Downing Creek Street Trees

ARCHECTURAL GUIDELINES

APPROVED STREET TREES

FUTURE PLANNING

• Trident Maple (Acer buergeranum) 25-35 ft high, 20-25 ft wide. An elegant, adaptable small tree with beautiful yellow or red autumn color. To avoid branches that will grow into the street, select a trident maple with a single trunk and branching that begins at 5-6 feet from the ground.
• Red Maple (Acer rubrum) 50-60 ft high, 30-40 ft wide, some cultivars such as 'Bowhall' are smaller. Beautiful shape and reddish autumn color. Easy to grow, and tolerates almost any soil.
• River Birch (Betula nigra 'Heritage') 20-40 ft high, 20 ft wide. This is a fast growing selection with white, papery, peeling bark. Easily grown and resistant to birch borer. Single or multiple trunks are suitable for street tree use, however, the lower branches should be removed to at least a height of 7 feet.
• Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) 50-60 ft high, 30-60 ft wide, there are fastigiate forms which grow considerably narrower. This is a handsome tree when mature but while young can have the appearance of an awkward teenager. Tolerant of most soils, beautiful bright yellow autumn color. It is important to select only male clones, if females are present with a male pollinator, messy, smelly fruits will result.
• Thornless Fruitless Honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis) 30-70 ft high, 40-50 ft wide. An elegant tree tolerant of most soils. Small leaflets turn yellow in autumn and are easy to clean up.
• Golden Rain Tree (Koelreuteria paniculata) 30-40 ft high, 30-40 ft wide. A beautiful rounded tree with yellow flowers in the summer. Papery brown capsules resemble Chinese lanterns and can become unsightly.
• Fruitless Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua 'Rotundiloba') 60-70 ft high, 50-60 ft wide. Easy to grow, reddish-pruple autumn color. No messy 'gumball-like' fruits!
• London Plane Tree (Platanus acerifolia) 60-100 ft high, 50-70 ft wide. This is a beautiful quick growing large tree that needs to be planted in locations that it will not outgrow. As the tree matures, the white bark is stunning in winter. The leaves are large and require considerable time and effort to clean up. Probably too large and messy to be considered for a street tree in Downing Creek.
• Northern Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) 50-70 ft high, 25-40 ft wide. Pyramidal in shape with lustrous dark green leaves turning russet or red in autumn. Tolerant of most soils. The lower branches often form a 'skirt' by drooping downward and should be removed regularly for appearance sake. Two cultivars that do not show this drooping habit are 'Crownright' and 'Sovereign'.
• Willow Oak, or Southern Pin Oak (Quercus phellos) 40-60 ft high, 30-40 ft wide. An oak with finer texture than the others, its leaves are narrow and linear. Easily grown in any soil. Russet fall color. It produces small acorns.
• Red Oak (Quercus rubra) 60-75 ft high, 40-60 ft wide. Tolerant of abusive conditions, tolerates most any soil. Dark green leaves turn russet brown or red in autumn. Acorn litter can be a problem and might exclude it from certain street situations.
• Littleleaf Linden (Tilia cordata) 50-70 ft high, 25-50 ft wide. Tolerant of heat, drought, and most soils. The dark green leaves of this rounded tree seldom color in the autumn. Pretty and fragrant, but not often seen flowers in summer. The small, cherry-pit-like seeds drop toward autumn and could pose a problem in some situations. A superb planting of these trees can be observed at Sarah Duke Gardens.
• Redmond Tilia (Tilia 'Redmond') 30-50 ft high, 30-40 ft wide. Similar in most respects to T. cordata, but faster growing. As on all grafted lindens, basal suckering can be a maintenance problem.
• Lacebark Elm (Ulmusparvifolia) 30-50 ft high, 40 ft wide. Tolerant of heat and drought, and resistant to Dutch elm disease. Beautiful mottled bark is a year round attraction. The cultivar 'Allee' (syn. 'Emerald Vase') grows larger at 70 ft high and 60 ft wide.
• Japanese Zelkova (Zelkova serrata) 50-70 ft high, 50-60 ft wide. A handsome tree with good foliage. It has been considered a replacement for the American elm. It is very adaptable and easy to grow. Select trees with straight trunks and high (5-6 ft from the ground) branching. 'Village Green' is a faster growing selection, but 'Green Vase' is probably the best cultivar available. It has strong upright arching branches and is quick growing with orange-brown to bronze autumn color.

AN ESSAY

Each year the farms and forests that most of us remember from our childhoods become roads, housing developments, and shopping malls. While these things are convenient, and necessary to modern life, their appearance all too often leaves us disappointed with progress, and disappointed that our children will not enjoy the benefits of a bucolic environment. Those of you who grew up in urban environments know the value of live greenery and municipal parks. Most cities and towns in the United States are a conglomeration of concrete, steel, and other manufactured goods lending a hard, stark essence to urban living.

Suburban areas have the best of both worlds - closeness to cities, and rural greenery and openness. However, suburban developments need thoughtful planning and attention to details affecting quality of life. Abundant green spaces should to be viewable from passing vehicles, and inviting to foot traffic. A recent survey conducted by Virginia Tech shows that attractive landscaping appeals to homebuyers more than any structural feature.

Street trees, more than shrubs and foundation plantings, have the greatest visual impact in the landscape. They require the least amount of ground space, and their size is able to soften angular buildings; create shaded canopies for walking pleasure; cast shade reducing heat and reflected light; and serve as a connection to a greener, healthier world. Perhaps most importantly, in a suburban community such as Downing Creek, street tree plantings create a sense of unity and serene beauty.

Downing Creek is to be commended for its interest in and advocacy of street trees. This is a worthwhile tradition that will add distinction to your community and make the homes within it more desirable. Property values will also increase as the trees grow. Understand however that planting street trees is not an exercise in instant gratification. The great landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, creator of New York's Central Park, said, 'I have all my life been considering distant effects and always sacrificing immediate success and applause to that of the future.' Many years will pass before trees reach their mature size, but the proper selection and placement of immature trees will be met with great satisfaction and visual pleasure.

Not all trees will make good street trees. A street tree is a tree that not only tolerates, but thrives in less than ideal conditions. Consider the stresses to which the average urban and suburban street trees are subjected - confined growing space; infertile, compacted soil; desiccating winds; reflected heat and sunlight from pavement; and often poor drainage. The trees I.m recommending perform well under these conditions - not all trees will. Some of the most important characteristics to consider are

• Longevity and resistance to pests and disease.
• Tolerance for a wide range of growing conditions, especially drought and heat that cause premature foliage drop.
• Trees that don't have many surface roots which make grass difficult to grow and can buckle sidewalks and driveways.
• A growth pattern with branches that won't interfere with street or pedestrian traffic.

Greg Piotrowski
5414 US Highway 70
Mebane, NC 27302
(919) 304 2675