WWW.SHAKER.LIFE | SPRING 2022 75
Planting the Right Trees
The Street Tree Master Plan has two
main areas of focus: (1) the kinds of trees
the City plants and where they’re planted
and (2) implementing a systematic and
customizable approach to maintenance
that ensures every street tree gets the
care it requires.
Data will help drive decision making.
For example, planting decisions will be
determined using the ODNR Division of
Forestry’s Urban Site Index.
“The Urban Site Index is based on
decades of research by the state’s foresters
about what works best in what site
conditions,” explains Charles Orlowski, the
City’s forester and a certified arborist.
More specifically, the Urban Site Index
allows foresters, like Orlowski, to input a
variety of data for a planting site to determine
the best tree selection for the planting
conditions and available planting space.
“Not every tree is right for every location in an urban environment,”
says Orlowski. “For example, a Red Oak is not going to fare well on
Chagrin Boulevard. The soil is too compacted, the rock salt used during
the winter is too heavy, and the tree lawn too narrow. So, the Urban Site
Index will really help us identify what trees will work best on what streets
in our City.”
Growing
Healthy Trees
Planting the right tree in the right spot
is just the first step in sustaining and
improving the City’s urban forest. Also
important: ensuring the City’s street
trees receive the maintenance they
require to grow well.
“You need to prune trees every five
years or so to have them grow more
healthily,” says Orlowski.
In general, younger trees need
training – a type of pruning to
encourage healthy growth – whereas
older trees need maintenance pruning
(removing dead or hazardous branches,
for example). The Street Tree Master
Plan calls for the City’s street trees to be
pruned on a five-year cycle.
Like planting, the City’s approach
to maintenance will also be datadriven.
Specifically, the City’s Forestry
Department will undertake a Street
Tree Inventory to create a database of
information about every street tree in
the City. This Inventory is expected to
take about five years to complete.
Planting Trees is Easy — and Low Cost
Have you heard the joke about the best time to plant a tree?
Twenty years ago, of course. But in all seriousness, planting a tree today
can pay dividends for decades to come, and not just because you’ll have a
beautiful tree in your garden.
Trees on private property are an integral part of Northeast Ohio’s tree
canopy, which has been dwindling over the past decade. In fact, Shaker
Heights has lost about 11 percent of its canopy over that time. What’s
more, like street trees, trees in your yard help cool your home, absorb
stormwater, improve your air quality, and more.
Why not plant a tree in your yard this spring or fall? It’s easy and
inexpensive. Visit shakeronline.com/plantatree to learn more.
/WWW.SHAKER.LIFE
/plantatree