Maitland City Talk

Hello, my name is Brian and I have a problem. I see trees where there aren’t any.

I see them in sunny areas in parking lots and along sidewalks.

I see them on shore lines and in retention ponds

I see them by hot playground equipment and picnic tables

I see them calming traffic and improving storm water management

I see them benefiting our health and reducing our stress levels

Lately I’ve seen a lot of vacant planting sites in our neighborhoods

Yes, our tree canopy, graciously given to us by our forefathers, is aging out. We are losing the tree canopy as our over-mature trees are removed.

Urban trees are not a one-and-done item. They are a resource that has to be intentionally renewed. Your weed and feed puts an end to any sustainable natural tree regeneration cycle. A tree planted 10 years ago is only now delivering the menu of services it’s capable of. Tree-wise, we have to pay it forward. The next generation of the tree canopy is in our hands. Being more tree-literate will help us use better tree selection and strategic placement to maximize tree benefits. It’s our opportunity to start in motion the replacement of over mature, poorly placed trees with smarter choices for a better future.

Nationally, 80 percent of our non-rural tree cover is in residentially zoned districts. This demonstrates the value people place in trees in making lots with houses into neighborhoods with homes.

We all want:

• Oxygen

• CO2 sequestering

• Lower particulate matter to breathe

• Cooler temperatures

• Energy savings

• UV protection

• Bird habitats

• Cleaner lakes

• Lower cortisol levels

• A sense of place

Help me with my problem; take away the voids where trees could be.

I’ll be at the Maitland Farmers Market to help you see where a tree could be in your yard and neighborhood. Come to the Farmers Market on April 27 between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. and get a tree. Take it home and plant it where the sun does shine in your yard using “right tree right place” principles and water, water, water two or three times per week.

If you can’t plant a tree; take time to walk around one of Maitland’s many parks and take a breath. Imagine witnessing a breaching whale. Look at the trees and see it as one of the largest organisms on earth. Don’t hold the lack of a central nervous system against it. It reacts as a symphony to the surrounding environment to open and close stoma in managing air and water systems, to operate a complex internal defense system of compartmentalization, to moving raw materials to a point of production and transporting product away... Hug a tree.

— Written by Brian Dierks, Arborist at the City of Maitland