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Street Trees For Hawaii 



By C. S. JuDD, Superintendent of Forestry. 



The progress now being made in paving the streets of Hono- 

 lulu brings to the fore the question of street tree planting. This 

 is a wide subject which deserves a great deal of careful thought 

 and planning, but only a few of the salient points can be men- 

 tioned in this brief article. 



One of the underlying principles to observe is the necessity of 

 following some definite system for the planting of each street or 

 portion of street. If each property owner, according to his own 

 fancy, plants a different species of tree in front of his property, 

 it is obvious that the results will not be homogeneous or pleas- 

 ing. For proper effect, the same kind of tree should be planted 

 on each side of the street, but the species may be changed at turns 

 or at the end of long blocks. The Outdoor Circle has accom- 

 plished splendid results with work of this nature on many of 

 Honolulu's streets and avenues and it is hoped that this will be 

 continued. 



The question of what species of trees to plant is always bound 

 to come up and much of the success of street tree planting de- 

 pends largely on whether this question is properly answered. 

 A tree that has a good appearance throughout the year is, as a 

 rule, a more satisfactory street tree than one which, on account 

 of its deciduous habit, is devoid of leaves for several months. 

 For this reason the golden, pink, and pink and white showers and 

 the jacaranda, though of undoubted beauty and splendor while 

 crowned with their attractive and gay blossoms, are rather un- 

 presentable with their bare branches during the off season. It is 

 a matter of individual choice as to whether the attractiveness of 

 such trees in their blossoming period outweighs their ordinary 

 appearance at other times. 



The situation has much influence on the choice of street trees, 

 for it is obvious that trees which are not wind-firm should not be 

 used in very windy localities. For this reason, the pepper tree, 

 while very attractive in appearance, is not a success, because of 

 its shallow-rooted habit, in exposed situations unless it is kept well 

 trimmed back. 



The usual tendency is to plant street trees too close to each 

 other because at the time of planting it is hard to picture the size 

 to which the trees will grow. In most cases it is inadvisable to 

 plant them less than thirty feet apart, while with large-crowned 

 trees, such as the monkey-pod, sixty feet is not too far apart. 



Street tree planting, however, does not cease with merely put- 

 ting the trees into the ground. This is only the starting point, 

 for each tree should be adequately protected while small either 

 by a tree guard or by being staked, should be trained by judicious 



