AROUND THE GARDEN

A plaintive comment the other day in the Eye really gave me pause:

“Will the future bring us 30-50 feet of tree clearance along power lines? Personally that would make me sad, but I fear this will be the public's angry response to this disaster.”

This commenter, whose name is Linda, posed an excellent question. Many of us read reports elsewhere that CL&P plans to re-evaluate their tree-pruning strategy.

So far, Tree Fanatic hasn’t received any requests from CL&P for advice, but here’s what I would say should they get around to making the call (I know their phone lines have been awfully busy of late):

"STOP BUTCHERING OUR TREES!”

I know that sounds simplistic. There is scientific backing for it, though.

The truth is, trees don’t respond well to hacking. If you turn a tree into an exaggerated question mark, a capitol letter “C”, or carve out a huge “V” from the center of the tree, that tree has been weakened terribly. If you take a tree such as the sugar maple next door to me and limb it up so the very first branch is 50 feet above grade and the tree looks like a feather duster, that tree’s center of gravity has shifted much higher than its root structure can support.

That tree is now horizontal, having fallen precisely parallel to the utility lines that it formerly “threatened.”

As you too may have done, I spent a lot of time this past week looking at trees, both the tragically wrecked and the miraculously spared.

Not every instance was clear-cut – an unfortunate turn of phrase, admittedly.

But what I saw convinced me that pruning trees, and pruning them properly, made a big difference. Planting trees in groves helped, too – here in the Eastern Deciduous Forest, which is how our landscape began, trees evolved to grow in clusters, even forests. A group of trees has a stronger root system than a single “focal point” tree.

But back to pruning. On a macro level, you might want to look at Camp Street, a short residential street that runs from Washington Street north to Westfield Street. A utility crew of contract tree workers had been there for over a week in mid-August, severely pruning trees that overhung the wires.

By Sunday evening, Camp Street was a scene of devastation. Several trees came completely out of the ground, while others snapped in half. A leafy canopy that shaded the roadway is gone, probably never to be replaced.

A huge red maple on my street was turned into one of the famous question mark shapes not long ago. This tree, its balance distorted by asymmetrical limb removal, fell on a neighbor’s dogwood, demolishing both trees.

Urban forestry, although not well-known to the general public, is a much-studied discipline. As with the science of nutrition, theories about urban forestry have changed over the decades. An exceptionally creative researcher at the University of Florida has experimented with the effects of high winds on trees that have been pruned in multiple ways and trees that have not been pruned at all.

When I met my first arborist, I was advised to thin the interior of my sugar maples so that wind could penetrate their canopies. Twenty years later, I have seen the results of Dr. Ed Gilman’s research at U. Fla., and understand that the “lion’s tailing” of the 1980s is bad practice. The most effective kind of pruning for survival in high winds is a thinning of the outer canopy, which still reduces the “wind sail” factor, but doesn’t leave the tree out of balance.

Sadly, many of the trees that blew over during Irene were trees with full, dense canopies. These appeared to be healthy trees, but the combination of high winds and saturated soil toppled them.

Next week: Much more on how to – and how not to – prune a tree.

Irene Leaves a Trail of Downed Trees on Long Lane

Some images below of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Irene at the Wadsworth-Kerste deBoer Arboretum along Long Lane. One neighbor said she'd counted 29 downed trees. The last four photos are from a property near the intersection of Pine and Wadsworth, about 500 meters east of the Arboretum. Some trees seem to have snapped midway up.

You Asked. We Answer.

There was a recent comment appended to Jennifer Alexander's piece on the Main Street tree removal -- the writer wondered what the Middletown Urban Forestry Commission does. In response to that question, I received this information about the Urban Forestry Commission provided by Jane Harris, an arborist and member of the Commission.

Middletown, like every city or town in CT, has a tree warden. That is according to State statute. In Middletown's case, the tree warden is the Director of Public Works, Bill Russo. Deputy tree warden is Rick Romano, who works for Bill. Middletown, by ordinance, also has a City Forester, and that person must be both a licensed arborist and a forester. These individuals work with the public when complaints arise about trees. All of them attend meetings with the Urban Forestry Commission.

Much of the planning of the current ordinance, and of the commission, was done by the late Stan Watson, who was an arborist and forester, and who accomplished so much for this city, including preservation of many trees at the Wadsworth/Kerste deBoer Arboretum on Long Lane.

In the nearly 11 years I have served on the Commission, it has been chaired by former Mayor Anthony S. Marino. Staff has been largely provided by James Sipperly, now a soil scientist with the city's Water and Sewer Department. Initially, I believe Urban Forestry fell under the purview of the Public Works Department. For the first several years in which I served on the Commission, it was under the Planning Office. Subsequently, we were moved, physically and structurally, to Water and Sewer.

In those 11 years, I have seen the UFC consult with Public Works on tree plantings throughout the city. We have assisted in obtaining compensation when trees have been illegally removed or injured in traffic accidents. We have successfully sought compensation in the form of new trees planted to make up for trees that had to be removed to permit safe access to new subdivisions.

The UFC has maintained Middletown's "Tree City USA" designation by the Arbor Day Foundation for twenty years. We work closely with the Urban Forestry staff of the CT Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to obtain grants and provide educational opportunities. Many new trees have been planted in Middletown, including street trees, park plantings, and restoration of the Arboretum and Long Hill Estate. Collaborations with the Rockfall Foundation, Wesleyan University and the Middletown Garden Club have resulted in several programs, including the management of the Arboretum, the planned street tree nursery, and the establishment of the new chestnut orchard (articles here and here and much progress since these were written - more to come on that).

Another function of the UFC is to manage the Notable Trees Program and the Middletown Tree Fund. Through these programs, individuals or organizations may pay for trees to be planted as memorials, or they can provide funding for ongoing maintenance of significant or historic trees in the City.

One important issue is the lack of funding for this commission. Currently, a small sum is provided yearly from the rental of City land to Millane Nurseries. The funding for tree pruning and removal is provided in the City budget, and is directly allocated to Public Works, which contracts with tree companies to maintain City trees. A small sum is also allocated for contracted work performed by City Forester Dana Whitney, such as consulting on the City's Emergency Tree Management Plan.

The Urban Forestry Commission meets in the conference room at Water and Sewer on Berlin Street at 4 pm on the third Thursday of each month. The public is always welcome. Individuals interested in serving on the Commission should contact James Sipperly at Water and Sewer.

And finally, for those of you who are really interested and at risk of taking up a lot of space, here are excerpts from the Middletown Tree Ordinance (Section 27-1), which deals with the tasks of the City Forester and the Urban Forestry Commission. Full copies of the ordinance can be obtained at City Hall.

Article 27-1 Middletown Tree Ordinance

(A) Purpose.

It is the purpose of this ordinance to promote the public health, safety, general welfare and environmental well being by providing for the regulation of the planting, maintenance and removal of trees and shrubs, and the management of City-owned forested areas within Middletown, Connecticut. A Program shall be established for:

(1) The planting, protection, maintenance, and removal of trees, shrubs and forested areas within the City.

(2) The reasonable protection of City employees, community residents and visitors from personal injury and property damage caused by inadequate, improper or unsafe maintenance or removal of trees, shrubs or forested areas located within the community.

(3) The adherence to current professional standards of practice by those planting or performing other maintenance work on trees, shrubs or forested areas owned by the City of Middletown.

(5) Duties. The Urban Forestry Commission shall advise and consult the Forester on any matter pertaining to the Middletown Tree Ordinance and its enforcement. The topics under which this advice and consultation may be given may include, but are not limited to, any of the following:

(a) amendments to the Middletown Tree Ordinance, and alterations or revisions to the “Arboricultural Specifications Manual,” and alterations or revisions of the “Urban Forest Management Plan;”

(b) policy concerning selection, planting, maintenance and removal of trees and shrubs, and management of forested areas within the City;

© allocation of funds and expenditures for the Urban Forestry Program;

(d) establishment of educational and informational programs;

(e) development of policies and procedures regarding the Forester’s duties; and

(f) issuance of permits required by this ordinance.

(iii) The Urban Forestry Commission, upon the request of any person who disagrees with the decision of the Forester, shall hear all issues of the disputes which arise between the City Forester and any such person whenever those issues involve matters of the interpretation or enforcement of the “Arboricultural Specifications Manual,” the “Urban Forest Management Plan” or of the interpretation or enforcement of this Ordinance, including disputes regarding the issuance of permits, or the concurrence of nonconcurrence of the Forester in permits required under other ordinances or laws, or the abatement of nuisances. The decision of a majority of the appointed members of the Urban Forestry Commission with regard to such dispute shall be binding upon the Forester. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to limit the jurisdiction of any Court of Law with respect to such disputes.

Chestnuts and Middletown

The Connecticut Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation [CT- TACF] is joining forces with the Middletown Urban Forestry Commission and the Middletown Garden Club to create a 1.5-acre American chestnut orchard on land near the city's Higby Reservoir.

North America east of the Mississippi used to be thick with chestnuts until an imported bark fungus decimated the species in the early twentieth century. It is estimated that before the blight, chestnuts accounted for up to 25% of the hardwood forest. [Image credit: CT- TACF]

For more information on this good news for chestnuts and Middletown, click here.

Jane Harris, who is a member of the three organizations involved in the project, notes that the orchard will be planted and tended by volunteers from the Middletown Garden Club, the Middletown High School Vocational-Agricultural program, the Boy Scouts of America, and the Alternative Incarceration Center of the Connection, Inc.

Last Friday Mayor Giuliano signed the documents authorizing the orchard.

Trees on Main Street part 3

And part 3.

Trees on Main Street part 2

As promised, part 2.

Trees on Main Street part 1

In 1981, before I was a part of Motion Inc, the film and video production company where I worked, they made a documentary for CPTV about urban forestry in Middletown. Here's Part 1. Part 2 will appear tomorrow, and part 3 on Monday. Happy summer viewing.