerous reasons it didn’t survive.
Hopefully this tree will last longer. I saw the workers digging out the old tree but I didn’t stick around to see how it had been planted or the conditions. I did snap a picture of a hole for a street tree around the corner just before the tree was planted.
Yes, the earth surrounding the hole is filled with bricks. How do we expect trees to survive when the root system has to compete with bricks and other debris?
– Steve Patterson
Normal ground has stones, is that any better?
Yes, but…it varies from species to species of trees. Some trees can seemingly grow anywhere, but other types are very sensitive. I barely even see any dirt there.
I certainly hope that isn’t the hole dug for a new tree! The rocks are one thing, but the hole is much too shallow to hold any kind of root ball. It should be dug deeper and wider than the root area and have good soil added to it before planting. If they must have a small width and it looks like they do, start with smaller trees. But they still need a deeper start point.
The biggest issue is the root zone area or space where the roots will grow – typically in an urban condition there are many layers of construction material (i.e., roadway pavements, sidewalk pavements, etc.) that are built up over the years and when the roots of the tree have no where to grow, the tree will remain a small, stunted tree or possibly die off. Also, the forestry department doesn’t exactly perform some of the steps that a landscape contractor would when carefully locating and planting a tree. Lastly, a correct tree species, one that is adapted to urban environments need to be selected for planting – you cant plant any tree and just expect it to survive.
Part would be Forestry’s fault: improper tree selection improper ground preparation, lack of follow up care, especially the first few months of growth. I would suggest some residents take ownership and make sure new trees get watered as needed (no, the City cannot water every tree every day…it is just impossible).
Secondly, put up a pet barrier to keep the dogs at least a foot away from the trunk.
then of course there are the road chemicals that are equally harmful to the tree. Maybe they should go plastic?
They need to install silva cells!
Don’t condo associations have rules and regs that govern the minimum distance from the door that residents allow their pets to routinely use for toileting? If I lived in one of those loft buildings, I wouldn’t want my neighbor’s dog urinating anywhere near my front door! Then, if 30 neighbors’ dogs also urinate there (and dogs tend to sniff out the same spot routinely), the front of the building will soon begin to smell like a restroom in Forest Park! Tree boxes are hostile growing environments at best. All the car exhaust, lack of watering, lack of fertilizer, combined with the dog piss, etc, etc etc don’t help the tree.