While our trees rest in the winter, dormant after a long season of growth and storing resources, our team keeps going! We like to take a cue from our trees and slow down a little, with shovels and rakes put away, hoses and buckets wrapped up and stacked in storage, and pruning gear only occasionally brought out on warmer days. But we still have a lot of work to do to prepare for the next growing season!

One of the major projects our foresters work on during winter months is finding areas of the city with low or aging tree canopy and searching for good sites to plant trees. We walk through neighborhoods where we are likely to find low canopy cover, and in each open area, we stop to assess it. The first thing we look for is good soil volume. Trees may grow close together in forests, but we need to give the trees more room in cities where concrete is everywhere. Large-size-class trees are generally planted 40’ from each other, medium-size-class trees are 30’ away, and small trees are 25’ from each other. We also look for a minimum of 4’ wide parkways to limit damage to sidewalks. From there, we need to ensure we’re maintaining good visibility from driveways and intersections and safe clearance from fire hydrants. In some cases, the presence of these obstacles means we won’t be able to plant a tree at all, and we move on to the next site. 

Next, we look up. Power lines are 45’ from the ground, with communication lines much lower. If we see power lines overhead, we can only plant a small tree there, as those won’t grow more than 25-30’ tall. A few larger trees may be considered in rare cases due to their very open branch pattern, making pruning easier and more natural-looking; however, we always prefer a small tree. 

Then we look for obvious signs of underground utilities, such as water mains and gas meters. These aren’t always visible to us at this stage, so we make sure to contact MissDIG before planting starts. If they flag a spot where we plan to plant a tree, we move it to another location. 

Once we have an idea of the size and placement of a tree, we start to consider the species we’d like to plant. This isn’t always decided in the field, but a forester may suggest a species in their notes for later. Busy roads are often heavily salted in the winter; some species will be more tolerant. Similarly, some species of trees planted on the property may react poorly to other species we may plant. For instance, if we find that arborvitae has been planted in the front yard, we won’t plant a serviceberry in the parkway since the two species are co-hosts to an unappealing fungus. 

Our foresters also consider high-traffic footpaths to the front door of a home, or even the view from a front window, and will move a tree’s placement not to block desirable routes and views. Additionally, we may plant a tree on the southwest side of the home to maximize cooling benefits in the summer. Whenever possible, we like to consider the home’s aesthetics. Perhaps we have a flowering tree that matches the front door or one that will promote pollinators in their garden. We want the tree to benefit the resident for its whole life, and we also want the resident to love their tree. Finally, we consider whether nearby trees will likely die out within the next 10 years or so as a new tree grows. We want to plan for succession so that the benefits of the old tree will be quickly replaced by the new one when its life cycle ends.

Once sites and species are selected, we get to work letting the community know about the proposed planting locations and allowing them to decline or request a tree. In some cases, we can accommodate specific requests for species. When spring arrives and the ground is thawed, we’ll be ready to plant some trees!