About this time of year, when the weather forgets periodically that it’s supposed to be cold and premature daffodil blooms brave the elements, I start to wonder if people remember it’s in winter when trees are supposed to be planted. Unfortunately humans tend to not get in a planting mood until spring, which is also when trees are waking up to the glories of warm weather.
When its juices are more actively moving in the spring, a tree is very busy preparing for its buds and leaves and really has not got time or energy to also have to deal with establishing a root system. Especially for transplanted trees, taking root is best done during the winter, when they are dormant and patiently waiting to show off .
Dormancy does not mean that nothing is happening, of course. Trees, when establishing themselves to their new home locations, are trying to toughen up their trunks so they can stand upright and with that good posture reach the sun they require. The fine-haired extensions on the ends of larger roots are always seeking water, that life source that has been severely lacking around here this past year. Already being well-rooted in a location enables a tree to get down to the business of serious growing, when conditions are right.
A personal note here about staking (or not) newly planted trees: If they are young and short enough,staking isn’t necessary and actually weakens trees.
However, if they are top heavy and lean or fl op around because they aren’t firmly rooted yet, limiting how far they bend will help keep their roots stable. To provide a tree an enclosure, securely bury three or four small posts upright around the spindly thing and connect the posts - NOT the tree - with rope or old garden hose pieces threaded on a wire near the top of the posts. Old nylon hosiery works great because it’s soft, durable, and easy to weave around the posts. (But, please spare us all by cutting off the panty tops first!) Surrounding the untouched tree should be a space wide enough to allow it to sway back and forth in the wind, but not so much that it will become uprooted.
Trees need exercise just like humans do, and by moving within this supported perimeter their wood is strengthened in response to their movement. Do not leave a tree trapped by any type of staking method more than a year. Also, remember to not let mulch touch the bark on a tree trunk because it promotes moisture rot and bug access.
Fayetteville has recently had its Urban Tree Canopy Assessment completed thanks to a grant through the Arkansas Forestry Commission and the U.S.
Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Our city-wide canopy coverage is at 36 percent, although 40 percent is our recommended minimum.
Although from growth of existing trees and newly planted trees, we gained about 500 acres of forest in the last decade, we lost an estimated 1250 acres due mostly to new development, but also to storms and natural mortality.
The report noted that the city has some 51 percent plantable space (grass, open space and parking lots) that could well serve in increasing our urban tree canopy. You may wonder, why bother to plant more?
Urban trees are actually a major component in a town’s healthy infrastructure and should be treated as a vital utility. The canopy assessment’s short fact sheet (available at: urbanforestry.
accessfayetteville.org) lists “ecosystem services” as: “Reducing urban heat island effects and cooling energy costs; Improving air quality [valued at $3.5 million a year], water quality and groundwater recharge; Decreasing stormwater management and infrastructure costs [worth $64 million a year in avoided losses]; Improving property values, increasing tax revenue, recreation opportunities, and wildlife habitat.” Remind our mayor and city council members of those values, whenever you get a chance, and encourage them to put more resources into urban tree planting and maintenance.
We all saw the rapid change in Fayetteville’s treescape after the ice storm four years ago, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the drought of 2012 (and maybe also 2013?) killed even more of our trees than the ice. We need to plant, water, and tend new trees now, this winter, and care for them all year round. They’ll pay our spading back in cleaner air, water, energy, and beauty, which, if you think about it, is an amazing deal, since actually all of these things we get in return are priceless.
FRAN ALEXANDER IS A FAYETTEVILLE RESIDENT WITH A LONGSTANDING INTEREST IN THE ENVIRONMENT AND AN OPINION ON ALMOST ANYTHING ELSE.
Opinion, Pages 11 on 02/03/2013