Photo courtesy of Bill Johannes
In the fall of 2018 the Village of Marble Cliff contracted with Ahlum & Arbor Tree Preservation, a family owned full service arboriculture firm, for an inventory of all Village trees in the public roadways and Falco public park. The purpose of this GIS (geographical information system) inventory was:
- To provide an accurate account of the Village’s current tree resources
- Identify tree maintenance priorities
- Develop a management plan to promote the long term health and sustainability of the Village’s trees using this “working” document.
A total of 365 individual trees were included in the inventory with 33 different tree species present. In Falco Park alone, there are 20 species present in a relatively small space. The street trees represent nearly 65 percent of all trees however they are dominated by only 3 species; pear, crabapple and hawthorn. The idea of planting a single species along an entire road has become outdated and many cites and municipalities are favoring a greater diversity of species along the road. Using a variety of species adds diversity and can overlap features of interest, including color and flowering time, etc…With many of the catalpa and flowering pear trees reaching the end of their service life the Village has an opportunity to begin increasing species diversity and will keep the Village up with modern city and regional tree planing methods. The growing discipline of Urban Forestry recommends that no more than 30 percent of a given tree population should be of the same family, 20 percent of the same genus and 10 percent of the same species. Diversity reduces the risk of tree loss due to insects and disease.
The Village trees were evaluated based on both the biological and structural health of the trees. Of those trees inventoried, 74.5 percent are in fair condition or worse. The flowering pears, which make up 38 percent of all trees, averaged a condition rating below fair which indicates their age being mature specimens with structural defects. Many of the crabapples are also becoming over-mature. Trees that are in very poor condition or dead were evaluated for removal. They have either declined to a point where they cannot recover or have exceeded their service life.
Urban tree lawns (grassy areas between roadways and sidewalks) are notoriously tough sites to grow healthy, vigorous trees. Trees grown in these sites are often subject to nutrient-poor soils, soil compaction and inconsistent soil moisture, salt deposition and excessive pruning due to overhead utility lines or passing vehicles. Like most communities the majority of the Village’s trees are grown in these tree lawns.
Trees are vital to a community not only for their aesthetic qualities but also for their benefits to the larger ecosystem. Marble Cliff is dedicated to maintain and improve this vital resource. With this information the Village has implemented a 3 year management plan for pruning, tree removal and replacement and general plant healthcare. After 3 years the inventory will be updated and reflect the changes and evaluated for effectiveness and a new management plan will be outlined.
