Canadian Forestry journal, February, 1920 



HINTS ON SELECTING SHADE TREES 



By F. E. Buck, B.S.A., Assistant to Dominion Horticulturist. 



In nearly alj cases it will pay to procure good 

 nursery-grown trees. They have two distinct 

 advantages over trees dug up from the fields 

 or woods. In the first place they generally have 

 a larger number of feeding roots, enabling them 

 to withstand the transplanting process better, 

 and they are better able also to withstand heat 

 and light conditions which prevail in towns and 

 cities, young trees growmg m woods generally 

 being weakened by the shade of surrounding 

 trees. 



The question of the size of the tree is of some 

 importance. Greater success is possible when 

 small or medium-size trees are used. A large- 

 sized tree requires more attention after it is 

 planted, to tide it over the critical period fol- 

 lowing transplanting. Elms and maples are 

 generally procurable in larger sizes, and are 

 more likely to succeed ,than most other varieties. 

 For wide streets , avenues, or boulevards, trees 

 of the type of the elm, which is remarkable for 

 its vase-like and graceful form, are more suit- 

 able than compact round-headed trees, of the 



ype of the Norway maple. 

 Trees of the type of the Silver maple or even 



he Carolina poplar should not be selected ex- 

 :ept for some special purpose. The wood of 

 ;uch trees is soft and brittle, and limbs are easily 

 jroken off in sleet or wind storms. The risk of 

 damage to life and property at such times must 

 3e considered in selecting such trees. 

 Trees which have a natural beauty which is 



ipoilt when they are pruned of their lower 

 tranches, such as the beech, the Weeping Silver 



naple, or the Weeping birch, are not suitable 



or streets or avenues. 



Trees which shed their flowering, or fruiting 

 j)rgans, such as the Balsam and Carolina poplar, 

 I he Horse chestnut, or the Catalpa, and keep the 



idewalks untidy for some weeks each year, arc 



lot desirable street trees. 

 Trees which are short-lived ,or subject to in- 



ecl attacks, or are difficult to transplant, are 



lot as a rule desirable for city streets. 



TIME TO PLANT. 



The very best time of the year to plant all 

 •.inds of trees and shrubs is early in the spring 

 i)efore the buds begin to burst. The actual 

 lates vary with the season and the locality. As 

 I general statement, it may be said that in 

 \pril or early May would be all right, or just 



as soon as the ground has thawed out and dried 

 out sufficiently so that the soil is mellow enough 

 and suitable for working in well around the 

 roots. Periods of dull weather afford a good 

 opportunity to do planting successfully. 



Where the planting can be more conveniently 

 accomplished in the autumn, the best period to 

 plant is as soon as the leaves begin to fall, which 

 is generally the latter part of October. Ever- 

 greens, however, must be planted earlier than 

 October. In September and not later than the 

 15th has been found to be a good time to plant 

 them. Planted at that time, they have an op- 

 portunity to become established before winter 

 sets in. 



DISTANCES APART AND POSITION. 



The area of the root system of any tree is 

 generally equal to, and in a few cases greater 

 than, the spread of the branches above the 

 ground. Therefore if the branches of two trees 

 meet their root systems will interlock, and it is 

 important to take this into consideration in the 

 planting and care of street trees, otherwise the 

 proper provision of an adequate feeding area 

 may be overlooked. Trees may be slowly 

 starved to death, in which case, many of their 

 large limbs die, and disfigurement of once hand- 

 some trees is the result. 



In most city streets of a residential character, 

 the best position for shade trees is in what is 

 called a "Parking Strip," which is the strip of 

 ground or greensward between the curb and the 

 sidewalk. It is well not to have this less than 

 four feet wide, and in this strip the trees should 

 be planted at distances ranging from forty to 

 fifty feet apart. When the roadway is first 

 built, and the width of the street from house 

 line to house line permits, it is be t to make such 

 strips ten or twelve feet wide. Frequently, of 

 course, no "Parking" strip is provided, and in 

 such cases the trees must be planted on the strip 

 between the sidewalk and the houses. Streets 

 sixty feet wide from property line to property 

 line, may be laid out to advantage as follows: 

 Soil space between the property and the side- 

 walk, four feet; sidewalk, five feet; planting 

 strip, six feet; roadway, thirty feet. 



No street should be planted with more than 

 one variety of tree, and these should be planted 

 at uniform distances apart, and in an even line. 



