I recently attended a great talk about a tree planting program offered by the county where I live. However, before I share the details with you I’d like to share a bit about the importance of trees. They are all around us but you probably give little thought to how much they have to offer us. Read on and give these facts about the importance of trees some thought right now!
You probably already know that trees provide oxygen – and that’s good for us – but there are lots of other benefits that trees and their canopies (the area covered by the crown of one or more trees) provide!
Trees help cool sidewalks and create beautiful scenery.
Since trees are so important and provide so much it’s important to take good care of them. And in areas where there is a lot of development it’s really important to be mindful of how many trees are coming down and what can done to replace them.
Shade trees can help lower the surface temperature of playground equipment, an important benefit during the hot summer months.
There is a ton of development going on – both residential and commercial – in our county, especially in our neighborhood and town. It’s great for our economy and home values but it’s really hard to see trees – especially mature ones – come down in order to make room for a new home.
After attending the talk given by Tree Montgomery I felt better about it. Our county, Montgomery County, MD, has put in place a Tree Canopy Law which encourages the protection of trees during building and development. The law is in effect when a county sediment control permit is required for a project. This includes when a new primary dwelling or non-residential building is being built and for projects where a ground disturbance of more than 5,000 square feet will take place. As with many laws, there are some exemptions.
The sediment control permit calls for a Limit of Disturbance (LOD). The LOD basically puts a border around a development project limiting the area where disturbance to the site and trees can occur. The area, or size, of the LOD is also used to determine the number of shade trees that need to be re-planted on the property. The number of shade trees required to be planted is based on the LOD area. For example, an LOD of 6,001 to 8,000 square feet would require 6 shade trees to be planted, or in lieu of actually planting trees, the property owner/developer can choose to pay a fee to the county. In the example above the fee would be $1,500.
As a result of the Tree Canopy Law, the Tree Montgomery program was created using the fees collected from property owner/builders who opt to not plant trees. The program plants shade trees in order to replace important tree canopy that is lost with development projects. The trees they plant are species that will grow to more than 50 feet tall when mature.
In addition to planting shade trees, the Tree Montgomery program provides after-care for the trees it plants for up to two years. This care includes watering during the summer months, mulching, weeding and pruning.
The program targets its tree planting efforts in areas with little canopy cover or lots of development activity. In addition, county residents can submit a request to have a tree planted on their property at no cost to them. Once your application is processed a county staff member will meet with owners to choose species and locations for new shade tree plantings.
Guest blog by Pam Mercer. The original blog was posted on Pam’s website, Greenily.
Yes, yes, YES to trees. Trees are as precious and valuable to us humans in so many ways it’s really impossible to give them their due! And in our era of human-caused global warming, aka, climate change, trees are more essential to our SURVIVAL than ever before. Just a few trees make a huge, COOLING difference in our local communities. And forests in the U.S. and globally play a key role in slowing the warming of the Earth which will have increasingly disastrous effect the more we deforest our planet. Did you know we humans have already count down HALF the Earth’s forests? One simple solution to slowing climate change: stop cutting down trees everywhere, and plant more! LEARN MORE about the underappreciated carbon sequestering, O2-producing, beautiful trees all around us: http://www.TreeSpiritProject.com/about/whattreesdo