OCR Text |
Show The Serious Gardener By Ben Freestone STREET TREES A SELECT H ALF DOZEN Street trees in and of themselves can do more to enhance the environment and beauty of a city or a neighborhood than any other single, long-range investment. in-vestment. Now, we're not talking simply about the trees that a city government buys, plants and maintains we're also talking about those planted on neighborhood neigh-borhood streets by private citizens, since these are the trees which will contribute most to the total environment en-vironment of a community. What is the definition of a street tree? It is a tree usually low to moderate in height which is planted next .to the street or between the public sidewalk and the street to act as a buffer zone against the noise of traffic, to provide protection from wind and sun; and, of course, to beautify the neighborhood. Street trees are nearly always deciduous trees that is, they lose their leaves in winter; so, their foliage should be easy to clean up and their fruit, if any, should be sparse or insignificant. in-significant. Street trees should never grow tall enough to obstruct any overhead utility lines. Then, keeping in mind that there is no such thing as the "perfect" street tree (they all require some maintenance), here's our list of the six best trees for cities, towns and neighborhoods in the Uintah Basin area. We picked our trees on the basis of their resistance to wind, cold, drought and diseases as well as the considerations above. The winner: the bechtol crab. This magnificent, almost perfect tree is extremely hardy and grows only about 20 feet tall and 15 feet wide. It is somewhat sparse-branched and has few leaves to clean up. In spring it is completely shrouded with enormous double blossoms in shades of pink and rose. It seldom, if ever, bears any fruit. Yes, definitely No. 1! 1st runnerup: The scarlet or red maple. Expect somewhat less mature size at this altitude and climate but all of the spectacular rose-red fall color at about 30 to 35 feet tall. Small, insignificant in-significant scarlet red-winged seeds are no problem. Extremely hardy. . Best of all is that it grows fast in youth, then slows down greatly after ten vears- 2nd runnerup: radiant crab. It grows to 20 feet tall and wide. Select high-branched high-branched stock so people won't get in the way of branches. Spectacular array of cerise-red flowers followed by tiny, one-half inch fruit that hangs on and makes an insignificant mess in the street. 3rd runnerup: marshall seedless ash. Smaller than the green ash and no seeds to litter sidewalks; but with all the spectacular golden-yellow fall foliage color. Loses all its leaves almost at once so there's basically only one clean-up. 4th runnerup: European mountain ash. Graceful, slightly weeping, fernlike fern-like foliage to 25 feet tall with spectacular spec-tacular array of white flower clusters in spring followed by bright orange berries which cling into winter and attract snow birds. Leaves fragment when they fall so there's little mess. 5th runnerup: quaking aspen. Won't withstand passersby scratching its bark, but otherwise has everything going for it. Collect from the wild in earliest spring with Forest Service permit, or purchase at some nurseries. Nursery grown stock is expensive, but is usually grown from seed, so the chances of transplant shock and eventual dieback are greatly reduced. An incredibly beaufjtul native that needs no further words! |