| More trees, please |
By: SUZANNE ROOK, Managing Editor
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Posted: Friday, March 27, 2009 10:38 pm
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Trees, memorialized for centuries in poetry and prose, are valuable for more than their beauty alone — that’s the message the Environmental Quality Commission is working to convey.
By educating the community and enacting stronger ordinances, EQC Chair Daniel Jones believes Northfielders can use trees to their best advantage, not only enhancing the city’s aesthetics, but managing energy costs, cleaning the air, providing a home and food for animals and increasing property values.
A tree advisory group, a seven-member panel of local arborists, master gardeners and
managers of both colleges’ natural lands, is advising the EQC about possible changes to city ordinances. The EQC, in turn, is working with City Planner Dan Olson as the city’s land use regulations are revised.
A draft of the regulations is expected in the next couple of weeks.
The most significant change, if the proposed language is approved, would ensure significant trees removed during development are replaced, said Olson. Significant trees, he said, would be determined by an arborist during a required tree survey of each site.
New regulations could also have residential developers planting what Olson calls street trees. Those trees, planted not far from the roadway, would, as they reach maturity, form a much-desired canopy over the street.
In older neighborhoods, some canopies have disappeared as trees were trimmed to make way for power lines; not a problem in newer developments where utilities are underground.
The ordinance would list varieties for planting along the street: those that are disease-resistant, can tolerate salt used to de-ice streets, with roots that won’t disturb sidewalks and don’t drop seed pods that can litter the roadway.
A wider variety
Given the uproar over trees lost to road construction projects in recent years, the city’s engineering department has rethought its tree policies, too.
Even before the pavement comes up, arborists inspect trees along the route, determining whether they’re good specimens or need to be replaced with a healthy tree, said City Engineer Katy Gehler-Hess.
Trees can appear healthy, but be at the end of their life cycle, making it wiser to remove them during road work, she said. Other trees, whose roots will be impacted by the replacement of sewer and water lines, are also removed.
The city has taken a proactive approach with ash trees, said Gehler-Hess, expected to be hard hit by an invasive species already in Wisconsin and making its way west.
In the First Street road reconstruction project, set for this spring, about a dozen trees will come down. Most are ash trees, with about five in Way Park.
Tree trimming along the project route is set to begin the week of April 6, earlier than in previous projects. Trees will be trimmed while still dormant, said Gehler-Hess, to keep them from being shocked during their growth period.
Property owners have been notified of the trimming and where trees are set for removal. Other trees may still be felled, she said, though that won’t be known until construction crews get into the ground and determine where decades-old service connections lie.
Trees along the city right-of-way will be replanted, said Gehler-Hess, but they’ll be replaced with species that at maturity won’t reach the power lines.
Expect to see a number of different species — providing a wider variety of shapes, sizes and fall colors. It also ensures all of the city’s forest doesn’t fall prey to one disease or deadly insect.
Spruce up your yard with a tree
Northfield’s Shade Tree Replacement Program offers trees for the boulevard and front yard of city residential properties. Trees are offered on a first-come-first-served basis from April 6 to 17. Property owners may order up to six trees, provided their placement meets city guidelines.
One hundred and two trees in different varieties are available, and cost from $59 to $79 apiece, depending on variety. Mulch is available for $10 per tree. Tree costs include locating utilities, planting and the first watering. Payment must be made when ordering. Trees will be planted from May 4 to 8, weather permitting.
Property owners may plant the tree(s) themselves; however advance arrangements must be made.
Trees are not guaranteed. After planting, owners are responsible for staking and watering.
For information, visit www.ci.northfield.mn.us or call 645-3050 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday - Friday).
In Dakota County, bare root tree seedlings are available through April 10 from its Soil and Water Conservation District. Availability is limited.
The SWCD is offering 26 different native tree and shrub varieties. Bundles are $35 and contain 25 bare root seedlings of the same variety. The trees will be available for pickup at the Dakota County Fairgrounds in Farmington on April 23 and 24. To order, or for more information, visit www.dakotacountyswcd.org or call 651-480-7776. Payment by cash or check is required when ordering.
Hearty SE Minnesota trees
•European black alder
•Manchurian apricot
•River birch
Native trees
•White ash
•Red oak
•Sugar maple
•Basswood
•American elm
•Bur oaks, maples and basswoods are native to eastern and southern Rice County
Trees good near power lines
•Ohio buckeye
•Blue beech
•Harvest gold crabapple
•Prairie rose crab
Salt-tolerant trees
•Ohio buckeye
•Burning bush
•Northern catalpa
Source: University of Minnesota Extension, city of Northfield
— Suzanne Rook can be reached at srook@northfieldnews.com or 645-1113. |
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