Construction Sites & Trees

7 Tips for Successfully Building With Trees
Courtesy of Arborday.org

If you have decided to save trees during construction, the Arbor Day Foundation advises you to decide which trees you wish to save and/or remove before beginning.

Show the location of trees you want to save on a plat of your property. Enlist the help of an arborist or forester to help decide which trees to remove and which to save. Some species are more sensitive to change than others. For example, some species growing in shade may do poorly if changes result in more sunlight. Each species also differs in how it can withstand root cutting or how susceptible it is to insects and disease.

In general, keep only those trees that are in good health. Save a mix of ages and sizes. Save groups of trees if you can rather than single trees.

Harmonize your project with the natural terrain and the trees you want to save. Consider this natural arrangement when you plan the location of buildings, sidewalks and driveways. You might also want to transplant trees that are less than two inches in diameter and in the path of buildings and other features.

In general, keep only those trees that are in good health.

Protect “save” trees from soil compaction and severed roots with barrier fencing of the critical root zone. Vehicles driving or parking over roots or construction materials stored over roots result in compaction of the soil which cuts off the air and water passages in the soil. Some cutting of roots near construction is inevitable but much is avoidable. For example, the routing of underground utilities does not have to follow a straight line from street to house. Route selection can often avoid important trees. When this is not possible, tunneling can be used to significantly reduce root damage.

Choose a builder who shares your commitment to saving trees and who has tree preservation experience. In building as in most other undertakings, experience matters.

Communicate your tree-preservation goals to everyone working on the project. Work with planners and architects, engineers and utility managers to place improvements where the impact on trees will be at a minimum. Meet with all foremen, contractors and sub-contractors who will work on the site. Be sure dozer operators, truck drivers and others are aware of tree preservation signs, fences and rules.

Provide aftercare to help trees recover from the stress of construction. Water periodically, especially in times of drought, and mulch the trees. Remove aggressive or noxious plants from natural areas.

In wildfire prone areas, break up solid areas of evergreens and avoid planting trees close to buildings. Keep trees watered, regularly pruned and in healthy condition. Prevent build-up of needles and dead branches. Visit Firewise for more information.

These tips and others can make your building project a success. To learn more, attend our Building With Trees Conference or a seminar at a site near you.
http://www.arborday.org/shopping/conferences/conferencelist.cfm

TREE DEATH OFTEN ROOTED IN PAST DAMAGE

Impact of construction can lead to slow demise for seemingly healthy plant

Excerpted from Dallas Morning News:
08:29 PM CDT on Friday, August 17, 2007
By ALLEN HOUSTON / The Dallas Morning News
ahouston@dallasnews.com

Trees that survive through new construction may not be out of the woods yet, according to several local arborists.

A home's location and root damage during construction can adversely affect trees over time. So 10 to 15 years down the line, what was believed to be a healthy tree can die.

The bulk of a tree's roots system is in the top 18 to 24 inches, while its larger roots are there to provide structural support. The heavy equipment from construction can cut the roots severely or compact the soil so much that the root system declines because of a lack of oxygen. A tree's root system can be as large as five to six times its canopy.

On smaller lots, construction can affect the health of the trees next door.

"Trees don't know property lines," said Phil Erwin, acting chief arborist for the city of Dallas. "If a house is built on a property line within a few feet of a neighbor's house, there is a good chance it's going to be impacted by all of the construction going on."

Harold Spiegel, consulting arborist for Preservation Tree Service in Dallas, said many builders and developers were becoming more conscious of saving trees. Proper protection can be time consuming and costly, he added.

"Dallas has become more aggressive than it used to be," Mr. Spiegel said. "But it lags very far behind the Northeast, California and some other parts of the country. I don't think we have learned that we have old-growth trees yet. In many ways, we still have a prairie-city mentality about our city."

Justin Regan, the arborist for Justin's Tree Service, works with builders and said much of tree protection depends on education.

"There are a lot of good builders that perform their due diligence and take care of trees the way that they are supposed to," he said. "Unfortunately, there are also developers who know that they...



PNB TREE SERVICES

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Stump Work. Stump work is done seperately from other tree work (requires different equipment). If stump grinding is done, the debris generated will be put back into the hole, any excess will be hauled away unless otherwise specified.

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