“Making wise and well thought out choices when selecting trees will be your BEST investment”

At the time of this post, we will be heading into the early Spring, which has been proven to be the best time to plant new trees. Two reasons Spring, is optimal are; first you do not have to worry about severe cold or even a freeze that can damage your new plantings. Secondly, Spring is when trees are the happiest, they are pushing new flush growth, and they start to use all the sugars they have been storing up all winter, therefore, trees are running on all cylinders in early Spring.

Over my career, I have had the fortune to work directly with over 100 property owners, in a consulting role, that included installing their trees, as well as, having worked, in some sort of capacity, on hundreds of other projects. Trees are getting to be extremely costly, so the main theme of this post is, when choosing the tree species that you want to plant in your ‘urban forest’, make the BEST choice.

The BEST choices, are species that you have done some homework on, before planting them. Take some time to ask some questions, that will guide you to make the BEST selection. Asking other homeowners, and I strongly suggest, consulting with a well established and experienced Certified Arborist, that can help you. The BEST species selection, means that in most cases, your favorite trees, or trees that you had on another property, in any state other than Texas, should not be considered. Here in Texas, your favorite trees, or the pretty flowering species, are usually not the BEST choices. The species of trees, that can handle, and thrive year after year here in Texas, will be your BEST choice.

Texas, is unique for many reasons, but it truly special, when it comes to trees. Texas, is located in the USDA Cold Hardiness Zone #9. There are only a handful of trees that can not only survive, but thrive and become fully mature trees, in zone #9. I very much dislike, the meetings with property owners, when they ask me why their trees failed, or are underperforming. I have to be honest and blunt, I tell them, their trees failed, because they do not belong here.

Here in zone #9, the BEST choices are NOT anything tropical, yes this includes all palms, and all large fruiting trees. If you really need that one special tree, that may not be a BEST choice, but you just gotta have it, go for it! but accept that this planting requires you, to make certain environmental adjustments, that this special tree requires, so that it has a better chance to become a healthy and fully mature tree. A few of the many examples that you may need to consider, when planting anything, other than BEST species are; You may need to over excavate and haul off the soil around this tree, and import a special “constructed soil” that the special tree requires. Locating the specific area on your site, where the tree is to be planted, can provide some significant benefits, like for instance, a partial shade area, to help keep the tree cooler, planting at the bottom of a small slope, this adds extra retained soil moisture, and installing a fully functional irrigation system, to add additional hydration requirements, are just some of the considerations, that special trees may need.

To wrap this up, I do a few tree appraisals yearly. Most of my clients that contract me to produce an appraisal, are well to do owners, that are selling or buying a property, and they want to know the monetary value, that the trees on said property add. Healthy, fully mature trees, located in the right target zones on that particular property, add tremendous value to a property. When you are planning to add trees, please take some time, to make the BEST choices, it will pay off over time.

Healthy Trees…Healthy Soil

Tree Science is roughly only about 40 years old. The amount of information being produced, has added to create many subjects pertaining to the “urban forest”. One subject that has drawn my attention, is that of soil studies. Healthy tree species, that are tolerant to the environmental conditions, will have two main ingredients; adequate hydration, and soil properties, that each tree species thrives in.

As a professional Certified Arborist for around 15 years, when I consult on projects with sickly, diseased, or trees just underperforming, the first thing that I look into, is the soil and how much hydration are they receiving. A quick note here, is that too much hydration(over watering) using a sprinkler system, is way more common that a drought condition, so keep that in mind. My external studies that include soil, can be very dry and super dorky, so I will keep this simple and raw.

If you want to know what is going on with your trees(both good and bad), and that your trees, are correctly matched to your Geographical USDA Cold Hardiness Scale, start by examining the soil. Take a small hand shovel, or coring device, to dig the soil at various depths, various locations, and place about three handfuls into labeled plastic bags. Then perform a basic examination of each of your samples. A few things to test for would be; color/texture/organic matter/smell/and particle properties (sand, clay or silt). Now decide what samples you want and need to submit to the soil/plant lab and testing facility. There are fees for each sample, so only submit the critical samples, if your budget is limited. There are many labs that you can send your bagged and labeled soil samples, for analysis. The more information that you provide to the testing facility, the better the lab can prepare an analysis that provides recommendations in the report. The lab will provide any soil corrections, amendments, species consideration, and even fertilization. Every Lab provides instructions, on how to harvest a proper soil sample, how to label it, and what information to include when submitting your sample.

If your trees are not healthy, for whatever reason, it is usually directly related to the soil. One thing that is overlooked by property owners as well as, the Arborist Community, is an over compacted soil condition. If your trees are in a heavy clay or high amounts of silt, and the soil around the root plates has been damaged by paving/pedestrian traffic/urban development/vehicle traffic, or any disturbance to the soil causing it to compact, your trees will suffer. Overcompacted soil, destroys the small openings in the soil, that allow for water and oxygen to be absorbed by the trees root system. Once a soil is damaged, it is nearly impossible to re construct the soil properties that were present before it was damaged.

So in conclusion, this is just a tiny and small introduction into soil studies. There is so much more to get into after you receive your lab analysis. In the upcoming months, we will dive deeper into soils because, of extreme importance that there are some soils, that are compatible with healthy tree function, therefore you will have healthy trees! Moreover, there are some soils, that are very incompatible with certain tree species, that simply make trees; underperform/die/lack tree function/are more susceptible to disease or pest infestations and simply show the many signs of tree stresses. The biggest point of this posting is, to examine/know your soil, know your tree species, and identify where unhealthy trees are, as well as, healthy trees are, and what the soil conditions and properties of that soil, are causing your urban forest to either stress or thrive. Overall Tree Health, is very strongly connected to the soil composition, characteristics and properties of that soil!

Brian C Dunlevy

BCDTreeandEnvironmental.com

“Right Tree, Right Place, Right Time”"

This phrase refers to architects, city planners and property owners responsibility to choose the best tree species that is compatible with the site conditions. The best tree species to plant, is the one that has the greatest chance to thrive, and grow into a healthy, fully mature tree. Making this decision, involves doing some site homework. You cannot make a conscience decision without making site observations, observing the health of the tree palette on neighboring properties, performing some soils tests(anaylsis and drainage), and noting site advantages as well as disadvantages.

Notable site advantages would be a functioning irrigation system, ample soil volume on sloped surfaces, and a unobstructed photoperiod. Site disadvantages would be planting areas very close to asphalt, concrete, and compacted soil conditions. So a bit of homework and testing is a real responsibility, that must be considered when selecting the right species.

After making a list of the tree species that you prefer, and feel are good candidates for your site, you will need to study every species, collect some professional opinions, and use the site data to choose the right trees to plant on the site. When examining the different tree species, use the internet, a knowledgeable local grower, and maybe even a ‘saavy Arborist”.

If your preferred tree choices, are not favorable with your site conditions, and you really want to plant your favorite tree, then you need to think outside the box! Ask yourself, can you adjust the site conditions, or have a contractor make site alterations, in order for your species to thrive? Examples of this would be to import a specific soil blend, that your species requires. How about adding irrigation and drainage, to aid in the critical establishment period. Consider moving the tree locations, in order to provide more soil, less conflicts with hardscapes, and away from any type of traffic ontop of the root system. There are many ways to modify your site, in order to make a questionable species choice, make it on most any site.

When choosing tree species, it is so very important to be diversified. Monoculture is when sites have too many trees of same species. If a disease comes through, or even an infestation of an exotic pest, invades your site, good tree species diversification will save you from losing everything.

Always, Always, Always, buy your trees from the best growers. All nuseries provide specifications and photos, so that you can install the best available trees. Ask all the local growers if they are producing any newer cultivars, and do not be afraid to splice in a few of these trees on your project. Finally inspect your trees before planting. Check for trunk gashes, girdling roots, competing multiple leaders, foliar fungi etc. etc.

In closing, lets address the ‘Right Time” part of the phrase. Most trees gain huge advantages, if they are planted at the very end of summer, or early early spring. The cooler temps, allow newly planted trees to have a smooth establishment period. A fair share of all of our trees, will stress significantly if they are planted in the extremes(dead of winter, middle of summer).

Brian C Dunlevy

President of BCD Tree and Environmental