Out on a Limb

by Toni Locke

What better place to stir upon a story about trees and the pruning of trees than on Maple Avenue, a long east-west residential street that fifty years ago was lined with maple trees? Development destroyed them. New trees were planted. Four Maple Avenue neighbors supplied this tale about trees today. The first neighbor, at 3729 Maple, last summer called the Street Trees Department of Public Works Agency, requesting trimming of an overgrown flowering pear obstructing their front steps. They were patient. Nothing happened. Much later, without notification, a crew arrived and began severe pruning of trees across the street on their block. At 3729 the pear stood untouched. Enter homeowner number two, at number 3717, who is an artist, a mother, and a passionate lover of trees. She perceived what she thought a butchery going on and went all the way to the Mayor's Office to stop it. The Street Trees Department called off all pruning on Maple, according to Jerry Smit, Director, who also told the Metro of a budget so tight that more pruning was out of the question for a decade. So the overgrown flowering pear grew on. Time passed, and homeowner number three at Maple, while at work, got a frantic call from his wife. "They've destroyed our tree!" A city arborist had arrived, again without notice, and gave a ruthless cleaning out of all lower branches up to 14 feet of the ash tree that the owners themselves had planted in the curbside space belonging to the city, to soften the stark view out their front windows. They remain outraged at the lack of courtesy and are heartbroken having lost both beauty and function in their tree. The pear tree at 3729 remained untouched. The Metro called homeowner number four at 4015 Maple Avenue, the retired owner of the highly respected Nordic Tree Company. The city has done "reactive pruning, a categorical need in maintenance," he told the Metro. "The trees used for street planting are the weeds of the tree family, the only thing that will give quick results in narrow curbside spots where there is no place for a big root system," he said. The growth habits of these trees make them a nuisance and a challenge to maintain. Knowing the full complexity of the problem gives this Maple Avenue resident a broader view and sympathy for the Street Trees Department. He has beautiful trees on his own property and suggests that as a way to go. He didn't offer to prune at 3729. That's the job of the Street Trees Department. No matter how complex the problems, neighborhoods know from experience that without trees we have blight. Planting in recent years on Maple and many other streets has transformed the atmosphere. For maintenance crews, trees may be weeds, but for people they are good weeds, necessary for health and human happiness. With good information, flexibility, and courtesy, neighborhoods should be able to work with the city, and the city with us, to keep the streets green and shaded.