TREES ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU THINK

By Howard Supnik

Look outside your door ... what do you see? Is the view appealing? Are there trees in the picture? If so, consider yourself lucky. Trees enrich our surroundings in so many ways.

So why are there so few trees in our developments? Trees keep the sidewalks cooler and reduce glare, thereby encouraging more people to walk. This not only promotes a healthier society by increasing physical activity and lowering heart disease and obesity, but also increases the social aspect of the neighborhood by bringing people outdoors. These "eyes on the street" can actually help reduce crime. Olin Partnership proved this when they redesigned Bryant Park in New York, and landscape architects all over the world continue to educate developers in this regard.

Trees also reduce runoff (which reduces flooding), filter out pollutants, and add oxygen to the air we breathe. Aesthetically, certain species provide beautiful flowers and aromas, leaves, bark, or fruit. Street trees improve the overall appearance of a neighborhood by giving scale to the architecture and providing a unifying element to the street. Before moving to Lancaster County, I lived in a neighborhood where all the houses looked the same and were very close together with shared driveways. On paper it sounds like Malvina Reynolds' song that Pete Seeger made famous, "Little Boxes" (on the hillside, made of ticky-tacky, and they all look just the same). But in fact, the mature plantings completely negated the monotony of the architecture and created a beautiful place in all seasons. Properly placed and cared for, trees increase the value of our real estate. The U.S. Forest Service has quantified the annual benefits of street trees in terms of the amount of air pollution removed, emissions avoided, storm water runoff intercepted and energy saved. The Forest Service figures translate into the fact that for every $1 invested in planting a tree, there's a more than $5 return.* But money aside, let's face it...trees greatly improve our quality of life.

With all the great benefits of trees, I ask again, why are there so few trees being planted in our developments? Could it be issues of personal taste, that some people really don't recognize the importance or joy of trees? As a child, I wondered why one person liked vanilla instead of my obvious favorite, chocolate, and my parents would tell me "that's what makes the world go 'round" and "wouldn't it be boring if everyone liked chocolate?" I continue to believe this, and have great respect for the differences in our world. These words of wisdom from my parents went way beyond vanilla and chocolate - this philosophy has taught me to be open-minded in terms of race, religion, politics, and lifestyle.

As a Landscape Architect, I am also influenced by those words, and although it seems of much less value than the larger worldly issues mentioned above, I have learned to accept why, for instance, some people prefer clipped topiaries to naturally pruned shrubs - grass to wildflowers - concrete to stone - and why some people prefer to have a landscape exactly like their neighbors while others strive to be different. I also accept that some people simply don't care about these things.

This is certainly a plausible reason for why so few trees are planted in our developments. What is harder for me to understand are the people whose moods are clearly affected by the landscape and seem to be inspired yet have no landscape to speak of at their own property. They may walk through an older neighborhood with mature trees, enjoying the comforting shade, color, texture and fragrance, but then come back to their neighborhood with few trees and higher temperatures and pavement glare and do absolutely nothing to improve their situation. This is the group of people to whom I'd like to reach out. These are the ones who recognize the importance of trees but have not yet acted.

For them the reasons for doing nothing may be financial. If trees are not planted for financial reasons, I would argue the 401K analogy. Much like a 401K contribution, people usually do not understand the exponential growth and rewards that planting a tree offers until they are a bit older. While the cost of a small tree is minor, it can grow two to three feet a year, and would cost significantly more to install at the size it reaches a few years later. The standard excuse from commercial developers for not planting trees is that they add cost and maintenance and take away space for parking. But in fact for all the reasons mentioned earlier, trees make a lot of sense, and may actually generate more customer turnout. The architecture of commercial shopping strips today is so homogeneous that one could be in Philadelphia or San Francisco with no way of telling the difference - trees would be the only clue.

Some homeowners may avoid planting trees for maintenance reasons, after all less trees means less raking. Well, this is not true for evergreen trees, but with trees that do lose their leaves in the fall, what about the joy a parent gets from watching their child jump in a leaf pile? And for those without kids, how could the brilliant color of Serviceberry or Sugar Maple not stir one's emotions?

I, on the other hand, held off on any landscape improvements on my property for other reasons - because of my insecurity that everything needed to be perfect all at once, partly the perfectionist in me and partly the landscape architect in me. I credit one of my clients for pushing me to begin the process, and as a result I now have seasonal interest, added functional outdoor spaces, and added significant value to my property. The bottom line is that when I look out my doors and windows I enjoy and appreciate what I see. If only some of the developments near me had been planted with trees when they were built, or homeowners each planted a tree or two - what a different personality that neighborhood would have today! I admit it... I prefer chocolate to vanilla, wildflowers to grass, stone to concrete, and raking leaves in the fall. I guess I should thank all those who could care less about trees and their landscapes, as it makes me really appreciate those who do care and the landscapes they live in. Maybe it would be a boring world if everyone had a beautiful landscape... that's what makes the world go 'round.

*"Census Shows Street Trees Add Value To City Life" by Linda J. Wilson, The Queens Gazette, August 22, 2007

Howard Supnik is a registered Landscape Architect in Lititz, Pennsylvania. His work can be found at www.howardjaysupnik.com

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