Why bother having trees?

Sorry to be late with my post this week – I was away reviewing grant proposals.  It was interesting and useful work, but really drains your brain.  So with that being said, my post is long on pictures and short on words.

One of the things that bugs us GP types is poor plant placement.  Why bother planting a tree if you’re not going to allow it to grow naturally?  Here are some photos to mull over the weekend.  While I have lots of bad pruning pictures, these ones are chosen specifically because the trees were obviously poor choices for either site usage or size.

Because my sense of humor seems to have been left at the grant reviewing venue, I can’t think of amusing captions for these pictures.  But I’ll bet you can!  Just submit them in the comments sections, and I’ll repost the photos later next week with your contributions.

Photo #1

Photo #2

Photo #3

Photo #4

Photo #5

Published by

Linda Chalker-Scott

Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott has a Ph.D. in Horticulture from Oregon State University and is an ISA certified arborist and an ASCA consulting arborist. She is WSU’s Extension Urban Horticulturist and a Professor in the Department of Horticulture, and holds two affiliate associate professor positions at University of Washington. She conducts research in applied plant and soil sciences, publishing the results in scientific articles and university Extension fact sheets. Linda also is the award-winning author of five books: the horticultural myth-busting The Informed Gardener (2008) and The Informed Gardener Blooms Again (2010) from the University of Washington Press and Sustainable Landscapes and Gardens: Good Science – Practical Application (2009) from GFG Publishing, Inc., and How Plants Work: The Science Behind the Amazing Things Plants Do from Timber Press (2015). Her latest effort is an update of Art Kruckeberg’s Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest from UW Press (2019). In 2018 Linda was featured in a video series – The Science of Gardening – produced by The Great Courses. She also is one of the Garden Professors – a group of academic colleagues who educate and entertain through their blog and Facebook pages. Linda’s contribution to gardeners was recognized in 2017 by the Association for Garden Communicators as the first recipient of their Cynthia Westcott Scientific Writing Award. "The Garden Professors" Facebook page - www.facebook.com/TheGardenProfessors "The Garden Professors" Facebook group - www.facebook.com/groups/GardenProfessors Books: http://www.sustainablelandscapesandgardens.com

7 thoughts on “Why bother having trees?”

  1. The first is a bit amusing…. the rest leave me speachless… but I’ve seen oh so many similar scenes I hardly blink at these.

    An Old Forester

  2. #1 Tootsie Roll Industries markets its latest pop introduction at its corporate headquarters.

    #2 Grow your own Living Telephone Pole.

    #3 Judicious pruning of the canopy allows for needed sunlight to keep your lawn green and healthy.

    #4 Half a hedge is better than none

    #5 Planting trees near your home provides shade, and reduces your energy costs in the summer months.

  3. The property owners’ explanations:

    Photo 1- City ordinace says we have to plant shade trees in all parking lots.

    Photo 2 – City ordiance says we must plant street trees and never mind that there is no room.

    Photo 3 – This fly-by-night tree trimmer stopped by and said I trimed your neighbor’s trees, do you want yours trimmed? And the price was so reasonable.

    Photo 4 – neighbor wars – one neighbor wanted hedge, planted right on property line.

    Photo 5- The tag on the plant from the store said it only got 10′ by 6′. What the tag didn’t say was that was at ten years. A full grown speiciman is 30′ 15′. Oops.

  4. #1 the latest way to go green is to mark the handicap spots with handicap trees.
    #3 either they are cutting costs and planning on saving some money on lumber to support their new deck or
    they planted some dormant bareroots and couldn’t figure out which side went up.

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