KCRag Forum

I come across information from time to time related to proper planting, care and selection of trees that I think would be helpful to all. Maybe you have a critique of a planting success or failure? Our urban forest is important...we should be doing it right, not wrong.

I saw a group of trees at the Westport Fire Station getting choked off by the support wires. I removed the wires and hose to find sad looking trees that may or may not survive.

The firemen were watching me over the patio wall, thinking I was some nut (since it was an oak...an acorn).

One of my least favorite moments from the past 2 years:

http://www.change.org/petitions/kansas- ... mpact-zone

148 old-growth trees in the Manheim Neighborhood of Kansas City have been condemned to cutting in order to put in new sidewalks, without proper identification or notification to residents. After getting the news media involved, the City showed up to announce that there had been a mistake in procedure. The trees identified by the Contractor with an Orange X was supposed to be reviewed by the Forestry Department of the City to see what trees can be preserved. They put a halt on the cutting until that review was done... But, on the week of September 17, cutting was resumed.

Have you noticed all the ash that KCMO has treated for Emerald Ash Borer? Thousands! (see the quarter size pins on the tree trunk at 6' that has a number) OP and many other cities have chosen to let them die. Some studies suggest the cost is less to treat, than to remove and replace, but that all depends on how long they are treated. It sure will be terrible to lose all those trees. 1/4 of all street trees in OP are ash.

The Northland has been getting hit hard in a few spots. The city forester has announced that it has also been confirmed at 37th & Wyandotte, 11th & Jefferson, SW Blvd & Summit. The plague is about to expand.

In short....if you have an ash you want to save and you are in Midtown, this Spring is the time to treat. Do-it-yourself chemicals wont cut it and you must hire a professional to do it. Wait longer and you run the risk of the tree getting infested and might be too late to treat. If you are further south, east or in JoCo, it is probably too soon to treat.

By the way...this bug will kill all untreated ash. No questions asked.

I don't know if they're available locally, but (Dutch) disease-resistant American Elms (from the naturally selected Princeton grove) and blight-resistant American Chestnut saplings are for sale at nurseries on the East Coast.

Kansas City, as is easily visible when comparing any street views from 1950 and 1960, was one of the last major victims of the Dutch Elm plague. The American Chestnut may or may not have thrived in KC -- that blight in the 1920s was before my time.

herrfrank wrote:I don't know if they're available locally, but (Dutch) disease-resistant American Elms (from the naturally selected Princeton grove).

DED resistance elms are very common in the trade. Here is a list of the recommended trees for KC put out by a group of local tree experts:
http://www.gouldevans.com/treelists/GreatTrees.pdf

herrfrank wrote:I don't know if they're available locally, but (Dutch) disease-resistant American Elms (from the naturally selected Princeton grove) and blight-resistant American Chestnut saplings are for sale at nurseries on the East Coast.

Kansas City, as is easily visible when comparing any street views from 1950 and 1960, was one of the last major victims of the Dutch Elm plague. The American Chestnut may or may not have thrived in KC -- that blight in the 1920s was before my time.

There were some chestnuts here, but it's a mostly Appalachian tree. The blight resistant versions of those aren't available for sale to the general public yet.

AlbertHammond wrote:One of my least favorite moments from the past 2 years:

http://www.change.org/petitions/kansas- ... mpact-zone

148 old-growth trees in the Manheim Neighborhood of Kansas City have been condemned to cutting in order to put in new sidewalks, without proper identification or notification to residents. After getting the news media involved, the City showed up to announce that there had been a mistake in procedure. The trees identified by the Contractor with an Orange X was supposed to be reviewed by the Forestry Department of the City to see what trees can be preserved. They put a halt on the cutting until that review was done... But, on the week of September 17, cutting was resumed.

does KCMO ever pour a new sidewalk with a sort of indentation to allow for the older growth tree w/o having to cut down the dang tree? i see that here, seems pretty important considering that the tree canopy of both cities needs some help (probably more so in st. louis).

not the clearest example but a new sidewalk was poured around this old tree and its massive roots in south city:
http://goo.gl/maps/zIXDM

warwickland wrote:
does KCMO ever pour a new sidewalk with a sort of indentation to allow for the older growth tree w/o having to cut down the dang tree? i see that here, seems pretty important considering that the tree canopy of both cities needs some help (probably more so in st. louis).

not the clearest example but a new sidewalk was poured around this old tree and its massive roots in south city:
http://goo.gl/maps/zIXDM

1. Yes, I mean, I've seen it occasionally done. Perhaps it was by homeowners, not the city.

2. Maybe I'm wrong, I've never looked into it, but I guess I always thought KC had an exceptionally good tree canopy. StL's sucks, but KC's seems like "strong suit". Am I wrong?

chingon wrote:

warwickland wrote:
does KCMO ever pour a new sidewalk with a sort of indentation to allow for the older growth tree w/o having to cut down the dang tree? i see that here, seems pretty important considering that the tree canopy of both cities needs some help (probably more so in st. louis).

not the clearest example but a new sidewalk was poured around this old tree and its massive roots in south city:
http://goo.gl/maps/zIXDM

1. Yes, I mean, I've seen it occasionally done. Perhaps it was by homeowners, not the city.

2. Maybe I'm wrong, I've never looked into it, but I guess I always thought KC had an exceptionally good tree canopy. StL's sucks, but KC's seems like "strong suit". Am I wrong?

I agree, aerial shots look like a forest with high-rises popping out of it.

Best evergreen trees for KC as rated by area experts: http://www.gouldevans.com/treelists/Evergreen.pdf

I really like the new sidewalk trees along Broadway north and south of Westport. When did these go in? What kind of oaks are these? I have never seen oaks used as sidewalk trees. Was this a city project, park board, or Westport? That size of oak must be an expensive tree. The ginormous tree wells should keep these trees alive.

moderne wrote:I really like the new sidewalk trees along Broadway north and south of Westport. When did these go in? What kind of oaks are these? I have never seen oaks used as sidewalk trees. Was this a city project, park board, or Westport? That size of oak must be an expensive tree. The ginormous tree wells should keep these trees alive.

Swamp White Oak. The older trees in front of Broadway Café went in in 2009 and the rest where planted in 2012. Tough tree. This species makes an awesome street tree if the tree pit isn't tiny. This was a Westport CID project, but blessed by P&R.

One block west on Pennsylvania, Shumard Oaks were planted in 2007. Also a Westport CID project. The CID understands how important street trees are to the district.

Both projects used CU structural soil.
http://www.hort.cornell.edu/uhi/outreac ... ticle.html

We need more street trees!

https://www.itreetools.org/news/article ... pt2010.pdf

https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/l ... -Sheet.pdf

There are so many areas that need to have street trees replaced, and so many streets downtown would be improved just if they added trees. Grand Boulevard really needs them.

There is some program where volunteers will plant street trees in neighborhoods if the property owner will adopt and water the tree. I don't think it's publicized well enough.

https://kcparks.org/kansas-city-missour ... reet-tree/

So I noticed the other day they chopped down the trees in front of City Center facing Main leaving about a 1' stump sticking out of the iron planter cover. Is the plan to re-do the sidewalks or something or did the City just decide to kill some innocent trees?

Here is a new study of three sets of three adjacent neighborhoods in OP. The study looked at '50s-'60s era SF residential neighborhoods that had at least 15 home sales in the past 2 years. Each compared neighborhood was in the same location, with similar house sizes and styles. The goal was to compare these home sales to the neighborhood's street tree quality and quantity . On the maps, each dot is a street tree (from OP's website mapping).

In a nutshell, the homes in neighborhoods with good street trees are worth $20K-$30K more than those homes located in neighborhoods without street trees. Again...houses are similar sizes and ages for apples to apples comparisons. The only obvious difference being the presence of street trees. Food for thought for how to make your neighborhood more valuable.

KC_JAYHAWK wrote: ↑Fri Nov 02, 2018 7:42 am So I noticed the other day they chopped down the trees in front of City Center facing Main leaving about a 1' stump sticking out of the iron planter cover. Is the plan to re-do the sidewalks or something or did the City just decide to kill some innocent trees?

Same thing along Delaware in River Market. Something about emerald ash borer?

The trees planted in tree wells along the north side of W. 10th, between Baltimore and Wyandotte-- when the new library garage was built, are also gone.

2007

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1022322 ... 328!8i1664

2018

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1022364 ... 312!8i6656

My neighborhood is full of old growth trees and they're not just street trees, they're basically uniform around the neighborhood.

We paid a premium for our lot to get the trees and park view. The same sized lot in a new subdivision would be half the price we paid.

Another reason more trees are needed.

Kansas City suffers from severe urban heat. Research underway may help leaders address it

Kansas City’s downtown and industrial neighborhoods can be several degrees hotter than surrounding rural areas.

...
Kansas City, more than most, falls victim to the urban heat island effect: the bubble of heat created around cities when heat is trapped in pavement and buildings and re-released rather than being cooled by vegetation and water. Kansas City was ranked 7th on a list of 60 cities with the most intense urban heat islands. Surface temperatures can be up to 13 degrees hotter in the city than surrounding rural locations

But even that measurement can vary widely depending on neighborhood and tree cover. Typically, neighborhoods with lower average incomes and heavily industrialized areas are most severely affected.
...
Kansas City has less than 31% tree canopy coverage, said Kristin Riott, executive director of Bridging the Gap, a local environmental nonprofit. The American Forest Association, she said, recommends 40% coverage. Kansas City’s coverage isn’t just insufficient. It’s declining.

“We’re losing more trees every year than we’re planting and by a darn good margin, so when we look at a warmer future, that’s one of the things we’re concerned about,” Riott said.

She said the city needs to plant 27,000 trees every year for the coming decades to make a dent, but the city has nowhere near enough funds to do that.
...

https://missouriindependent.com/2021/08 ... ddress-it/