Do you know the Dr. Seuss story called "The Lorax"? Well, we may appear to be bringing that story to life this week. In quick synopsis, the story is about the Lorax, a tree-loving creature who speaks for the Truffula trees "because they have no tongues". The Once-ler is a greedy factory owner who wants to cut down the Truffula trees. With great rhymes and charming pictures the story concludes with an ominous warning to preserve natural beauty.
Go to this site to see a 25-minute movie of "The Lorax" story:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6650219631867189375#
Welllllllll, this week on our lot we are having most of the shrubs and trees removed. Shocking, but necessary. It doesn't sound very eco-friendly to remove vegetation, but a closer look at the situation will, I think, show that these actions are necessary.
The biggest concept here is "right plant in the right place". Even a large, well established tree isn't necessarily eco-friendly if it isn't right for the place where it's planted. It may need extra water, may have invasive roots, weak wood, lots of seeds that let it out-compete other more native species, it may have lots of shallow roots that put up sprouts thus spreading vegetatively as well as by seed. If it bears fruit there may be no animal adapted to consume that fruit. It may be prone to disease. There are many reasons why a tree or shrub is inappropriate for the space it is planted in.
We have had 2 arborists, several people at the MO Botanical Garden and a well known reference book (Michael Dirr's "Manual of Woody Landscape Plants") to guide us in our decision about what to do with the trees and shrubs on our lot. The consensus is that they are all badly placed weed specimens with little value and may even cause future headaches. Here's an inventory of the major trees and shrubs and their associated problems:
American Elms precariously planted on a hillside, these trees should be in a flood plain or wetter area; they are prone to many diseases, most notably Dutch Elm disease.
Siberian Elms planted on a hillside; are resistant to Dutch Elm disease, but have rapid weak growth and little ornamental or environmental value; Dirr calls them "one of, if not, the world's worst trees".
Silver Maple that is probably an OK tree, but it has been girdled by a thick wire resulting in damage around the whole tree, it has also been "topped" repeatedly and damaged by previous construction projects.
Tree of Heaven which is grown in China as a food source for silkworms; is very tolerant of pollution, but very invasive via root suckers; it has no real landscape value and poses a hazard because of rapidly growing, weak wood.
The main shrubs on the lot are bush honeysuckle, a highly invasive plant that the Missouri Department of Conservation wants to eradicate. Go to this site to see a brochure that MDC produced on bush honeysuckle: http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/Documents/15700.pdf
There are a few other shrubs, most notably some Rose of Sharon (Althea) plants that have not been tended and are to be removed.
Other perennials including daylilies and goldenrod have been transplanted onto other property since they are likely to be damaged during the clearing of the other plants.
What about the animals? There appear to be no permanent residents in the trees, although many birds and squirrels visit the honeysuckle bushes (which incidentally increases the spread of this invasive plant). Our tree expert is well aware of our concern for animals impacted by the tree removal and has a history of saving animals while doing his job. We are prepared to take any affected babies or adults to local wildlife rescue organizations. At this time of year there shouldn't be any babies, but we're ready in case. Since we currently live next door to the build site, we will install well stocked bird feeders and even leave out peanuts for the squirrels.
And how about the future? It is our hope that we have planned well enough to control the impact of this tree removal. We are going to transition the non-native, badly placed plantings to MO native species or plants from the MO Botanical Garden's Plants of Merit program. This will take some time since the house has to be built first.
It is our hope that someday the Lorax and his friends will want to come back.
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