Replacing Winter-Damaged Trees?

Larger shade trees, like this white oak at Squaw Creek Park in Marion, Iowa offer many benefits over smaller ornamental trees, local experts say. photo: The Gazette

Like gunshots, the loud cracks of breaking branches sounded through the cold after one of last winter’s ice storms at Greg Wiley’s farm in rural Washington, Iowa. The ice damage followed a windstorm last July that uprooted four century-old maples on the family farm at 2472 Hwy. 92.

“When the big ones go, that’s a big void to fill,” said Wiley, 46, who, like many Eastern Iowans, will be replacing trees lost in a series of damaging storms in the past year. Noting the popularity of flowering crabapples, redbuds and other ornamental trees, leaders of one environmental group hope Iowans don’t overlook large shade trees in those replacement efforts.

“We’re concerned that, when people have a space available that’s perfect for a shade tree, they’re planting smaller ornamental trees,” said Shannon Ramsay, president of Marion-based Trees Forever. “A large, mature tree provides huge benefits as compared to a small ornamental.” Ramsay said ornamental trees have their own value for example, as a better fit under power lines than larger trees. But she worries communities will lose the beauty and benefits of larger trees, just as when Dutch elm disease changed the landscape by wiping out the canopy of elms in the 1970s.

Surveys conducted by Trees Forever in Cedar Rapids and elsewhere show the value of oaks and other large trees. Among them: Large trees provide more shade, which can lower cooling costs; they improve air quality by absorbing more carbon dioxide; and they’re better at intercepting runoff, a growing problem in areas under development.

Mark Vitosh, district forester with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said he is more concerned about tree diversity than size. Right now, for example, too many silver maples are being planted. “We’re setting ourselves up for problems if we plant the same type of tree. “That’s where we’re getting in trouble.” Vitosh suggested that Iowans who have room for three trees plant three different varieties. “That way, if a disease or insect problem comes, they don’t lose everything,” he said.

A survey of 5 percent of residential trees in Cedar Rapids last year by Trees Forever found that ash is the most prominent species. The destructive emerald ash borer has been found 80 miles away in Illinois, so Cedar Rapids will preemptively remove some ash trees that might be susceptible to damage.

Craig Hanson, Cedar Rapids Public Works maintenance manager, said city trees suffered a difficult winter. Crews removed about 1,400 tons of tree debris from city rights of way and another 200 tons from parks. The collection started after a December ice storm and lasted well into April.

In Iowa City, Parks and Forestry Superintendent Terry Robinson said the forestry division’s work from just one ice storm in December cost $21,000. The February 2007 storm was even more devastating to trees, he said, “all within less than a year.”

Mike Hershberger, president of Forever Green Landscaping and Garden Center in Coralville, said many customers are looking for varieties of red maple, for their flaming color in the fall. Customers still need to be aware of the distance trees should be planted from a home and other factors, such as how tall a tree will grow.

Source: Cindy Hadish, The Gazette