Establishing and maintaining healthy trees in urban environments can be an arduous task, requiring coordination between multiple stakeholders such as city departments, entities responsible for above-ground utilities, and adjacent property owners.
Downtown Grand Rapids has only five percent tree coverage. To increase this number and meet Grand Rapids’ canopy goal, DGRI is working in collaboration with others to increase tree planting efforts downtown. This weekend we will host a special event with the help of experts from Grand Rapids Tree Services Company. Here is some quick info about the event.
Sugar Maple
Acer saccharum (sugar maple) is well known for its vibrant fall hues of yellows, oranges and reds. Its five-lobed leaves widen at their bases while its dark gray bark becomes furrowed over time. Furthermore, this tree produces fruit with characteristics resembling helicopter blades; winged samaras contain seeds of Acer saccharum tree species.
Common in the hardwood woods of eastern North America, it dominates the understory layer where it flourishes among quaking aspen, paper birch and northern hardwoods. Other understory species include round leave dogwoods, beaked hazels, birch twigs and June berry shrubs as well as twisted stalks of wild gingers, sweet cicelys and bellworts.
Balm of Gilead
The Balm of Gilead tree, native to northern United States and Canada, is known for its aromatic resinous buds used to make healing ointment. Additionally, its leaves, twigs, and buds serve as food source for deer and elk populations.
Harvesting Balm of Gilead trees responsibly is of utmost importance as their population has been significantly diminished due to excessive harvesting for its resin and wood, habitat loss and habitat fragmentation.
Eloise Butler planted one in 1909 to recall memories of her home back east; this practice continues today as part of an old tradition that still continues in Western locations.
Black Ash
Black ash needs lots of water when grown in pots. Avoid overwatering or underwatering to avoid root rot; the best way to water this plant is allowing its soil to absorb moisture directly.
This tree is known for its short branches and ash gray to brown bark. It produces winged fruit (samaras) with narrowly oval shapes featuring an arcuate base notch that opens upward when in fruition.
Peat and muck soils provide optimal conditions, while sandy loams near waterways also prove suitable. Red maple and American elm are frequently present alongside this species in mixed hardwood-conifer swamp environments.
Balsam Fir
Balsam firs are slow-growing evergreen trees that can reach heights between 50-60 feet depending on their environment and growing conditions. Their needles grow in two more-or-less horizontal rows on branches that slant upward, and when mature their seed cones disintegrate to release winged seeds each September.
Balsam fir trees are generally resistant to most diseases, though they can be affected by certain insect pests such as the spruce budworm. Spruce budworm outbreaks have the ability to defoliate large portions of balsam fir and cause considerable root system damage.
Mountain Maple
Rocky mountain maple is an adaptable shade-loving tree, flourishing well in moist to shady woods. As such, it makes an invaluable asset to any woodland garden or woodlot.
This species can be found from Newfoundland to Saskatchewan in Canada, across northeastern United States and in Georgia mountains, where it grows in cool, shady forests with rock-draining soils.
Ideal conditions for growing this species is in a climate-controlled environment as its preferred temperatures tend to be cooler. However, outdoor cultivation is possible provided it remains shaded from direct sunlight and temperatures do not go beyond 85degF as this could damage its growth.
Hazelnut
Hazelnuts (Corylus avellana) are beloved landscape plants due to their delicious nuts. Additionally, they’re easy to cultivate as long as they receive plenty of sunlight and don’t receive too much irrigation water.
Understory conditions vary, from open to closed depending on canopy closure, with low shrub densities dominated by quaking aspen and paper birch with some northern hardwood species like alder-leaved buckthorn, thimbleberry and bittersweet present. Furthermore, herb layers consisting of twisted stalk, wild sarsaparilla and bellworts exist within this ecosystem.
Corkscrew Hazel (Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’) adds drama to any garden with its twisting stems and purple-husked nuts, creating an eye-catching focal point. A hardy tree that produces copious quantities of delicious nuts while providing stunning foliage all season round.
Blueberry
Blueberries are low-input shrubs that thrive in dry soil conditions with little nutrients available for roots. Birders enjoy them for their fall colors and winter fruit. Commonly called bluebead lily or blaeberry in other languages, this berry belongs to the same family as bilberries, whortleberries, and bog bilberries – it makes a good bird watching subject!
This BLEU is distinguished by an elevated tree canopy and low shrub layer that peaks between 3 to 6 feet, featuring beaked hazel, bush honeysuckle and blueberry as the main species; others included include mountain maple, round leaved dogwood and balsam fir as additional plant life.
The GRU features a diverse mix of soil types with clayey and silty soils as well as dry low nutrient demand areas, making prescriptive conservation essential to this region’s forestland production capacity.