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Tag: Trees

  • Got pruning remorse? How to fill in those bare spaces

    Got pruning remorse? How to fill in those bare spaces

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    After 20 years of growth, some of the ever-widening, 40-foot-tall Leyland cypress trees running along my backyard property line are blocking the walkway.

    A simple trim is not an option because only the outermost foot or two of each branch is needled, and more than that would have to be removed to allow unencumbered foot traffic. That would expose bare branches, which would be an eyesore, both figuratively and potentially literally, as the remaining sticklike appendages would pose an ocular hazard to passersby.

    So, the only remaining option is to completely remove the branches from the bottom 6 feet of each tree, revealing the trees’ trunks and the fence they were planted to hide.

    I accept responsibility for the debacle because it should have occurred to my younger, less-experienced self that the behemoth trees would create an obstacle after a couple of decades. Alas, it did not. So now I’m left to mutilate them and contemplate what to plant to hide their unsightly, naked trunks and the fence behind them.

    Fall’s a good time to plant an understory

    When the innermost needles of evergreen trees and shrubs drop, there’s usually no need to panic. It’s a normal part of aging due to insufficient sunlight and diminished nutrient circulation. However, care should be taken never to prune into that bare area, as the baldness is permanent, and those bare branches will never sprout new growth.

    In addition, pruning should always aim to retain a pyramidical shape, wider at the bottom than at the top, to ensure all plant parts receive sunlight for continued growth and vigor.

    If you are currently experiencing pruning remorse or are reluctantly tasked with an amputation, as I am, the only way to hide the resulting atrocity would be to add an understory layer of plants. Fortunately, early fall is the ideal time to plant many of them.

    Choose species that will thrive in the dappled shade cast by the evergreens towering above them, and confirm they will thrive in your horticultural zone, and with your garden’s soil pH and moisture levels.

    What plants to choose

    Filling the gap can be as simple as placing large containers of vining annuals (or tender perennials) on the soil under and between the trees.

    Climbing nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus), purple bell vine (Rhodochiton atrosanguineus) and black-eyed Susan vine (Thunbergia alata; avoid in Southern states, where it is considered invasive) will quickly fill the void and grow up the tree’s trunk, providing lush, almost instant, gratification for one growing season. The temporary nature of annuals will allow you to easily and economically swap them out for others in subsequent years as your whim dictates.

    I’m considering something more permanent, however. And although many exotic shrubs, such as Rhododendron and Japanese plum yew, would serve the purpose, I’m focusing my search on native plants, which will require less water, fertilizer and attention, and provide food and habitat for birds, essential pollinators and other beneficial insects.

    Maybe a trio of showy pink muhly grasses (Muhlenbergia capillaris), native from Massachusetts to Florida and west to Kansas through Texas and into Mexico. Or, perhaps the North American native smooth or oakleaf hydrangea.

    Then there’s ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius), an eye-catching shrub native to Eastern and Central North America that boasts pink or white flowers in early summer and colorful foliage from spring through fall.

    Western gardeners seeking a native option can rely on the beloved manzanita ‘Panchito’ (Arctostaphylos x coloradoensis) to fill smaller areas.

    There may even be a silver lining: Understory plants could be just what my boring tree line needs.

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    Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

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    For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.

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  • Cuyahoga County to Plant 1,200 Trees in Canopy Restoration Effort, But Residents’ Role in Solution Looms

    Cuyahoga County to Plant 1,200 Trees in Canopy Restoration Effort, But Residents’ Role in Solution Looms

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    click to enlarge

    Mark Oprea

    Cuyahoga County’s tree canopy is about a third of what county advocates said it could be.

    Fifteen-hundred trees are to be planted and grown on public land in Cuyahoga County in the next few years, the result of $1.2 million in grant rollout, county representatives said this week.

    That money, which hails from the county’s annual investment into trees, will equate to some 200 trees planted in Parma; 128 in Olmsted Township; 130 in Bedford; 18 in Lakeview Cemetery; along with a dozen other projects intending to keep parts of our canopy we’ve let go over the decades. (Cleveland got its tree due in 2023.)

    And, according to data from the last county survey in 2019, there’s a lot of space to fill: the current tree coverage of Cuyahoga County—some 96,000 acres—is roughly a third of the land area that’s viable for greenery.

    With the Urban Forestry Commission set to mesh its goals with Cleveland’s new Division of Forestry, optimists might see this influx of millions of dollars dedicated to sprouting new elms or sumacs across the city as a fine beacon of good things to come. Meaning the possible restoration of our depleted canopy by 2040.

    Yet, city and county specialists share similar anxieties about an aspect of grant dollars not easily influenced: the plots of private land that lie where the sidewalk ends.

    In other parlance: the pesky, vague sphere of the tree lawn.

    “It’s been my personal experience that residents have a wide variety of attitudes towards trees that shed leaves on their property,” Jenita McGowan, the county’s chief of climate and sustainability, told Scene.

    “If the residents wanted it, they thought there’d be an overwhelming want and need,” her colleague, Mary Cierebiej, the county’s director of Administrative, Planning, Information and Research, added.

    In past years, “people were not interested because again, the maintenance of leaves and trees falling or limbs or other bad things—maybe they’ve taken trees down in the past? Yeah, I mean, there’s a wild difference of opinions.”

    click to enlarge What $1.2 million in tree money gets you. - Cuyahoga County

    Cuyahoga County

    What $1.2 million in tree money gets you.

    Besides the historic neglect the city had in the late 20th century for its grated trees, as the 2021 Tree Plan showed, the deeper problem of restoring the canopy to a level Clevelanders can be proud of deals with a tough navigation between private and public property.

    The city cannot and does not plant on private land. Tree-planting incentive programs have existed for the better part of the past decade, which often offer planting and maintainance gratis—yet these are the best bets for City Hall to convince neighbors that the benefits outweigh having to rake a little more.

    There are innumerable benefits, after all: Higher tree canopies help lower rates of heart disease and asthma, help combat high summer temps on street level, help raise land values when planted strategically.

    And strategy, at least in the Tree Plan guidebook, means planting saplings with an equity planner’s lens: on streets and tree lawns in Lee-Miles, in Jefferson and Clark-Fulton, where tree canopy coverage is a third of what it is in leafier neighborhoods.

    “I think that the geospatial data bears out that we cannot street tree our way into a restored tree canopy,” McGowan said.

    “And it shades an area of our communities that are important when you’re walking around,” she added. “But if we planted a tree in every tree lawn in the county, I still don’t think we solve our tree canopy issue.”

    A solution, both McGowan and Cierebiej, admitted that could also stem from more accurate data. The last full-on tree count of Cuyahoga’s stock—which was by satellite image—is five years old.

    “I think Mary and I are in agreement in order to continue this program, it’s probably time to assess it,” McGowan said, “so we can make sure that we’re targeted in how we use public funding for trees.”

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    Mark Oprea

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  • Chicken of the Woods: An Edible Mushroom that’s Easy to Identify and Forage

    Chicken of the Woods: An Edible Mushroom that’s Easy to Identify and Forage

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    The first time I saw a chicken of the woods, the massive mushroom was frilling the base of a dying oak tree. It was a hot summer day in Cape Town. I had never seen one and was nervous about diving in. I emailed pictures to a foraging friend in the United States. She called her friend Sam Thayer, the wild foods author. Identity confirmed. Back we went and collected some orange-and-white fans. That night, as my husband, my father, and I feasted, my mother abstained, with a look on her face that said plainly: Somebody has to drive you to hospital.

    Chicken of the woods is a hugely rewarding mushroom to find and eat. Here’s how to identify this easy mushroom for beginners and what to make with it once you have carried your treasure home.

    Photography by Marie Viljoen.

    Above: Almost four feet tall, the very mature chicken of the woods that started it all, in Cape Town, in 2011.

    Thirteen years and many “chickens” later, the anxiety I felt then seems silly. What else could it have been? Chicken of the woods has no toxic lookalikes. This electric-hued mushroom is unmistakeable. But a self-preserving seam of fear runs through all of us when faced with a possible (last?) supper of wild mushrooms.

    Above: A September 2021 chicken of the woods on Long Island’s North Shore.

    Chickens are ubiquitous across North America and other temperate parts of the world. Saprobic and parasitic tree pathogens, they fruit from mycelium in dying or dead hardwoods. They are polypores, with tiny, sponge-like pores beneath their caps, not gills.

    The Laetiporus genus to which chickens belong is still being parsed at a genetic level by researchers, which has resulted in name changes, reclassifications, and the differentiation of subspecies. Collectively, they are edible.

    Above: A young (and tender) June chicken near Chamonix, in 2019.

    Laetiporus sulphureus has vivid yellow pores underneath its cap, so it is commonly known as sulfur shelf (although I think of it as yellow chicken). The mushroom’s fan-like layers grow on upright or fallen tree trunks or large branches, but not on the ground. They cause heart rot in a tree.

    Above: Laetiporous cincinnatus, with cream-to-white pores, in August 2018, in Brooklyn.

    L. cincinnatus (white chicken) has white pores, and causes butt or root rot on oaks. Unlike its shelving yellow cousin, it can seem to grow on the ground away from a tree, but is actually fruiting from the roots.

    Above: Chicken of the woods has pores beneath its caps, not gills.

    While they are often associated with late summer and early fall, chickens also fruit in late spring and early summer, in a warm spell after rain.

    Above: Very young chickens on an oak in Maine, in May 2024. This is an ideally tender stage for collection.

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  • Pongamia trees grow where citrus once flourished, offering renewable energy and plant-based protein

    Pongamia trees grow where citrus once flourished, offering renewable energy and plant-based protein

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    An ancient tree from India is now thriving in groves where citrus trees once flourished in Florida, and could help provide the nation with renewable energy.

    As large parts of the Sunshine State’s once-famous citrus industry have all but dried up over the past two decades due to two fatal diseases, greening and citrus canker, some farmers are turning to the pongamia tree, a climate-resilient tree with the potential to produce plant-based proteins and a sustainable biofuel.

    For years, pongamia has been used for shade trees, producing legumes — little brown beans — that are so bitter wild hogs won’t even eat them.

    But unlike the orange and grapefruit trees that long occupied these rural Florida groves northwest of West Palm Beach, pongamia trees don’t need much attention.

    Pongamia trees also don’t need fertilizer or pesticides. They flourish in drought or rainy conditions. And they don’t require teams of workers to pick the beans. A machine simply shakes the tiny beans from the branches when they’re ready to harvest.

    Terviva, a San Francisco-based company founded in 2010 by Naveen Sikka, then uses its patented process to remove the biopesticides that cause the bitter taste, making the beans suitable for food production.

    “Florida offers a rare opportunity for both Terviva and former citrus farmers. The historical decline of the citrus industry has left farmers without a crop that can grow profitably on hundreds of thousands of acres, and there needs to be a very scalable replacement, very soon,” Sikka told The Associated Press. “Pongamia is the perfect fit.”

    The pongamia is a wild tree native to India, Southeast Asia and Australia.

    The legume is now being used to produce several products, including Panova table oil, Kona protein bars and protein flour.

    The legumes also produce oil that can be used as a biofuel, largely for aviation, which leaves a very low carbon footprint, said Ron Edwards, chairman of Terviva’s board of directors and a long-time Florida citrus grower.

    Turning a wild tree into a domestic one hasn’t been easy, Edwards said.

    “There are no books to read on it, either, because no one else has ever done it,” he said.

    Bees and other pollinators feast on the pongamia’s flowers, supporting local biodiversity, Edwards said. An acre of the trees can potentially provide the same amount of oil as four acres of soy beans, he added.

    What’s left after the oil is removed from the pongamia bean is “a very high-grade protein that can be used as a substitute in baking and smoothies and all kinds of other plant-based protein products,” Edwards said. “There’s a lot of potential for the food industry and the oil and petroleum industry.”

    “We know pongamia grows well in Florida, and the end markets for the oil and protein that come from the pongamia beans — biofuel, feed, and food ingredients — are enormous,” Sikka said. “So farmers can now reduce their costs and more closely align to the leading edge of sustainable farming practices.”

    At a nursery near Fort Pierce, workers skilled in pongamia grafting techniques affix a portion of the mother tree to a pongamia rootstock, which ensures the genetics and desired characteristics of the mother tree are perpetuated in all of Terviva’s trees.

    Citrus had been Florida’s premier crop for years until disease caught up with it starting in the 1990s with citrus canker and later greening.

    Citrus canker, a bacterial disease, is not harmful to humans, but causes lesions on the fruit, stems and leaves. Eventually, it makes the trees unproductive.

    Citrus greening, also known as Huanglongbing, slowly kills trees and degrades the fruit, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Greening has spread throughout Florida since 2005, devastating countless groves and reducing citrus production by 75%. The disease has spread to Louisiana, Texas and California.

    Hurricane Ian caused about $1.8 billion in damages to Florida’s agriculture in September 2023, hitting the citrus industry at the beginning of its growing season.

    Disease and climate issues have also affected most of the world’s top citrus-producing countries. For example, this year’s harvest in Brazil — the world’s largest exporter of orange juice — is forecast to be the worst in 36 years due to flooding and drought, according to a forecast by Fundecitrus, a citrus growers’ organization in Sao Paulo state.

    But climate and disease have little effect on pongamia trees, the company’s officials said.

    “It’s just tough, a jungle-tested tree” Edwards said. “It stands up to a lot of abuse with very little caretaking.”

    Pongamia also grows well in Hawaii, where it now thrives on land previously used for sugarcane.

    John Olson, who owns Circle O Ranch, west of Fort Pierce, has replaced his grapefruit groves with 215 acres (87.01 hectares) of pongamia trees.

    “We went through all the ups and downs of citrus and eventually because of greening, abandoned citrus production,” Olson said. “For the most part the citrus industry has died in Florida.”

    While the grapefruit grove was modest, it was common for a grove that size to be profitable in the 1980s and 1990s, Olson said.

    Edwards said farmers used various sprays to kill the insect that was spreading the disease. Eventually, the cost of taking care of citrus trees became too risky.

    That’s when he decided to go a different route.

    “What attracted me to pongamia was the fact that one it can repurpose fallow land that was citrus and is now lying dormant,” he said. “From an ecological point of view, it’s very attractive because it can replace some of the oils and vegetable proteins that are now being generated by things like palm oil, which is environmentally a much more damaging crop.”

    In December 2023, Terviva signed an agreement with Mitsubishi Corporation to provide biofuel feedstock that can be converted into biodiesel or renewable diesel.

    “Our partnership with Mitsubishi is off to a great start,” Sikka said, noting that the company coordinates closely with Mitsubishi on tree plantings and product development and sales. “Terviva’s progress has accelerated thanks to Mitsubishi’s expertise and leadership around the globe on all facets of Terviva’s business.”

    The research is ongoing, but Edwards said they’ve made really good graham crackers in addition to the table oil and other plant-based protein products, including flour and protein bars.

    Pongamia offers an alternative to soybean and yellow pea protein “if you don’t want your protein to come from meat,” he said.

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  • No lie: Perfectly preserved centuries-old cherries unearthed at George Washington’s Mount Vernon

    No lie: Perfectly preserved centuries-old cherries unearthed at George Washington’s Mount Vernon

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    MOUNT VERNON, Va. — George Washington never did cut down the cherry tree, despite the famous story to the contrary, but he did pack away quite a few bottles of the fruit at his Mount Vernon home.

    Dozens of bottles of cherries and berries — impossibly preserved in storage pits uncovered from the cellar of his mansion on the banks of the Potomac River — were discovered during an archaeological dig connected to a restoration project.

    Jason Boroughs, Mount Vernon’s principal archaeologist, said the discovery of so much perfectly preserved food from more than 250 years ago is essentially unprecedented.

    “Finding what is essentially fresh fruit, 250 years later, is pretty spectacular,” Boroughs said in an interview. “All the stars sort of have to align in the right manner for that to happen.”

    Whole pieces of fruit, recognizable as cherries, were found in some of the bottles. Other bottles held what appear to be gooseberries or currants, though testing is underway to confirm that.

    Mount Vernon is partnering with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is conducting DNA testing on the fruit. They are also examining more than 50 cherry pits recovered from the bottles to see if any of them can be planted.

    “It’s kind of a longshot,” said Benjamin Gutierrez, a USDA plant geneticist, of the chances of using a cherry pit to grow a tree. Seeds preserve best when they are dry, and most of the samples found at Mount Vernon were waterlogged. A couple of pits tested initially were not viable as seeds.

    Still, he said the bottles are a remarkable find. In addition to DNA testing, he said chemical testing may be able to show if particular spices were used to preserve the fruits.

    Records at Mount Vernon show that George and Martha Washington were fond of cherries, at least when mixed with brandy. Martha Washington’s recipe for a “cherry bounce” cocktail survives, and Washington wrote that he took a canteen of cherry bounce with him on a trip across the Alleghenies in 1784.

    These cherries, though, were most likely bottled to be eaten simply as cherries, Boroughs said.

    The quality of the preservation reflect a high caliber of work. Slaves ran the plantation’s kitchen. The kitchen was overseen by an enslaved woman named Doll, who came to Mount Vernon in 1758 with Martha Washington, according to the estate.

    “The enslaved folks who were taking care of the trees, picking the fruit, working in the kitchen, those would have been the folks that probably would have overseen and done this process,” Boroughs said. “It’s a highly skilled process. Otherwise they just wouldn’t have survived this way.”

    The bottles were found only because Mount Vernon is doing a $40 million revitalization project of the mansion that they expect to be completed by the nation’s 250th birthday in 2026.

    “When we do archaeology, it’s destructive,” Boroughs said. “So unless we have a reason to disturb those resources, we tend not to.”

    “In this case, because of these needed structural repairs to the mansion, the ground was going to be disturbed. So we looked there first,” he continued. “We didn’t expect to find all this.”

    They know the bottles predate 1775 because that’s when an expansion of the mansion led to the area being covered over with a brick floor.

    Mount Vernon announced back in April, at the start of its archaeological work, that it had found two bottles. As the dig continued, the number increased to 35 in six distinct storage pits. Six of the bottles were broken, with the other 29 intact. Twelve held cherries, 16 held the other berries believed to be currants and gooseberries, and one larger bottle held both cherries and other berries.

    Boroughs believes they have now uncovered all the cherries and berries that survived.

    “There is a lot of information that we’re excited to get from these bottles,” he said.

    ___

    This story has been updated to correct that 29 bottles were found intact, not 19.

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  • Only the Hardiest Trees Can Survive Today’s Urban Inferno

    Only the Hardiest Trees Can Survive Today’s Urban Inferno

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    The rules for Toronto’s ravines are based on the idea that a species will develop traits specific to a location as they grow over many generations. As a result, trees grown from seeds gathered in Toronto may be more likely to blossom when native pollinators are active than seeds from the same species grown at a lower latitude.

    Foresters say there’s another valid argument for trying to keep as many native trees as possible. For some First Nations and Indigenous people with deep ties to particular varieties, phasing them out could add to the long history of cultural and physical dispossession.

    In the Pacific Northwest, for example, the Western redcedar (written as one word because it’s not a true cedar) is central to Native American cultural practices for many local tribes. Some groups refer to themselves as the “people of the cedar tree,” using the logs for canoes, basketry, and medicine.

    But drying soils mean the tree is no longer thriving in many parts of Portland, Oregon, said Jenn Cairo, the city’s urban forestry manager. The city has faced deadly heat domes and drier conditions in recent years. As a result, Portland recommends planting the species only in optimal conditions in its list of approved street trees. “We’re not eliminating them,” she said, “but we’re being careful about where we’re planting them.”

    A similar tactic is being used in Sydney, where the Port Jackson fig tree is struggling, but a close relative, the Moreton Bay fig, is thriving. Head of urban forestry Karen Sweeney said the city is looking at irrigated parklands as potential homes for native species that are dying elsewhere in the city. “We often say we’re happy to do it where we can find a location,” she said.

    When introducing new tree species to supplement the urban canopy, they must be sure any newcomers won’t spread invasively—dominating their new habitats and causing damage to native species.

    There are plenty of examples of what to avoid. The Norway maple, native to Europe and western Asia, has escaped the bounds of North American cities, creating excessive shade and crowding out understory plants—they’re one of the invasive species pushing out natives in the ravines of Toronto. Tree of heaven, native to China, deposits chemicals into the soil that damage nearby plants, letting it establish dense thickets and drive out native species; it is illegal to plant in parts of the US, including Indiana, where residents are urged to pull it up wherever they see it. The highly flammable eucalyptus, native to Australia, has put down roots all over the world, bringing increased wildfire danger along with it.

    Urban tree experts don’t expect introduced species to cause major disruptions to native wildlife. Done right, adding some variety to cities dominated by one kind of tree could reduce the problems caused by waves of pests or disease. A patchwork of species could create a buffer against tree-to-tree infection among the same species. While it’s possible that new plant species displace plants used by animals that depend on one kind of plant to survive, those cases are the exception, said Esperon-Rodriguez, the ecologist at Western Sydney University.

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    Laura Hautala

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  • Denver, it’s windy! So windy Red Rocks canceled its Hippo Campus concert

    Denver, it’s windy! So windy Red Rocks canceled its Hippo Campus concert

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    A big downed tree in Denver’s Washington Park, which fell over during recent strong winds. April 11, 2024.

    Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

    Trash is flying through the air. Dust is pummeling Denverites’ eyes. And windchimes are having way too much fun.

    It’s another windy day in Denver and across the Front Range.

    Through Monday night, the National Weather Service warns gusts of wind could reach up to 60 miles per hour, and they could hit up to 75 miles per hour in parts of the mountains and foothills.

    If you were planning on lighting up the grill or littering a cigarette, don’t. Fire risks are up, and high winds make it easier for flames to spread.

    If you’re headed into the mountains, above 9,000 feet, you can expect to see snow blowing so hard you’ll have trouble seeing much else.

    If you were planning on flying, you might hit some turbulence in your travels. Denver International Airport is experiencing 632 flight delays and has had 29 cancelations, as of this writing.

    Red Rocks has canceled tonight’s Hippo Campus concert.

    “Due to dangerous high winds today and throughout the night, local authorities have made the decision to cancel tonight’s show,” the band wrote on social media. “We want nothing more than to be with you all tonight, but in order to ensure everyone’s safety we have no option but to cancel. Refunds will be coming soon from the point of purchase.”

    Fans, some of whom flew in for the concert, took to social media, asking the band to move the concert to an indoor venue, as has happened with previous shows. That is not in the cards.

    Canceling concerts at the venue has been a historically rare move, though it’s become more frequent since nearly a hundred guests were injured by hail last year during a very well forecast storm.

    A few things you need to know.

    This isn’t Denver’s first wind warning of the year.

    Last month, more than 100,000 people lost power, schools were shutdown and buildings caught fire, all keeping the Denver Fire Department busy.

    If debris falls onto your property, even if it’s not yours, you have to clean it up. Don’t just push it onto public property. Instead, here is the city’s list of arborists who can help you out.

    Tree branches will be picked up by the city during its routine trash collection and on large-item pick-up day.

    “Branches must be no larger than 4 inches in diameter, and they must be cut into lengths of 4 feet or less, bundled and tied, and weigh no more than 50 pounds,” note the city’s rules. “Customers may set out up to 10 bundles of branches on their large item pickup day.”

    If you don’t move debris from your property yourself, the city could remove it and charge you the cost.

    When you see fallen trees or branches in the street or public right of way, call 311 and report it with an address. The city will take it from there.

    If traffic lights aren’t working, treat intersections as four-way stops.

    Good luck out there.

    Update: This story has been updated with information about cancelations and delays at Denver International Airport.

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  • Nothing Grows in My Yard. What Can I Do? – Garden Therapy

    Nothing Grows in My Yard. What Can I Do? – Garden Therapy

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    Space is the number one thing gardeners want more of. But what happens when you have the space, but nothing grows in it? Front yards are notoriously difficult to grow in for urban areas, and there are actually quite a few reasons why your garden or yard may be struggling. But not all hope is lost!

    Not so long ago, I received this question and photo from a reader…

    “I live in Houston, Texas, in a subdivision. We have two large oak trees in the front yard that we trim every spring. But my front flower bed will not grow anything!! We cut the tree limbs back further to help let In sunlight. Still, nothing grows. We have removed all the soil and planted new things several times. I even left roses in the pots ( I gave up and moved them to the backyard, and they are beautiful now). What can I do??”

    front yard with a sparse lawn and empty flower bed

    This is such a frustrating experience that is, unfortunately, way too common. Many people struggle to get their yards to support the growth of plants, especially those in the front.

    If your house faces similar issues, not all hope is lost. Read on to see why your yard might have issues growing plants and what you can do about it.

    white dogwood tree along sidewalk strip
    Don’t let this discourage you from growing large trees! This dogwood tree was very beloved to me in my old garden.

    Caught Before It’s Too Late

    Back when I was house hunting, I found a really lovely house for sale in my neighbourhood. At first, it ticked off all the boxes. It had these beautiful old-growth trees on the front street, a nice little backyard, and a great interior layout.

    But then I looked at the soil, and my heart sank. I knew nothing was going to grow there.

    I couldn’t tell you exactly why that is, as I don’t carry a soil test kit wherever I go, but I suspected that those old-growth trees were causing a bigger issue for surrounding vegetation.

    Sure enough, I looked at all the houses on the street, and none had gardens. While someone might be able to do raised beds and containers, that isn’t my preferred way of gardening. I wanted a place where I could landscape entirely.

    And so, as a gardener, I couldn’t imagine myself living there anymore despite it being a lovely house.

    clematis vine entrance
    While we all wish our front yards could look like this, it helps to work with what you have rather than against it.

    The Problem With Large Street Trees

    The old growth trees were a big indicator for me. Of course, they provide plenty of shade which can make it difficult for some plants to grow underneath.

    They also have extensive root systems. When you look up at the tree, think about how the root system will be equally as big—oftentimes even larger.

    That’s an oldie. A tree of such a large size will need to gather lots of nutrients and water from the surrounding soil to feed the entire tree. This makes it really, really hard for smaller plants to compete with a giant like that.

    In some cases, turf grasses can’t even grow. You’ll end up with moss and lichen as companion plants, as they grow well with trees.

    So you’re left with a front yard that struggles to grow anything.

    Stephanie with the power planter in front of large oak tree
    At my previous rental house, we had very large oak trees, which made it difficult to plant under. But I persisted, which you can read about here.

    Allelopathic Trees That Produce Chemicals

    Some trees are even bigger bullies (or geniuses—however you look at it). These trees produce chemicals that will prevent other plants from growing. They don’t want to compete with other trees, so this can really prevent growth in small urban areas. They’re known as allelopathic.

    For instance, black walnut trees (Juglans nigra) and butternut (Juglans cinerea) produce a compound known as Juglone. It prevents plants from germinating and causes plants to look wilted.

    Allelopathic plants release these chemicals through their roots or as they decompose. These chemicals can affect a plant’s ability to germinate, develop roots, or take in nutrients. Some plants are sensitive to these chemicals, while others might not be affected at all.

    Here are some more allelopathic trees and shrubs to be on the lookout for:

    • Bearberry
    • Elderberry
    • English laurel
    • Forsythia
    • Junipers
    • Rhododendron
    • Sugar maple
    • Sumac

    It should be noted that most large trees are allelopathic in some sense, as they take in so much water to stop other plants from competing.

    2 Juniper 'Mint Julip' Spiral Topiaries in containers ready to be planted
    Research if any of the larger trees or shrubs in your yard can affect other nearby plants.

    So, You’ve Got Soil Issues

    Beyond large trees, it’s also important to look at the soil. In my previous house, there was so much debris in the soil that was left behind by builders who knows how long ago. It took me years to get rid of it all and rebuild the soil into something rich and grow-worthy.

    You also will want to know what type of soil you have. Is it overly clay and compact? Is it gritty and dries out quickly? Is it soggy nearly all the time? Good soil needs to be able to both retain water while still having good air circulation for the roots.

    I highly recommend you do a soil test to determine your soil’s pH. Adding organic amendments is the best way to turn bad soil into good soil, but it takes a lot of work and patience.

    Toxic Substances

    It could also be likely that someone has dumped something toxic into the area, such as herbicides. These are very toxic substances that will kill anything, not just weeds. It can have long-lasting residual effects long after the substance is used.

    Pollution

    If you live on a busy street, pollution could also be a very real issue. Pollution directly harms plants, entering through the stomata of the leaves and injuring them. It also settles in the soil, making it quite acidic and making it difficult for plants to take in nutrients.

    Animals

    There could be animals living underground that are also an issue, such as moles or voles. These animals might eat the vegetation or roots or damage them simply by habiting the area.

    flowery garden gloves with a handful of compost
    Compost is garden gold and the best way to fix poor soil.

    What to Do if Nothing Grows in Your Garden

    Let’s get down to what you can actually do about the problem! If you want to fix it immediately, your best bet is to use raised beds.

    By bringing the soil up or working in containers, you’ll create your own little ecosystem, which can help solve some of the other issues. Be mindful that if the issue is tree roots, they can grow up into them. Trees will always strive to find nutritious soil and well-watered areas!

    If the issue is soil, it will take a lot of time and patience to turn it into something grow-worthy. You’ll need to aerate the soil, continually add layers of organic matter to build it up, and bring in cover crops to help fix it. Weeds are great for turning bad soil into good soil!

    Acceptance

    What many people don’t want to hear is that maybe you need to take a different approach to your garden. If you want a very landscaped garden, you might have to accept the fact that garden beds with perennials, vegetables, or fruits may not be in the plan.

    Instead, treat the area like it’s a concrete slab where nothing grows. Opt for a rock garden with hints of potted flowers or a lovely patio.

    You can add some nice flagstone, put some moss in between, perhaps put in a fountain, and add some furniture to create a welcome space.

    You can accept that you have this big, beautiful tree and get to work with it rather than fight with it. An outdoor space you can enjoy is still very much possible!

    front yard garden with bench and a fountain surrounded by river rocks
    This was my old front yard, which was very shady and grew little. So I embraced it with a fountain and sitting space!

    More Tips for Front Yard Gardening

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  • What’s up with those white-flowered trees that smell so bad?

    What’s up with those white-flowered trees that smell so bad?

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    A possibly smelly callery pear tree in Denver’s North Captiol Hill neighborhood. April 10, 2024.

    Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

    Imagine this — it’s the perfect spring day and you’re finally wearing shorts as you walk to get a cold drink from your local coffee shop. But, as you’re enjoying the warm sunshine, an absolutely vile smell hits your nostrils. 

    As you swivel your head searching for the culprit, you find it: a modest tree with pretty white flowers. 

    Meet the Callery pear, a tree which is, on paper, perfect for big, urban cities. 

    “They’re a fast grower and they have this spectacular show of flowers, and they’re not a huge tree,” said Linda Langelo, a horticulture specialist with Colorado State University Extension. “It does well with air pollution and is drought tolerant. Who wouldn’t want it?”

    There is one caveat.

    “It’s a stunning tree,” Langelo said. “It really is, but it smells.”

    A possibly smelly callery pear tree in Denver’s North Captiol Hill neighborhood. April 10, 2024.
    Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

    The stink comes from its primary pollinator. Instead of cute, good-natured bees helping spread its pollen, the tree primarily attracts unhygienic flies to its flowers. To attract the flies, the tree produces its signature foul smell, which resembles rotting flesh. Langelo said in return, trees produce a nectar vital for fly diets.

    “It has a pollen rich protein that they need for energy,” she said. 

    The Callery pear tree is an invasive species in most areas, due to how fast it grows. The small fruit it produces is commonly eaten by birds, who poop out the seeds in various places, allowing the fast-growing tree to spread easily. Some states have even taken action to reduce the propagation of the tree.

    Denver Parks and Recreation tracks how many trees are planted within the city’s parks and city-managed sidewalks. Over 1,600 Callery pear trees have been planted in parks and over 6,600 have been planted in the public right of way, according to a spokesperson for the department. The number of trees planted on private property is unknown, but it’s safe to assume there are plenty.

    Langelo said if the stink is truly unbearable, good news is on the horizon: the flowers will likely fall off by late May, meaning your summertime walks will largely be Callery pear smell free.

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  • Why Don’t Cities Plant Fruit Trees? The Call for Urban Orchards – Garden Therapy

    Why Don’t Cities Plant Fruit Trees? The Call for Urban Orchards – Garden Therapy

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    Have you ever noticed that most streets are tall, mighty oaks, maples, spruce, and pine? Very few fruit trees are planted on public property, despite their ability to provide plenty of food. Here’s why cities don’t often plant fruit trees, but how urban orchards may be the solution.

    If you were to ask me what my dream world would look like, you bet the cities would be covered in greenery. Fruit trees would be the star of the show, lining every street where we could all take one big juicy bite as we walked by.

    This isn’t the first time I’ve discussed replacing street trees with edible ones. Many people worldwide are dealing with food insecurity and looking for reliable green spaces to help.

    City and street trees seem like the obvious solution, right?

    Well, it’s a little more complicated than planting a peach tree and letting anyone who wants a bite have one. Here are some of the many reasons why cities don’t plant fruit trees.

    Cherry Blossoms in Vancouver Blue SkyCherry Blossoms in Vancouver Blue Sky
    In Vancouver, many of the streets are lined with cherry blossom trees. Don’t be fooled by the name! They don’t produce fruit.

    Fruit Trees Are Messy

    One of the main reasons we love fruit—how juicy it is—is also a big reason why we don’t plant fruit trees on public streets. They’re just plain messy!

    If no one picks the fruit, it will create a mess on top of cars, sidewalks, and streets, and all that fruit will also get tracked inside.

    And when you have lots of available fruit on the ground, you’re going to attract wildlife. This can mean more bugs, pests, rodents, and even larger mammals like deer or bears.

    squirrel eatingsquirrel eating
    More fruit and nuts will attract all kinds of wildlife.

    Not Enough Infrastructure

    To keep away the mess, someone needs to be there to harvest all the fruit or clean it up if people aren’t going to pick the fruit themselves.

    A good fruit tree requires a lot of maintenance and pruning to achieve the best shape and to direct attention from the tree to growing food. And we all want to make sure they look good.

    If you have city trees by your property, you already know that they are neglected by the city. Getting the manpower needed to maintain these trees costs a pretty penny.

    Besides paying for labour, cities will need more equipment to maintain and harvest these trees efficiently. Which, yes, costs more money.

    urban orchardsurban orchards
    Dogwood fruits are bitter and astringent, but birds love them.

    Cleanliness of the Fruit

    One of the best parts about growing your own food is that you know exactly what went into making it. As an organic gardener, I want to keep my plants as far away from herbicides and pesticides as possible.

    But with food grown on public land, I don’t get much of a say. Cities can spray whatever they want on the fruit, and they likely would keep maintenance easy and pests low.

    There is also the matter of pollution. Now, this depends on where the fruit trees are planted. But if they’re close to busy streets, they might be covered in soot from exhaust. The pollution can also make its way into the fruit itself, as the trees look for ways to get rid of what it’s absorbing.

    urban orchard cherry treeurban orchard cherry tree
    It’s easier to trust food you’ve grown in your own garden.

    Poor Growing Conditions

    It’s no secret that the sidewalk strip is not an easy place to grow things. They don’t call it the hell strip for nothing! The soil here is often compacted, salty, and polluted, leading to an unhealthy tree more susceptible to disease and sub-standard growth.

    The plants are also more susceptible to damage from higher street traffic and have to battle with concrete and asphalt to grow good roots.

    Because of all this, cities often plant hardy trees on streets. These trees don’t mind the poor growing conditions and will thrive and provide shade.

    Fruit trees tend to be small, and larger trees can actually help lower temperatures. Cities are big heat islands, where the paved roads and pathways combined with the buildings amplify and trap the heat. The more surfaces that are covered in green and shade, the fewer heat islands there are.

    So, How Do We Improve Food Security With Fruit Trees?

    City fruit and nut trees are definitely an option, and many cities have started planting more of them. I’ve spotted many folks in my own neighbourhood collecting chestnuts!

    Edible cities and edible parks are becoming increasingly popular. These are public lands with edible trees, bushes, and vegetables that anyone is welcome to. Most will take formerly overgrown or derelict areas and make them useful for the community.

    Urban orchards are another similar practice. Like community gardens, these are orchards where people collectively maintain fruit trees and harvest their own fruit. For instance, The Orchard Project is a big charity that focuses on creating more urban orchard hubs in the UK.

    In Vancouver, we have the Copley Community Orchard. You might have one near your home too!

    Most of these programs and initiatives rely on volunteers to do the maintenance, not city workers. Volunteers will take care of the plants, harvest the fruit, and help distribute it to those who can benefit most. 

    urban orchard sign, welcome to the garden of eatin' please respectfully enjoy this spaceurban orchard sign, welcome to the garden of eatin' please respectfully enjoy this space
    Urban orchards are great for those who don’t have access to a garden for themselves.

    Why Are Urban Orchards Important?

    Fruit and nut trees are some of the most amazing things you can grow. They are a staple in food forests and other edible landscapes. Once established, they provide a generous bounty for many years and require very little input.

    When accessible, they’re one of the best ways to produce plenty of food and help reduce food insecurity.

    The Philadelphia Orchard Project is a great example. They have over 68 partner sites where they produce 200-300 pounds of produce a week. With their harvests, they donate to food pantries and sell produce at farmer’s markets at an accessible price.

    Fruit trees also allow people to access and harvest culturally significant foods. There are so many edible plants out there that we’re not eating simply because they’re difficult to find in a grocery store. As a bonus, diversifying what we eat is great for the environment, too.

    urban orchardurban orchard
    Native edible trees are some of the best options to include in urban orchards and city streets.

    Final Thoughts on Fruit Trees

    I’m a big fan of fruit and nut trees. If you are lucky enough to have an edible city tree, consider stepping in and lending a hand to its care and harvest. And if you don’t have one, consider planting one by your fence line. This allows others to enjoy a bite or two as they pass by!

    If you can’t harvest it all for yourself, share your bounty with the community. I’m positive plenty of people will jump at the opportunity for organic, local fruit.

    Three large baskets full of apples sitting on the grass in front of two apple treesThree large baskets full of apples sitting on the grass in front of two apple trees

    More Ways to Grow More Food

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    Stephanie Rose

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  • Philly’s cherry blossoms expected to bloom in early April

    Philly’s cherry blossoms expected to bloom in early April

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    Philadelphia is just a month away from cherry blossom season, according to one expert prognosticator.

    Sandi Polyakov, the head gardener at the Shofuso Japanese Cultural Center, predicts a peak bloom around the first week of April. This would put the blossoms on pace with last year’s timeline.

    MORE: The coolest things we saw at the Philadelphia Flower Show

    “Upcoming weather trends can certainly stall or hasten things; but the blossoms have already begun their development process,” Polyakov said in a March 1 statement. “Based on the story the buds are telling us, it appears we’re roughly four weeks out from the full-bloom show.”

    Polyakov said that while some of the trees, such as the Okame and Higgan varieties, began blooming in late February, most of the city’s cherry trees are still in the earliest stage of development. Those include the Yoshino cherry trees planted along the Skuylkill River and in West Fairmount Park, where the center is based. The center is operated by the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia, whose annual cherry blossom festival is scheduled for Saturday, April 13, through Sunday, April 14.

    According to the National Park Service, peak bloom is “almost impossible” to conclusively predict more than 10 days in advance, since the blossoms’ development is so dependent on weather conditions. But cherry trees in the U.S. have been blooming a bit earlier in recent years. The famous collection on the National Mall has reached peak bloom in the penultimate week of March for the past two years, and 2024 looks no different. Philadelphia’s peak bloom typically follows about a week after D.C.’s.

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  • Detroit suspiciously quiet about contamination found at missile-related site-turned-park

    Detroit suspiciously quiet about contamination found at missile-related site-turned-park

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    A week after the city of Detroit alerted residents in a last-minute Zoom meeting that it was closing a waterfront park on the east side after finding contamination in the soil, Mayor Mike Duggan’s administration has refused to divulge any further details.

    Now residents in Jefferson Chalmers are left wondering if they’ve been exposed to dangerous contaminants at A.B. Ford Park, which was a Nike missile-related site in the 1950s. Those sites are notorious for leaving behind a toxic cocktail of contaminants, though it is not believed that any missiles were ever stored at the A.B. Ford Park site, which housed radar tracking towers and barracks for military personnel.

    Residents are also incensed with the city’s insistence that it must remove more than 250 trees, some of which are more than 100 years old and are used by bald eagles. The city claims the best way to protect residents from the contamination is by adding two feet of fresh soil to the 32-acre park, which would make it impossible for the trees to survive.

    To cover the park with new soil, an average of 20 to 30 heavy trucks would trudge through the neighborhood every day from March to September, the city said.

    The city plans to replace the trees with hundreds of native and flowering trees, according to a city document.

    After news broke about the park’s closure on Friday, the city abruptly canceled a meeting with residents.

    Terry Swafford, who takes his two children to the park almost every day, has been trying to get more information from the city, to no avail.

    In a phone conversation last week with Crystal Perkins, director of the city’s General Services Department, Swafford says he was told Detroit had to spend the money quickly.

    None of this adds up to Swafford and his neighbors. The city has been testing the park for contaminants for years and never mentioned finding toxic chemicals. In fact, the city renovated the western portion of the park last year and added no new soil.

    He’s skeptical that there’s any good reason to remove the trees.

    “This is disastrous, and no one wants it,” Swafford tells Metro Times. “All of my neighbors are up in arms about it, and they feel powerless. This is a no-win for us. This is horseshit, and the city knows it.”

    Swafford says residents have reached out to his city councilwoman, Latisha Johnson, but she never called them back.

    When Metro Times asked for specifics about the contamination, the city declined to release details. The city also refused to divulge the funding source, the identities of the contractors, and whether there was even a bidding process.

    Even for the city of Detroit, this level of secrecy is unusual.

    Earlier this week, Duggan spokesman John Roach said he would try to answer Metro Times’s questions, but on Thursday morning, he declined, saying the administration will address the community during a meeting about the park on Thursday evening.

    “The city is doing a full presentation on the soil contamination to the community at a meeting at 5:00 tonight,” Roach said in a text message. “That community report will be followed by the posting of all environmental reports on the city’s website early next week.”

    Trouble is, that timing prevents residents from providing any insight until the process is almost complete.

    After this story was published, a Detroit City Council committee voted to delay action on the $9.6 million plan at a meeting Thursday afternoon. Swafford says neither he nor his neighbors knew about the meeting until the last minute.

    If the council approves the spending, the plan will move forward, without ample opportunity for residents to provide any meaningful insight.

    Detroit resident Jay Juergensen, a flood protection expert and lead organizer of Jefferson-Chalmers WATER Project, says he has serious concerns about the plan and the city’s lack of transparency. Residents in Jefferson Chalmers have been inundated with flooded basements over the past few years, and he’s worried the plan could exacerbate the problem.

    “All of my neighbors are up in arms about it, and they feel powerless. This is a no-win for us. This is horseshit, and the city knows it.”

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    “What efforts are being made to ensure the proposed work is engineered in a manner that meets performance standards, including stability, seepage and settlement necessary to ensure it can provide flood protection or does not undermine future efforts for flood protection or put adjacent residents at great risk for flooding?” Juergensen tells Metro Times.

    Residents also want to know if the area’s seawalls, which are intended to prevent flooding, are going to be raised since the ground is going to be two feet higher.

    If the park is contaminated, it remains unclear why the city renovated the western portion, demolished an old building, and constructed a solar-powered recreation center last year. That building has large windows that are just inches above the ground. Adding two feet of soil around the building would put some of the building underground.

    Without any answers, residents have no idea what to believe.

    “If they had known it was contaminated when they took soil samples years ago, they would have done this remediation ahead of time [on the western portion] and there would have been two feet of extra soil,” Swafford says. “They didn’t follow their own recommendation. Are we to believe that it just became contaminated? None of this adds up. This should be obvious to anybody.”

    From 1955 to 1960, the military used the property for radar tracking towers for missiles that were stored underground near Belle Isle. Towers from the Nike missile site are still standing at the park.

    In Michigan, the military had 15 Nike sites, where workers handled hazardous chemicals. The Defense Department stationed thousands of surface-to-air missiles at about 250 Nike sites nationwide that were intended to protect major U.S. cities from aerial attacks during the Cold War.

    Researchers discovered that these sites were rife with contamination.

    “Normal operations of a Nike site included the use and onsite disposal of solvents, battery acids, fuel, and hydraulic fluid,” researchers found in a 1984 study. “Environmentally persistent compounds disposed of included carbon tetrachloride, trichlorethylene, trichloroethane, lead, and various hydrocarbons.”

    Roach said it is believed that the contamination at A.B. Ford Park stems from the non-native fill material that was used to develop the site, which was once a marsh.

    City officials hope to reopen the park in the fall. The park is undergoing renovations that will feature walkways, a playground, basketball court, fitness and picnic areas, tennis and pickleball courts, a fishing node, beach, and waterfront plaza.

    But without more information, residents aren’t applauding the new amenities.

    This story was updated with a clarification that no missiles were believed to have ever been stored at the site, as well as additional comments from the city’s spokesman.

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    Steve Neavling

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  • Contamination forces closure of Detroit waterfront park

    Contamination forces closure of Detroit waterfront park

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    click to enlarge

    Rendering via city of Detroit

    A.B. Ford Park in the Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood is undergoing renovations.

    The city of Detroit closed a waterfront park on the east side that was undergoing renovations after finding contamination in the soil.

    Beginning in March, the city will remove more than 250 trees, some of which are more than a 100 years old and are used by bald eagles, from A.B. Ford Park in the Jefferson Chalmers.

    The park, which was closed and blocked off Wednesday, is undergoing $9 million in renovations that will feature walkways, a playground, basketball court, fitness and picnic areas, tennis and pickleball courts, a fishing node, beach, and waterfront plaza.

    Even without the contamination, the park was scheduled to soon close for renovations.

    The trees are being removed because officials have to add two feet of fresh soil to the 32-acre park to protect residents from the contamination. The trees, most of which city officials said are in poor condition, won’t survive the extra soil.

    The city plans to plant hundreds of new native and flowering trees in their place, according to a city document. The new trees include quaking Aspens, river birch, Princeton elm, Shumard oak, purple beech, sugar maple, bur oak, black gum, eastern redbud, and dogwood.

    The plastic and metal contamination was found while officials were conducting environmental testing that was required to demolish the old and abandoned Lenox Center on the site.

    To cover the park with two feet of new soil, an average of 20 to 30 heavy trucks will dump the material at the site every weekday from March to September, according to the city’s plans.

    As part of the renovations, the city recently built the $7.2 million A.B. Ford Park Community Center, which was funded by Detroit and a donation from the Penske Corp. to the city’s Strategic Neighborhood Fund. The solar-powered building features classrooms, a library area, a community gathering room, and space for indoor sports and parties.

    City officials hope to reopen the park in the fall.

    City spokesman John Roach tells Metro Times there’s no truth to rumors that an Environmental Protection Agency restoration project will be canceled.

    The source of the contamination wasn’t immediately clear. Roach says the soil is non-native and about a century old.

    The city plans to soon hold meetings to update residents on the contamination and plans to remediate it.

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  • What to Do in the Garden in February – Gardenista

    What to Do in the Garden in February – Gardenista

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    What to do in the garden in February–is this some kind of a joke? Here’s a thing I like to do in February: sit by the fire and look at the garden through a window.

    However. If you (or I) can find the motivation to throw on a coat, a hat, gloves, a heavy woolen scarf, thick socks, boots, and lip balm–this is what I wear to brave the chilly weather in Northern California; if you live in New England or Colorado, you might want to add a layer of thermal underwear and a second coat–we will be well rewarded for our efforts in springtime.

    If you live in a warmer climate, your to-do list for February garden chores will be different from what you can accomplish in colder regions. (For instance, in my USDA zone 10a garden, where the ground does not freeze, I can weed even in cold months. In winter, before weeds spread, is an ideal time to get rid of them.)

    Here are a few things we all can do in the garden this month.

    1. Prune trees.

    Above: See more of this colorful winter landscape in Landscape Ideas: Blazing Color with Red Twig Dogwood, 5 Ways. Photograph by Britt Willoughby Dyer.

    Winter is the best time to prune deciduous trees. After trees lose their leaves in late autumn, their structure and shape are revealed. It’s easier to see which branches are growing inward (get rid of those) or crossing others (get rid of those too). Winter pruning will encourage new growth in spring. During this dormant period, insects and diseases that could harm fresh-cut trunks or branches also are dormant.

    An exception to this rule is spring-flowering trees. Wait to prune those in late spring after their flowers fade. If you prune them now, you’ll be cutting off this spring’s blossoms.

    2. Prune shrubs.

    A standard pair of Niwaki Garden Shears (“the very best option for an all-round pair of garden shears– ideal for hedges, shrubs, box clipping and topiary,” says pruning expert Jake Hobson) is $85.50. Its long-handled shears (which measure about 29.5 inches, about 8 inches longer than the standard size) are $92 a pair. Photograph via Niwaki.
    Above: A standard pair of Niwaki Garden Shears (“the very best option for an all-round pair of garden shears– ideal for hedges, shrubs, box clipping and topiary,” says pruning expert Jake Hobson) is $85.50. Its long-handled shears (which measure about 29.5 inches, about 8 inches longer than the standard size) are $92 a pair. Photograph via Niwaki.

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  • Marcescence Definition: Why Do Leaves Stay on Trees in the Winter?

    Marcescence Definition: Why Do Leaves Stay on Trees in the Winter?

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    You go for a long walk in the woods on a quiet winter day. All you hear is the crunching of snow as your boots hit the trail. The breeze picks up. And then you hear it. It starts out as a rustle, grows to low a rattle, and then, suddenly, it’s a crackling cacophony.

    It’s wind blowing through the leaves—but it’s winter, right? And shouldn’t the leaves on the trees be gone by now? Yet, there they are—brown leaves hanging onto the branches. It may not make sense to you, but it can be normal for some trees, and it’s called “marcescence.”

    Photography by Joy Yagid.

    What is marcescence?

    A stand of young beech trees at the forest edge offers an unexpected mid-winter sight: leaves still on trees.
    Above: A stand of young beech trees at the forest edge offers an unexpected mid-winter sight: leaves still on trees.

    Marcescence is when deciduous trees hold on to most of their dead leaves until spring. Only certain trees do this, mainly beeches and oaks, but also hornbeams and witch hazels and, sometimes, Japanese maples. The leaves may turn color in the fall, but they won’t fall off. Instead, they persist, wrinkled and brown, until new growth finally pushes them off the branches.

    What causes marcescence?

    A Japanese maple with marcescence after an ice storm.
    Above: A Japanese maple with marcescence after an ice storm.

    We are used to seeing bare trees in the winter in the northern part of the country, where deciduous trees lose their leaves in the fall. Some, like sugar maples, put on a colorful show before they go. The process for how trees lose their leaves is called abscission. Hormones in the tree, activated by the dwindling length of daylight, are prompted to start cutting off nutrients to the leaves; by mid-autumn, they start to fall. However in marcescence, the tree cuts off nutrients but the leaves do not separate from the tree. They remain on the tree until spring.

    Why does marcescence happen?

    Red oak leaves hanging on till spring.
    Above: Red oak leaves hanging on till spring.

    No one knows for sure, but scientists have a few guesses. First, it may be to protect next year’s leaf buds from being nibbled on—younger trees and the lower branches of older trees are more likely to experience marcescence. Food for forest animals tends to be scarce in the winter. Deer will nibble on just about anything. Keeping the dead leaves on the tree is thought to protect the tender buds from being eaten. Second, marcescence may occur when there’s a need to for moisture. The withered leaves can both collect dew and direct rain to fall down within the drip line of the tree’s feeder roots. Even though it’s winter, the tree is still alive and still needs water. Third, once the leaves finally fall in the spring, they can form a layer of mulch that will lock in the moisture around the feeder roots and eventually provide the perfect closed loop fertilizer. They are exactly what the tree needs, since it came from the tree.

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  • As tree species face decline, ‘assisted migration’ gains popularity in Pacific Northwest

    As tree species face decline, ‘assisted migration’ gains popularity in Pacific Northwest

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    PORTLAND, Oregon — PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) —

    As native trees in the Pacific Northwest die off due to climate changes, the U.S. Forest Service, Portland, Oregon and citizen groups around Puget Sound are turning to a deceptively simple climate adaptation strategy called “assisted migration.”

    As the world’s climate warms, tree growing ranges in the Northern Hemisphere are predicted to move farther north and higher in elevation.

    Trees, of course, can’t get up and walk to their new climatic homes. This is where assisted migration is supposed to lend a hand.

    The idea is that humans can help trees keep up with climate change by moving them to more favorable ecosystems faster than the trees could migrate on their own.

    Yet not everyone agrees on what type of assisted migration the region needs — or that it’s always a good thing.

    In the Pacific Northwest, a divide has emerged between groups advocating for assisted migration that would help struggling native trees, and one that could instead see native species replaced on the landscape by trees from the south, including coast redwoods and giant sequoias.

    “There is a huge difference between assisted population migration and assisted species migration,” said Michael Case, forest ecologist at the Virginia-based Nature Conservancy.

    Case currently runs an assisted population migration experiment at the Conservancy’s Ellsworth Creek Preserve in western Washington.

    Assisted population migration involves moving a native species’ seeds, and by extension its genes, within its current growing range.

    By contrast, assisted species migration involves moving a species well outside its existing range, such as introducing redwoods and sequoias to Washington.

    A third form of assisted migration, called “range expansion,” amounts to moving a species just beyond its current growing range.

    Case’s project involves testing whether breeds of native Douglas fir and western hemlock from drier parts of the Pacific Northwest can be used to help western Washington forests adapt to climate change. He says the Nature Conservancy is focusing on population migration because it has fewer ecological risks.

    “Whenever you plant something in an area where it is not locally found you increase the risk of failure,” Case said. “You increase the risk of disturbing potential ecosystem functions and processes.”

    ——

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is part of a collaboration between The Associated Press and Columbia Insight, exploring the impact of climate on trees in the Pacific Northwest.

    ——

    Population migration is the only form of assisted migration currently practiced nationwide by the Forest Service, according to Dr. David Lytle, the agency’s deputy chief for research and development.

    “We are very, very cautious and do not engage in the long-distance movement and establishment of plant material outside and disjunct from the historic range of a species,” said Lytle.

    The Forest Service is pursing assisted population migration because it’s likely to have few if any “negative consequences” to ecosystems, he said.

    Douglas Tallamy, professor of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware, said one potential negative consequence of species migration is the possibility that native caterpillars might not eat the leaves of migrated nonnative tree species. Because caterpillars feed birds and other animals, this could lead to disruptions to the food web.

    This could happen if the City of Portland migrates oak species from places to the south, Tallamy noted. “Oaks are the most important plant for supporting wildlife that we have in North America,” he said, “but when you move them out of range, the things that are adapted to eating them no longer have access to them.”

    The City of Portland’s Urban Forestry program is currently experimenting with the assisted migration of 11 tree species, including three oak species to the south: California black oak, canyon live oak and interior live oak.

    Asked via email about potential ecological disruptions Portland’s City Forester & Urban Forestry Manager Jenn Cairo responded: “We use research from universities, state and federal sources, and local and regional field practitioner experience.”

    Another advocate for species migration is the Puget Sound-based, citizen-led PropagationNation. The organization has planted trees in several parks in the Seattle area and has the ambitious goal of “bringing a million coast redwoods and giant sequoias to the Northwest,” according to its website.

    The PropagationNation website also recommends planting redwoods in areas where native western red cedar, western hemlock, Sitka spruce and big leaf maple already grow.

    Western red cedar, western hemlock and big leaf maple have all seen die-offs and growth declines in recent years tied to climate.

    Philip Stielstra, PropagationNation’s founder and president, and a retired Boeing employee, declined to comment for this story.

    David Milarch, founder of the Michigan-based Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, which has supplied PropagationNation with redwoods and sequoias, says his trees aren’t intended to replace Pacific Northwest native species.

    “All we are doing is extending the range (of redwoods and sequoias) north in the hopes that they will still be here in 100 to 200 years and not join the list of trees that are going extinct,” said Milarch.

    Robert Slesak, research forester at the Pacific Northwest Research Station, runs the Forest Service’s Experimental Network for Assisted Migration and Establishment Silviculture, or ENAMES project, which oversees population migration sites in Washington, Oregon and California.

    Slesak called moving redwoods north a “risky proposition.” He said he has serious concerns about both assisted species migration and assisted migration efforts that lack experimental rigor.

    “Widespread assisted species migration without a lot of experimental results to guide it is risky,” said Slesak. “Everyone knows we need to do some kind of action related to climate, but there’s a real risk of making it worse.”

    Nevertheless, with the effects of climate change increasing, it’s a risk increasingly being assumed by public and private groups around the Pacific Northwest.

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    Nathan Gilles is a science writer and journalist based in Vancouver, Washington.

    ___

    Columbia Insight is an Oregon-based nonprofit news website covering environmental issues affecting the Pacific Northwest.

    ___

    Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Extreme heat represents a new threat to trees and plants in the Pacific Northwest

    Extreme heat represents a new threat to trees and plants in the Pacific Northwest

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    PORTLAND, Ore. — From June 25 to July 2, 2021, the Pacific Northwest experienced a record-breaking heat wave that sent the normally temperate region into Death Valley-like extremes that took a heavy toll on trees as well as people.

    Seattle and Portland, Ore., recorded their hottest-ever temperatures, reaching 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42.2 Celsius) and 116 Fahrenheit (46.6 Celsius), respectively. In British Columbia, the small town of Lytton reached 121 degrees Fahrenheit (49.6 Celsius).

    What become known as the “heat dome” is estimated to have killed hundreds of people in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.

    As this human tragedy unfolded, a lesser-known ecological tragedy was happening, one that scientists warn has grim repercussions for the world’s plants and the many animal species that depend on them.

    In a matter of a few days, the 2021 heat dome turned many of the green leaves and needles on the region’s trees to orange, red and brown.

    But, as recent research suggests, tree foliage didn’t simply dry out in the heat. Instead, it underwent “widespread scorching.”

    “A lot of this reddening and browning of leaves was just that the leaves cooked. It really wasn’t a drought story,” said Chris Still, professor at Oregon State University’s College of Forestry and a leading researcher on the effects of heat on trees.

    Still is part of a growing number of scientists investigating what they say is a new, woefully underestimated threat to the world’s plants: climate change-driven extreme heat.

    ——

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is part of a collaboration between The Associated Press and Columbia Insight, exploring the impact of climate on trees in the Pacific Northwest.

    ——

    In recent years, scientists in the Pacific Northwest have linked the decline of 10 native tree species to drought.

    In many cases, conditions that have brought about the decline are known as “hot droughts.”

    Driven by above-normal temperatures, hot droughts can be far more damaging to trees than droughts that result simply from a lack of moisture. Hot droughts not only dry out soil; they also dry out the air. This stresses trees, and can cause water-carrying tissues inside them to collapse — a process called “hydraulic failure.”

    In a paper earlier this year in the journal Tree Physiology, Still made the case that damage to the region’s trees during the heat dome was triggered primarily by direct damage from heat and solar radiation rather than indirectly by drought caused by the extreme heat.

    “I’m not trying to say that drought is not a huge and important factor,” said Still. “But I think with events like the 2021 heat wave becoming more common and intense, it’s important to look at the response of trees and other plants to these events and not just at drought, which has been the dominant paradigm.”

    Still’s argument includes the observation that “foliage scorch” was primarily found on the southern and western sides of trees and forests — a pattern that follows the track of the sun across the summer sky.

    “Basically, it was like a sunburn across the entire forest. It was quite disturbing,” said co-author Daniel DePinte, U.S. Forest Service aerial survey program manager, who observed the phenomenon from an airplane.

    Multiple tree species were scorched, DePinte said, noting that the role played by the sun became clear when the same trees were viewed from an orientation not exposed to direct sunlight.

    “It almost appeared as if the forest damage disappeared,” he said.

    The paper was written in response to an earlier study published in the same journal that argued a different position: that the heat dome led to widespread drought stress and hydraulic failure in Pacific Northwest trees. “Overall I agree … that heat damage played a big role in the damage caused to trees (during) the 2021 PNW heat wave. But in my view, hydraulic failure was as important, if not more,” wrote that study’s lead author Tamir Klein, professor of plant and environmental sciences at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.

    Exactly how hot is too hot for trees and other plants is the research focus of William Hammond, a plant ecophysiologist at the University of Florida.

    Hammond called the scientific community’s current understanding of extreme heat’s effect on plants a worrying “blind spot.”

    “One thing is for sure, we know a lot more about how dry is too dry for plant survival than we know about how hot is too hot,” he said.

    What scientists call “thermal tolerances” have been established for just 1,028, or less than 1%, of the world’s 330,200 recognized land-based plants, according to a frequently cited 2020 paper in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

    No single thermal limit fits all plant species, but in general extreme damage to plant tissues occurs around 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 Celsius), Hammond said.

    “With those temperatures you might think ‘wow, the air doesn’t get that hot,’ but that’s the temperature of the plant, not the temperature of the air. And those things can be quite different,” he said.

    Just how different is something Still has been tracking.

    During the heat dome, he and colleagues recorded air temperatures around a Douglas fir tree reaching 112 degrees Fahrenheit (about 44 Celsius), the hottest ever recorded in the forest where the measurements were taken. The needles of the tree, however, reached 124 Fahrenheit (51.1 Celsius) due to exposure to direct sunlight.

    Still says observations like this and similar ones in forests around the world dispute a common misconception even among some scientists that plants can withstand extreme temperatures and stay cooler than air around them, especially when given access to water.

    “Plants can control their temperature to some degree, but if the heat is extreme enough, some plants won’t be able to get through it even if they have a ton of water,” he said.

    Hammond has reached the same conclusion based on work in his lab. “If temperature gets high enough, heat stress can kill living plant tissues even if they have water,” said Hammond.

    ___

    Nathan Gilles is a science writer and journalist based in Vancouver, Washington.

    ___

    Columbia Insight is an Oregon-based nonprofit news website covering environmental issues affecting the Pacific Northwest.

    ___

    Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Maine motorist killed when large tree limb falls on his vehicle; first fatality attributed to Atlantic storm Lee

    Maine motorist killed when large tree limb falls on his vehicle; first fatality attributed to Atlantic storm Lee

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    Maine motorist killed when large tree limb falls on his vehicle; first fatality attributed to Atlantic storm Lee

    ByThe Associated Press

    September 16, 2023, 6:05 PM

    BAR HARBOR, Maine — Maine motorist killed when large tree limb falls on his vehicle; first fatality attributed to Atlantic storm Lee.

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  • Logging is growing in a Nigerian forest home to endangered elephants. Rangers blame lax enforcement

    Logging is growing in a Nigerian forest home to endangered elephants. Rangers blame lax enforcement

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    OMO FOREST RESERVE, Nigeria — Roaring chainsaws sent trees crashing to the ground, and bare-chested men hacked away at the branches beside a muddy road. Others heaved logs onto a truck, where they were tied in place with wire.

    The work was similar on the other side of the road, with a timber-laden truck coughing dark plumes of smoke as it pulled away. This was miles into the conservation zone of Omo Forest Reserve in southern Nigeria, a protected area where logging is prohibited because it’s home to threatened species like African elephants, pangolins and white-throated monkeys. But forest rangers, seeing the impunity, were hesitant to act.

    “We see people we arrested and turned over to the government back in the forest, and they get emboldened,” ranger Sunday Abiodun told The Associated Press during a recent trip to the reserve.

    Conservationists say the outer region of Omo Forest Reserve, where logging is allowed, is already heavily deforested. As trees become scarce, loggers are heading deep into the 550-square-kilometer conservation area, which is also under threat from uncontrolled cocoa farming and poaching.

    Conservationists and rangers blame the government for not enforcing environmental regulations or adequately replanting trees, impeding Nigeria’s pledge under the Paris climate agreement to maintain places like forests that absorb carbon from the atmosphere.

    The government of Nigeria’s southwestern Ogun state, which owns the reserve, denied failing to enforce regulations. In a statement, it said it’s replanting more trees than are being cut down.

    The forest’s gatekeepers and those processing the wood both dispute that assertion, insisting trees are disappearing.

    Sawmillers get annual permits from the government to cut down trees until their designated area is completely deforested. Then they can apply for a new section. They say the permit fee of 2 million naira ($2,645) is intended to cover the government’s costs to replace trees but that this rarely occurs.

    “The government is not replanting,” said Owolabi Oguntimehin, a sawmiller in Ijebu, a nearby town that has over 50 sawmilling companies relying on the reserve. “It is not our responsibility to replant because the government collects the fee from us.”

    Besides problems with replanting, authorities don’t enforce tree removal standards, even when loggers get permits, according to forest guards, who are employed by the state government.

    Joseph Olaonipekun, a guard, said officials from Ogun state’s forestry department used to mark trees that could be cut and ensure “strict” enforcement to prevent others from being removed. But that’s no longer done, he said.

    “By implementing selective logging, the adverse effects on the biodiversity of an area can be minimized while also providing the opportunity for young trees to continue growing,” Nigerian ecologist Babajide Agboola said. “This method allows for a more sustainable approach to logging and forest management.”

    Trees such as Cordia wood, mahogany and gmelina are disappearing from the forest’s periphery, according to both sawmillers and reserve gatekeepers.

    “There has to be massive reforestation so that the conservation zone will not be dismantled,” Agboola said.

    But forest rangers hired by the nonprofit Nigerian Conservation Foundation, which is the government’s partner in managing the conservation zone, have found it a challenge to protect against illegal logging in off-limits areas.

    They say loggers harvesting trees in the conservation zone brag about bypassing regulations by paying off government officials.

    “We want the government to support us in preserving the forest,” ranger Johnson Adejayin said. He echoed his colleagues in calling for strict enforcement and sanctions, “so that the loggers do not come back to continue their illegal acts and boast that with money they can avoid punishment.”

    The Nigerian economy, Africa’s largest, heavily relies on agriculture, forestry and other land uses. These industries, which are responsible for 25% of Nigeria’s greenhouse gas emissions, provide jobs for the majority of people in agrarian communities around the reserve.

    As a result, there is debate about the political will to enforce environmental sustainability when livelihoods are at stake.

    That factor should be considered, said Wale Adedayo, chairman of the Ijebu East local government area where a significant part of the forest is located. He advocated for a reduction of the conservation zone to give more land to locals to farm and log.

    But he also acknowledged that “there is a lot of deforestation” that should be reversed to ensure Nigeria’s contribution to fighting climate change.

    For its part, the state government said “it is incorrect” to blame the pressure to make a living “when loggers illegally find their way into the conservation area to steal parts of the conserved trees.”

    Adedayo said logging in protected areas “is not possible without the connivance of the civil servants.”

    The government’s forest guards have seen it first hand.

    “There is too much corruption in this forest caused by greed and poverty,” Olaonipekun said. “When we say, ‘Don’t go there,’ some go through higher authorities to defy us, and we are helpless.”

    The government, meanwhile, has delayed formally declaring the conservation area a wildlife sanctuary to protect it from threats like logging, farming and poaching, said Emmanuel Olabode, who manages the Nigerian Conservation Foundation’s wildlife conservation project in the forest.

    The foundation’s rangers are focused on nearly 6.5 square kilometers of strictly protected land where elephants are believed to live and has been designated a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.

    “It is left to the government to enforce the regulations,” said Olabode, who supervises the foundation’s rangers.

    Loggers even have resorted to violence to ensure their timber supply. Olabode recounted when assailants with assault rifles attacked a rangers’ patrol base in 2021, and loggers just kept cutting trees.

    “Our rangers escaped with injuries, and we notified the authorities, but nothing was done, and we have not gone back there due to security concerns,” Olabode said, adding that the area is now unprotected.

    The government says it plans to employ the military and police to combat illegal operators. It urges loggers who follow the rules to “fight their members who are into illegalities.”

    ___

    This is the second in a series of stories from the Omo Forest Reserve. Read the first installment here.

    ___

    Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • 100-year-old ginkgo trees could get the axe under disputed plan for Tokyo’s Jingu Gaien park

    100-year-old ginkgo trees could get the axe under disputed plan for Tokyo’s Jingu Gaien park

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    TOKYO — Miho Nakashima stood in a two-piece bathing suit in Tokyo on Sunday next to a 100-year-old gingko tree, her body painted head-to-toe in green leaves and brown branches.

    Her message was clear, and she repeated it standing at the heart of the Jingu Gaien park area, its sanctity threatened by a disputed real-estate development plan

    “I’m a tree,” she said. “Don’t chop me down.”

    A plan approved earlier this year by Gov. Yuriko Koike would let developers, led by Mitsui Fudosan, build a pair of 200-meter (650-feet) skyscrapers in Jingu Gaien, mow down trees in one of Tokyo’s few green areas, and raze and rebuild a historic rugby venue and an adjoining baseball stadium.

    Takayuki Nakamura, among a few hundred who gathered on Sunday to protest, pressed his face into the bark of one tree and prayed. The area was set aside 100 years ago to honor Japan’s Meiji Emperor.

    “I want to appreciate the existence of these trees. Sometime I can feel some sounds inside,” he said.

    The planned redevelopment would take more than a decade to finish, and has attracted lawsuits with mounting opposition from conservationists, civic groups, local residents, and sports fans.

    Eighteen ginkgo trees behind the rugby stadium are likely to be cut down.

    The flashpoint has been trees, green space, and who controls a public area that has been encroached on over the years. Also at issue is the fate of more than 100 gingko trees that line an avenue in the area and provide a colorful cascade of falling leaves each autumn. Botanists say any construction is sure to cause damage.

    Critics say the plan has been rammed through despite a botched environmental assessment as real-estate developers take what was intended as public land and turn it into a private commercial venture.

    Famous Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami has opposed the plan. And composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto sent an open letter to Koike deriding the plan just days before his death on March 28.

    The rugby stadium was used during the 1964 Olympics, and Babe Ruth played in 1934 in the baseball stadium along with other American stars facing Japan’s best players.

    The project highlights the ties among the main actors: the governor, Mitsui Fudosan, and Meiji Jingu, a religious organization that owns much of the land to be redeveloped.

    “The redevelopment of the park is obviously a public issue,” Koichi Nakano, a political scientist at Sophia University, told The Associated Press earlier this year. “At the same time, they (politicians) can claim that it is a private decision of a religious organization and the developers.

    “But because Jingu Gaien is also a public park with sports facilities, politicians can — and do — meddle in the decisions. Which results in the cozy, probably collusive relationships among the insiders that are unaccountable to the public.”

    About 1,500 trees were chopped down in the same area to build the $1.4 billion stadium for the Tokyo Olympics. The Olympics also allowed the city to change zoning laws, which may permit developers to further encroach on the park area.

    “This is like building skyscrapers in the middle of Central Park in New York,” Mikiko Ishikawa, an emeritus professor at the University of Tokyo, told The Associated Press.

    Developers have argued the two sports facilities cannot be renovated and must be razed.

    However, Koshien Stadium near Kobe, built in 1924, has been renovated over the last 15 years, much in the same way that Fenway Park (1912) in Boston and Wrigley Field (1914) in Chicago are still viable for two of MLB’s most famous teams.

    Meiji Kinenkan, a historic reception hall, dates from 1881 and is still in wide use in Jingu Gaien with no calls from its demolition.

    “The development companies are trying to cut down more trees and make a huge business area,” Nakashima said as a leaf was painted on her cheek. “The park has a very long history and should be saved.”

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    AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

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