Observing street tree installation can often be like the old saying, “watching sausage being made.” Many times, arborists have to tolerate trees being planted in what is often referred to as tree crypts, where little consideration is given to the soil, space for roots, and tree selection. Expense and lack of communication are often sited as the main reasons for the neglect. Lack of communication is exacerbated by separate departments or contractors overseeing the planning, engineering, and installation. Have you used a successful strategy to have street trees installed properly? Please share it.
Georgia Urban
Forest Council
315 W. Ponce de Leon Avenue
Suite 554
Decatur, GA 30030
Telephone 800.994.4832
Fax 404.377.0480
gufc@gufc.org
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5 Comments
That is an excellent topic. Unfortunately, I think we are preaching to the choir in this forum. I see this as a major educational need for the larger world.
It could also be a good topic for a focus of a GUFC program that includes the general public.
Based on a presentation by Jim Urban at one of the GUFC’s quarterly meetings, Trees Atlanta began a campaign to encourage the City of Atlanta to plan for more linear tree planting areas. Urban’s easy-to-understand mantra is “Trees need dirt, lots of dirt.” Because this is easy for planners and city officials to understand, we have had support for larger planting areas on some new City projects. This information has also been helpful when requesting permission for concrete removal in existing sidewalks.
I agree this would be a great future program. I know we have done it in the past but with Jim Urban’s new book out, Up by the Roots, we are probably due. Since most our members are tree professionals, maybe the focus would be on different strategies on creating more planting space for trees and how to communicate its importance. As Cheryl knows, they have a great demonstration site of different strategies at their headquarters, a perfect location.
With fully integrative planning, all Green Infrastructure should be coordinated so that a symbiosis is created between inorganic and organic structures. Elongate the tree “coffin” along the sidewalk and build an adjacent stormwater dry well, 30″ wide and 5′ deep, filled with large chunks (4″-10″) of recycled concrete 4 ft deep, topped with 6 inches of #57 stone, capped with 3 inches of #89 stone, covered with Permeable concrete pavers with half inch joints, filled with 1/4″ stone. With the streets center crowned, stormwater will flow naturally into the dry well.
An average 450′ block will hold 15,000 gals of stormwater on each side of the street, with the lime in the concrete “sweetening” the acidic metals in the runoff. This allows tree roots to breath, expand and act as straws, while Mother Nature cleans the water as it filters back into the surface water recharge areas. Cost? 10% of what cities currently pay for piping polluted, untreated water into our erstwhile clean bodies of water (an outdated technology developed more than 2 centuries BC). Trees happy. People happy. More money for trees,
I would like to introduce you all to Addapave TP; a cold applied porous paving system that is designed to bind a selection of decorative aggregates, which provides an attractive and permeable surface for tree pit surrounds. This system has been found to be an excellent alternative to conventional steel grates, mulch, loose aggregates and concrete pavers. Addapave TP provides an ADA compliant, environmentally friendly, sustainable urban sidewalk environment. The system protects the root system from soil compaction and allows for an increase in aeration and hydration enhancing the health and extending the life of the tree. The Addapave TP system has been adopted by many US cities as a standard for urban tree plantings and has been utilized in the UK for almost 20 years.
Some of the many advantages of the Addapave TP system include…
• Permeable
• Highly durable
• UV Stable
• Low Maintenance-no replacement of mulch or loose aggregates
• Aesthetically pleasing, using natural and recycled aggregates
• No trash collection, animal waste or cigarette buds
• No liability as a tripping hazard
• More economical than steel grates
When you have a moment please visit our website, http://www.chameleonways.com to see more about this product and others.