Columnists
Myths about trees
My inspiration for this week’s article comes from two different places. First, from an article written by a colleague that I have the utmost respect for: Stephen Westcott- Gratton on the Gardenmaking. com site; and secondly, from a series of videos I just filmed for ONtree, the Ontario Tree Care Experts. In both cases, the focus was on the myths and mistakes we make when it comes to trees in our homes and neighbourhoods.
With all of the national pride happening across the country, it is amazing that one symbol we all seem to recognize, the maple leaf, is often used incorrectly. In fact, in our money, the leaf used belongs to a Norway maple, which is actually an invasive species to our home and native land. Whoops! Thankfully, the leaf on the flag is a sugar maple, which is considered a native plant. Check out the difference some time in the leaves—the sugar maple has three lobes, while the Norway maple has five. This case of mistaken identities has gone so far that most homeowners I deal with actually believe that the yearround dark red leaf of the Crimson King Norway maple is in fact a Canadian maple. Unfortunately, the Canadian red maple is a green-leafed variety, however it will most often go a vibrant red in the fall. The best way to tell this tree apart from a sugar maple is the red leaf stems.
There are a few other things that we get wrong when it comes to our trees.
The roots of the trees echo the shape of the branches…just below the ground.
Admittedly, this is one I got wrong too! Over 80 per cent of the roots of a tree live between three and four feet below the surface. This is really important to know if you are using large machinery around them or planning on gardening or installing a patio. These activities can negatively impact your trees health.
To stop a tree from growing, all you have to do is cut off the leader.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t work. Taking the leader off of a tree may reduce the vertical growth…of that branch…but it does nothing to stop the overall growth of the tree. What it does do is make a tree into a potentially dangerous situation by forcing growth into areas that wouldn’t normally occur.
Trees take care of themselves.
This may be true in a forest situation where trees go together, but in our yards and streets where trees have limited completion, they definitely need some proper care. Bringing in a trained arbourist to properly prune your tree and to create a long-term care plan has never been so important as it is today. Especially with insurance companies denying claims from damage caused by a neglected tree.
Comments (0)