Replace your fallen trees

Montgomery has lost a lot of trees in the last couple of months, between the snow, wind, and rain (see first photo). Please don't be discouraged about planting replacement trees. If you choose the right tree for the place, or the right place for the tree, you have a much better chance of avoiding the kind of damage we are still cleaning up. I hope you will decide to replace any trees you lost, because Montgomery needs trees, and so does the earth.

The most important point I want you to know is this: don't plant a Bradford pear tree! This Frankentree is an environmental disaster. The Bradford pear tree is an example of a Callery pear tree, a type of pear tree that was hybridized to produce pea-sized fruit, so it could be used as a street tree. It has white flowers in spring (see second photo) and beautiful red fall color that recommend it to many people. Unfortunately, it has a weak branching structure, resulting in many fallen limbs (see third photo). Moreover, at the time of year when the fruits ripen, the birds are foraging for native berries, which are fatty, waxy berries, so they can store up energy to migrate, and the birds don't know that the Callery pear's berries don't have the nutrients they need. In fact, they barely have enough calories to repay the birds for the energy they expend in foraging. However, the birds eat the berries and spread the seeds in their droppings, and Callery pear trees are springing up in fields, hedgerows, and forests everywhere. Native butterflies' larva cannot eat the leaves of Callery pear trees, but they outgrow and displace native plants that do provide food for native birds and butterflies. Montgomery Township has banned the planting of these trees and other invasive exotic species on our Open Space and as part of any application for development, and the Shade Tree Committee holds volunteer events to remove them from our Arboretum.

If you are considering planting a Bradford pear tree, please don't. If you have one that has been damaged, why not cut your losses and replace it with a native tree? Callery pear trees don't live long, they are easily damaged in storms, and they are bad for the environment. If you want a flowering tree, you could plant a beautiful ornamental native tree, or if you like the look of a fruit tree, why not plant a flowering crabapple tree? These are not native trees, but the entomologist Douglas Tallamy (see my post titled "Why Native Plants?" from March 28) states that crabapple trees are the only non-native tree that native insects can use just as well as native trees. They have beautiful spring flowers (see fourth photo) and they are drought-resistant and very tough. Do check for a disease-resistant variety; Donald Wyman is a reliable favorite with white blossoms (see fifth Photo). In a future post I will recommend native ornamental trees.

Most people have noticed that the majority of the trees damaged by the storm were evergreens, because they presented much more surface area for the wind to work on. Evergreens also suffer disproportionately from heavy snow. It would not be a bad idea to plant evergreen trees farther away from your house and garage to prevent damage during winter storms. White pine trees all over town lost branches, but an informal windshield survey suggests that Norway and blue spruce trees were the most likely to be uprooted. Apparently they have shorter roots than most other trees. Since they can grow to be very tall, they can do a lot of damage to whatever they fall on. I would recommend that spruce trees, especially, be planted away from your home, or used only for places where evergreen screening is needed. The native Eastern red cedar grows well here in Montgomery in well-drained, sunny spots, with lovely blue berries that birds love to eat (see sixth photo). However, when it grows in shade it gets tall and spindly, which makes it prone to bending over (permanently) or breaking (see seventh photo) when weighted down by snow.

You can prevent some damage to your trees by keeping vines from growing on them, especially English ivy, which is famous for damaging even brick and stone buildings.

Remember to protect any tree that you plant from deer with a fence four or five feet tall. When the tree is little, a flag to alert lawnmowers is a good idea. If the tree is large enough that the deer can't reach its leaves or twigs, don't forget to protect the trunk from scraping by bucks' antlers in the fall, starting September first. Remember to mulch in a doughnut, not a volcano, and no more than 4 inches deep. Mulch should not actually touch the bark of the tree. Also, don't forget to water (equaling 10 gallons for a balled-and-burlapped tree) once a week for the first summer, when there hasn't been a soaking rain.

Soon I'll post some suggestions for native shade trees.