My Turn/Marcotrigiano: Towns’ trees will flourish if we plan well

In a July 5 column in The Recorder, John Blasiak presented a historical and critical account of street trees in Greenfield, titled “The root of our tree problem.” Mr. Blasiak concluded that the Greenfield Department of Public Works is incapable of maintaining a healthy tree inventory.

I have no knowledge of the tree care capabilities of the DPW in Greenfield, but I know that in most local towns, the DPW is stretched to the limit. Underfunding, understaffing and erratic weather, which has made budgeting for snow removal guesswork and has increased the damage to older trees, have tested the capacity of the DPW.

Yet, no matter the cause, not planting enough new trees or caring for existing ones has logical consequences. If more trees are removed than are planted, in time, there will be a change to the character of our streets, neighborhoods and towns.

Too often the utility companies and DPWs regard trees as a problem. Can we blame them? If you are responsible for the power grid or smooth sidewalks or road safety, it is not hard to see why you might feel this way. But this points to the need for an informed decision-making process on how and what to plant in a particular area and whether a planting location is suitable or not for the long-term health of a tree or the infrastructure that surrounds it.

Greenfield has a tree advisory committee, and I am on the new one just starting in Montague. It is hoped that the knowledge of these committees can assist our towns in managing their tree inventories, getting grants, engaging youth and picking the right species for particular locations.

As former director of the Botanic Garden and arboretum at Smith College, I want to inject some optimism about improving our tree inventory. By observing the performance of Smith’s trees for nearly two decades, I now feel confident that there are types of trees that can perform under rough conditions, such as exposure to road salt, small root zones, drought and space constraints. Conversely, I know what species not to plant. There are trees that can’t weather a heavy snowstorm without falling to pieces, trees that drop messy fruit, etc. There are no perfect town or city trees. But there is usually a species or two that can handle any given location if certain care is given.

When it comes to tree management in a small town, one might question the idea of studying major cities like New York or Chicago. But these cities have championed their own greening and have radically transformed urban space. Under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg in New York City, 1 million trees were added to the city! To read more about this investment for the future go to www.Milliontreesnyc.org.

When I visit New York City, it is not uncommon to see shop owners and homeowners watering and weeding the tree in front of their buildings after being made aware of research that show people are more likely to spend time shopping on tree-lined streets than on barren ones and that a neighborhood’s pride goes up as their streets become greener.

Some research has shown that tree-lined streets have lower crime rates, faster home sales and a reduction in the heat-island effect. Heat islands exist where hard surfaces like asphalt, concrete and brick heat up in the sun all day and dissipate the heat at night. I did a quick test using an infrared thermometer to measure the temperatures of hard surfaces. On a 91-degree day on Union Street in Montague the asphalt roads and concrete sidewalks that were unshaded were, on average, 20 degrees hotter than those shaded by street trees!

Street tree planting has come a long way. Architects and landscape architects are aware of the benefit of deciduous trees and often design plantings so that trees shade the western and southern exposures of buildings, reducing cooling cost in the summer while letting the sun’s rays warm the inside in the winter. New kinds of trees are available. There are narrow tree varieties for narrow streets, squat varieties for under power lines, seedless varieties that make less mess, drought-tolerant species for sandy soils, etc. There are constructed soils that get less compacted, new tree pit designs that are more root-friendly and slow release fertilizers that help with establishment.

We need to embrace these advances to help reduce labor and increase our success with town trees. Hopefully, our local tree committees will rally community support and encourage increased funding to green our neighborhoods. We need to tap the existing knowledge in our towns and cities. With community assistance, the fate of our trees may be more promising than we think.

Every time I visit my old neighborhood in Brooklyn, the canopy of smartly chosen trees grows more impressive. The house I was raised in, once in blazing sun, is now in a tunnel of shade under 30-foot trees.

After a hard day’s work inside brick and mortar, what is nicer than sitting in front of your house in the shade of a tree, watching a variety of birds flicker among the branches?

Michael Marcotrigiano is director emeritus of the Smith College Botanic Garden and a resident of Montague.