North Tabor neighbors – Tree planting time is upon us again! The opportunity to get a tree planted in your planting strip or your yard with Friends of Trees is here! What’s even better is that in honor of Friends of Trees 25th Anniversary, the trees are at a low cost of only $25! Go to the website or call to sign up (friendsoftrees.org or 503-595-0212) by Mon., Dec. 22nd. Moonrose, Jeff, and Robert are working to organize, answer your questions, and help North Tabor get more trees; and always welcome volunteers, so if you’re interested in volunteering contact us as well.
I suspect that the good volunteers at Friends of Trees are unaware that the trees they are planting will forever be small. It is my understanding that Friends of Trees organization is obligated to follow the policies of City of Portland Dept. of Urban Forestry, as well as PGE’s policies regarding the size and species of trees they plant. Several years ago I talked personally with one of the Urban Foresters and a PGE forester at the same time. They told me then that when one of the huge trees Portland loves is replaced, a lot of the time a smaller species is planted there. They claim that the planting strips where the big trees already are are “too narrow” for the same species to be replanted. The reasons these two men gave for this policy is that, they claim the giant species’s roots (the ones I know of are big leaf maple, chestnut, black walnut, elm, and Douglas fir) dig up the sidewalks and interfere with the power lines, which are UNinsulated, “hot” high voltage lines. I made a photo essay showing that some species of large trees are NOT digging up the sidewalk (black walnut is an example) and some of the smaller species’ roots ARE digging up the sidewalk. I said to the two foresters that I thought the power lines could insulated or buried, which would eliminate one problem with the trees. I told them: I suppose it comes down to one’s sense of values — which do you prefer, trees? or sidewalks and wires?