cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/998526
Shamelessly stolen from u/OccamsLoppers on Reddit.
A few trees really don’t do much. My half acre lot is a biodiverse garden covered in 3 pollinator gardens and a half dozen tree varieties but it’s delusional to think that’s helping with global warming. The sad reality is the big corporations are the ones doing the bulk of the damage and aren’t going to stop unless we make them. They also aren’t doing shit to reforest the planet.
You are wrong. Every tree planted makes a difference, so your garden does, and mine, and the gardens of people reading this thread. Let’s just do both, plant more trees and stop big corporations from doing more damage.
Really, even the tiniest thing helps. Even a pot of parsley on the windowsill. Please do not give up and seed something.
I don’t think we are talking about global warming, tree are very good at local climate control. The shade plus evaporation from the leaves can lower the temperature by several degrees.
In this study they observed that cities area with trees can be up to 12°C cooler than area without trees. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2298675-trees-cool-the-land-surface-temperature-of-cities-by-up-to-12c/
PS: I’m an arborist who creates tree planting plans for a living, let me know if you need advice!
I have a dogwood in my front yard that needs a proper trim. I’m quite handy but I wonder what you think I should do hire an arborist or just research myself and try to use a light touch while trimming branches?
Worthwhile to learn for yourself even if you hire someone—bad pruning is ubiquitous in the tree care industry, even by so-called professionals. Keep in mind that trees don’t need pruning for their own sake. So before doing any pruning you want to have a clear goal in mind. A young tree that you can reach from the ground is easy enough for a layman to prune if you do your research. If it’s bigger I might hire someone but ask questions and ensure they have the proper certifications: ISA in the US.
Thanks!
Why does our HOA (who says the city requires it) make us plant a tree between the sidewalk and the street so that in the next 10-20 years the sidewalk is all fucked from the roots, and low branches make it annoying for anyone over 5ft to use the sidewalk?
The idea is that the trees planted will provide benefits that far exceed the costs of pruning or sidewalk repair. These costs can also be minimized with proper species selection, though in my experience HOAs typically lack the expertise to make good decisions on that topic.
This study found that for every dollar spent on tree installation, maintenance, repairs, etc, $5 of public value was returned. Seems like a good investment! https://www.fs.usda.gov/psw/publications/mcpherson/psw_2016_mcpherson004.pdf
Unfortunately, the benefits of trees are often intangible and dispersed across the community, while the costs can be more immediately felt in some cases. Ideally, your town’s urban forestry program should bear these costs so that they can be more evenly distributed like the benefits, but the political environment in some areas does not always allow for enough budget.
This is really interesting, thanks! I had no idea. Our HOA does have a list of approved and disallowed trees but I don’t know the extent of it. Luckily we were able to plant a tree that is local to the area and is a small tree when fully grown. And I do really love that there are lots of trees in the neighborhood.
It’s funny you mention sidewalk repair because I feel like I’ve ever only seen that in one place I’ve lived. Highly anecdotal, I know. Hopefully in several years when the trees are more mature and the sidewalk has issues, the city will fix it.
Unfortunately, that sounds like more of an issue of bad governance than a tree problem per se. Sidewalks and other infrastructure can be damaged various ways, not just by trees, so if the local government is not repairing it then it will become a problem eventually. Keep in mind that many municipalities operate more based off of complaints than providing an even level of service everywhere. So if you are having a problem you may need to complain to get it fixed.
Because the city requires it? 🤔
How do I pick species that can handle the current climate in my region and the predicted one if shit really hits the fan?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardiness_zone
Plant things that are right in your zone instead of stuff from a more Northern zone, this way when zones shift they’ll survive longer as they’ll be one zone off.
I wish more cities would break open the pavement and plant more trees. It is notably cooler under the tree in my yard than under a parasol.
Even in my neighborhood there’s tons of front yard/driveways which are fully cemented. If people would only break it open and plant something. :(
All this concrete just absorbs all the heat and keeps radiating it when it finally cools down. A bit of green in cities would do wonders ( and not just a green patch in a sea of concrete )…
Definitely! San Francisco has a program where they cut into concrete to create more space. Wish more cities were willing to be that radical.
The US needs to do green infrastructure like Australian cities.
Personally I have far higher ambitions than that… but it’s certainly a start!
Now you’re speaking my language!
Is that a real building or a rendering? And if it’s real where is it?
Unfortunately just a render, we do have some green growth buildings like this one in Sydney but there’s been a few proposed project of this sort over the last couple of years. Here’s more on the rendered one.
Thanks. Unfortunately the renderings always look a little better than once its built. Growing vegetation on buildings is a cool idea but in practice it’s a difficult due to the harsh environment and low soil volumes, which often lead to sick or dead plants. Hopefully they have the proper design and maintenance strategy to minimize that.
That said, this technique has a huge potential to increase greenery in cities as the article correctly points out–the vertical structure allows for more vegetation over the same footprint. Not to mention that high-rise areas of cities tend to have the least greenery of any development style, so I support any way we can squeeze it in there.
In response to a suggestion for a million tree planting campaign, one of my mentors once said we should instead aim for a trillion leaves. He was referring to the increased leaf area of larger trees, but the same applies to smaller plants that are stacked vertically like this. Trees are the most bang for your buck but I’ve thought about trying to develop a program to encourage green roofs, vines, and other greening of buildings because that’s a lot of unused space at the moment.
I currently build a house. To get a permit for the building I have to plant and maintain(!) trees in the garden for the next 20 years - one large one (like beech or maple) or two smaller ones (like pear or hawthorn) for every 200 m2 of land. Only specific locally common trees are allowed. If I don’t have the trees I will be fined.
I mean that’s not much but it is a start. Trees should be mandatory.
Agreed! Sounds like an interesting system. Many areas require trees planted as part of development but it’s great that they specify size and a long maintenance timeline. In my area the builders have no responsibility after sale and so they plant tiny ornamental trees or inappropriate species. As a result, many new developments will never have the level of canopy needed to keep things cool.
I was just looking at Google maps street view from previous years in my neighborhood. There used to be trees in front of almost every house, now it’s less than half. It’s really frustrating. The street used to look so much lovelier.
Get out there and talk to your neighbors! In my city we are trying to form a volunteer committee to plant trees in front yards in every neighborhood. It lowers the barrier of entry if people can have the trees planted, and if they know who to turn to for advice on care. Some local governments may have programs or arborists who can help, and others have tree planting non-profits you could try collaborating with.
I agree in principle, but this just sounds like hell to me.
Oh no, planting a tree and letting it grow, the agony!
Change your search engine to Ecosia. You’ll plant dozens of trees a year!
I have to admit to chopping far more trees than I planted this year b-but that’s only because there were already too many trees around!
No such thing! Unless maybe you’re talking about thinning to reduce fire danger.
Just some trees had rot and were a danger to the house. But plenty of new ones are growing! One is even throwing some shade after only 3-4 years or so
I’ve seen the calculation somewhere, you’d need to plant more tress than there is surface space on earth.
It won’t solve climate change alone but every little bit helps and more importantly it will keep cities cooler to prevent mass deaths from heat.
But yes we need to both aggressively cut fossil fuel use and plant trees where appropriate.
Calculation is 1 tree = +1 shade
Which is nice but not going to stop climate change.
