The Wonder of TreesBy Shann Finwall, Environmental Planner

Do you ever wonder what a tree would have to say if it could talk? Probably a lot considering it lives in one place, sometimes for centuries, and watches as generations pass by and as communities grow and change around it.

Minnesota has 52 native tree species with an average life expectancy ranging from 40 to 400 years. A tree’s lifespan is influenced by a variety of natural events, including availability of water, sun, temperature, fire, pests, and disease. Human activity can dramatically extend or shorten a tree’s life.

The City of Maplewood values its trees. In December 2015, the Maplewood City Council adopted an amended tree ordinance that establishes standards for tree preservation and protection. The ordinance also helps enhance the City’s urban forest by encouraging the planting of street trees during road reconstruction. This is one of the goals outlined in Maplewood’s Living Streets Policy, which guides future road improvement projects. Other changes include a new

section on diseased and hazardous trees and licensing requirements for tree service companies.

Large, mature trees are workhorses, valued for their size and legacy. They provide a multitude of environmental services. In a single year, a mature tree can remove approximately 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide and 4.3 pounds of pollutants from the atmosphere. They also capture approximately 4,000 gallons of water a year. Healthy trees in neighborhoods enhance property values, increasing sale prices by 1% for a large front yard tree and 10% for a mature specimen tree. The amended tree ordinance encourages preservation of large specimen trees, giving developers credits for being creative in their design approach to preserve mature trees.

Maplewood became a Tree City in 2008. Tree City USA recognizes communities that properly manage their urban forest. In order to continue our standing, Maplewood must meet yearly standards including having a tree ordinance and observing Arbor Day with an event and proclamation. In 1876, Minnesota became the fourth state to adopt the tradition of celebrating Arbor Day. This year the state’s Arbor month theme is “Get your daily dose

of trees for a healthy you and me.” Trees improve our health by creating shade that reduces exposure to UV rays - the primary cause of skin cancer, decreasing mental stress and promoting healing, growing foods that are healthy to eat, and keeping the air clean.

Trees serve an important source of food for bees and other pollinators. Each tree has thousands of flower heads providing pollinators a bounty of food in one place. Maplewood is celebrating trees and pollinators this year with a March 19 presentation by author Heather Holm and a May 7 Arbor program for Girl Scouts called Trees for the Bees (page 3).

J. Sterling Morgan, creator of Arbor Day, stated that “each generation takes the earth as trustees.” This quote rings true with the care and keeping of trees, true wonders of the world. Trees are strong, resilient, timeless, and have a lot to say…if you listen.

SeasonsSeasonsThe Greening of MaplewoodThe Greening of Maplewood

Spring 2016Spring 2016

Importance of Trees

Environment Health Economic Food

Sources: MN DNR, Arbor Day Foundation, Maplewood Living Streets PolicyAdditional Information: www.maplewoodmn.gov/trees

SustainableMaplewood

Sustainable

Seasons 2

Frequently-Asked Tree QuestionsHere are some of the most frequently asked tree questions the City receives from residents and businesses. (www.maplewoodmn.gov/trees or Public Works at 651.249.2400)

How do the tree removal and replacement requirements in the amended tree ordinance affect me? Tree removal and replacement requirements only apply to new developments and to additions to single family homes that are greater than 60% of the foundation of the house. (www.maplewoodmn.gov/treeordinance)

Can the City prune my boulevard tree? The City trims trees for public safety, visibility, and tree health on City boulevards (boulevards are generally the area 10-15 feet behind the curb). Can the City forester look at my tree?

The City inspects the following: 1) trees on City boulevards that are diseased or potentially hazard-ous; 2) trees on public and private land with symptoms of one of three diseases – oak wilt, emerald ash borer (EAB), or Dutch elm disease.

If the City can’t look at my tree, who can? Volunteers with the Master Gardener program host a diagnostic clinic at 2020 White Bear Avenue North during the growing season. Explore the University of Minnesota Extension Service’s website

(www.extension.umn.edu) for tips and tools to diagnose problems, garden hotlines, and submitting tree and garden questions via email. Or support a local business and hire a certified arborist.

Has Emerald Ash Borer been identified in Maplewood? No, but there are documented sites within ½ mile of the City. View a map of current EAB sites at http://gis.mda.state.mn.us/eab.

What should I do if I suspect my ash tree is infected with EAB?

If an ash tree in Maplewood has signs of EAB (woodpecker activity in the tree, bark splitting, thinning tree crown) contact the state’s Arrest-A-Pest line (651.201.6684) or call Public Works (651.249.2400).

How do I hire a tree trimmer? The City requires tree companies to be licensed. This ensures the contrac-tor has insurance. It does not ensure the contractor’s expertise so you’ll need to question potential contractors to make sure they have skilled arbor-ists on staff. (www.maplewoodmn.gov/treecontractors)

What can I do about my neighbor’s tree? Falling branches, protruding roots, or piles of fallen leaves from a neighbor’s tree can sometimes become a nuisance. Concerns about your neighbor’s tree should be handled with your neighbor. Check out the Layperson’s Guide to Minnesota Law and Trees at www.myminnesotawoods.umn.edu/2008/12/minnesota-law-and-trees/.

Does the City have a tree rebate program? Yes, the City’s Tree Rebate Program reimburses 50% (up to $100 per tree, maximum four trees, and maximum $200 rebate) for trees planted on your property (some restrictions apply). (www.maplewoodmn.gov/treerebate)

Tree Replacement

Maplewood has a Contracted Tree Inspector

Ash Tree with Thinning Crown

Make Sure to Hire a Licensed Tree Trimmer

Seasons 3

Early Spring Trees – Help for Our BeesAnn Hutchinson, Lead Naturalist

Box elder blooms without petals.

Spring comma butterflies depend on American elm leaves when they are in

the caterpillar form.

A female mining bee feeds on prickly ash.

A female mining bee approaches her ground nest.

Cottonwood catkins look like caterpillars.

What do bees, butterflies, squirrels and woodpeckers have in common? They all use trees for food or shelter! You may know that woodpeckers and squirrels nest in trees, but what about these smaller creatures?

The tiny but colorful blooms of silver maple and box elder trees are often visible by early April. Clusters of deep red pistils and feathery yellow stamens make up the blossom of the silver maple, while delicate filaments hang from the tips of box elder branches. Although these blooms are pollinated by wind, many early spring bees, such as mining bees, eat the pollen and use it to make “bee bread” for their babies. Mining bee nests are burrows dug into soft, sandy soil. A mound of sand around the opening resembles an ant nest. These bees are not aggressive; they are important wild pollinators of spring wildflowers, willows, plum, and cherry trees. Squirrels help by nipping a wound in the trunk or branch of maples to feed on the flowing, sugary sap. The oozing sap also feeds mining bees, wasps, flies, and butterflies such as mourning cloaks and red admirals. Sap serves as an early food source until other trees begin to bloom. Our native flowering trees, such as basswood and black cherry, have evolved along with our native wild bees – providing colors and fragrance to attract them. One third of the foods we eat depend on pollinators for fertilization.

Tiger swallowtail and viceroy butterfly caterpillars feed on cottonwood leaves. Can you identify a spring cottonwood? Kids love searching the forest floor for cottonwood “caterpillars.” These red and yellow caterpillar-like “critters” are catkins – a pollen producing structure. Cottonwood twigs also have a hidden star inside. Cut one open at a node (swelling on the twig) to admire it. Morning cloak butterflies overwinter under loose tree bark. When the sun warms the bark in the spring, they emerge and take flight. They are often the earliest butterflies spotted in the spring!

Even dead trees (called snags) help our pollinators survive. Like woodpeckers, native carpenter and mason bees make holes in dead trees and fallen logs. These are their nests! Look for tiny holes in snags or logs. Inside, eggs rest on pollen or bee bread, which the babies eat after they hatch.

Make sure to get outdoors this spring to look for signs of early spring pollinators and the trees that help them survive!

Maplewood Nature Center Tree ProgramsNative Trees and Shrubs for Pollinators Saturday, March 19, 10:00 - 11:15 am $15 per person by March 10; $20 thereafter, seating is limitedAuthor Heather Holm will share her extensive knowledge of beneficial trees and shrubs for bees. Her book, Pollinators of Native Plants, will be for sale.Register at 651.249.2170 or www.maplewoodnaturecenter.com

Arbor Day Event – Trees for the BeesSaturday, May 7, 1:00 - 4:00 pm$10 per Girl Scout, ages 11-13 (the event helps fulfill the Cadette tree badge)Discover how to protect the trees and pollinators that depend on each other! Explore trees, make fun tree art, and learn about food products that come from trees. Register at 1.800.845.0747 or www.girlscoutsrv.org/events.

Heath

er H

olm

Heath

er H

olm

Myra

Smi

sek

Seasons 4

How can 13,500 trees go missing? That’s what happened to three groves planted in the early 1900’s by the Minnesota Federation of Women’s Clubs Fourth District.

Over four years, three large groves were established in the Keller Lake area with the goal of using revenue they produced for planting more groves and creating bird sanctuaries in Ramsey County.

At the Rounds-Aker Grove, Boy Scouts planted 3,000 trees in 1927. In 1928, an additional 3,000 trees were planted nearby, followed by a planting in 1929 of 2,500 pines in the Flicek Park area. And in 1930, 5,000 trees were planted on the “Anna O’Toole Island” in Keller Lake.

The Club became inactive after 1938, and over time the plantations faded from memory—until 2014. Former Maplewood Mayor, Bob Cardinal, had always wondered what happened to the boulder and plaque commemorating an elm grove planted by the Woman’s Club along Keller Creek. One day he went poking in the woods to see if he could find it. Among the scrub trees he found a large granite boulder. Maplewood’s Public Works crew hauled out the missing monument and the City rededicated it at Arbor Day festivities in 2015.

Intrigued by the discovery of the rock and plaque, Maplewood Area Historical Society (MAHS) and staff from the City and the County went in search of the historic groves. One grove of original trees was found -- red, white, and jack pines in the Rounds-Aker Grove on the east side of the Spoon Lake parking lot. A University of Minnesota researcher helped take cores of the trees so we could count the rings and confirm they were about 88 years old, and thus were likely from the original planting.

Most of the original 13,500 trees are gone. Many of the trees died from drought. Some were vandalized. Some succumbed to construction damage and development. American elms that survived the above assaults were devastated by Dutch elm disease in the 1960’s and 70’s.

To further explore the Mystery of the Lost Groves, see MAHS’s booklet, Keller Creek Walking Tour (www.maplewoodmn.gov/historicgroves).

LOGS: fallen dead trees • snails lay eggs• toads eat worms• chipmunks shelter• salamanders hunt• worms wiggle• sowbugs hide• beetles burrow• ants hibernate• firefly babies grow• foxes sleep

An Animal Hotel! A dead tree is a shelter & restaurant to many animals.

Solve the puzzle below for a secret message: By Oakley Biesanz, Naturalist

Answer: The tree is dead, yet it hums with life!

SNAGS: standing dead trees • owls roost• chickadees make a nest• tree swallows find a home• bluebirds sing• wood ducks rest• gray squirrels hide• woodpeckers eat insects

t _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ , _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ !

Fill in the color letters from the words above, in the order they appear, into the blanks below. The first letter is done for you: Photo: Jean Zoch

Historic Groves of Maplewood By Chris Soutter, Naturalist

Woman’s Club Commemorating the Keller Creek Elm Grove

Printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper

.