The big document can be found here: http://www.kcmo.org/planning/downtown/s ... ements.pdf
Here are my 2 cents....
Ash: I assume we have 3 cultivars of green ash to promote diversity.....but that really wont work when an evil bug or disease comes to kill them. With all the talk about the emerald ash borer (EAB) destroying hundreds of acres in Michigan, why would this ever be considered a good choice? True, the EAB might never get here, but if it does, what a mistake we made to plant so many ash as street trees. At least Cimmaron & Urbanite are better selections than they could have used. What were they thinking?
Elm: Dynasty and Allee are Lacebark Elms and are decent trees. They take the urban conditions and grow fast. They also fall apart in ice storms. I will let this slide as a decent choice. I will never understand why anyone uses Dynasty. It has no sign of interest in the bark, so why use it, when they could select a cultivar that is just as tough and DOES have the interesting exfoliating bark? Why not make one of the choices a new hybrid Elm that is disease resistant like Frontier, Emerald Sunshine, Accolade or Triumph?
Ginkgo: Fine. Everybody seems to love this tree. Sure, it is tolerant of the pollution. Sure, it has an interesting leaf. Sure, it has a light, dappled shade that lets the sun shine through. But why is the ENTIRE P&L district planted in it? They probably want to unify the district with one tree, but I gotta say, there are better choices. It is SLOW growing. I have yet to find one planted as a street tree in urban conditions that looks decent. If you lightly nick the dark, it tears off and scars it bad. Sure, they are surviving on 39th Street, but show me one of them that looks nice enough that you would pay to have it moved to your front yard. No thanks. Use it some, but this is too much!
Honeylocust: I got no beef with Honeylocust. It is native and is tough. Sometimes it struggles to establish, but hopefully there is a 1 year warranty on them (not that the city staff would back-punch in a year to see if it was dead!). I like the small leaflets that keep clutter to a minimum when they fall. Skyline was selected and it was a good choice. It tends to be wide and grows into buildings and into truck travel zones. I am ok with this pick.
Columnar Hornbeam: Stupid choice. These things burn up in the summer heat. Add urban stress to it and these will in trouble. Plus, they branch so low and will get pretty darn wide with age, if they survive.
Linden: Glenleven and Greenspire are both littleleaf linden types. Why not make one of them a large leaf 'americana' type? An even better choice would be a Silver Linden. Their choices are decent, but there are linden species that are much better than 'cordata'. Oh well?
Red Maple: I just puked in my mouth. All 3 cultivars are Acer rubra. If you can show me a beautiful Red Maple in Kansas City that is used as a street tree in an urban environment, then post the address of it here. It doesn't exist! This tree belongs in a yard with good soil and no urban heat. I have heard Richard Coleman say he wants to see more red maples "because they're pretty". Well folks, if you've driven by his house, you know he is aesthetically challenged. Abort all maples as urban street trees in KC! Especially Red Maple! (Nursery guys love them because they transplant well and survive past the 1-year warranty. They slowly die and no one seems to pay attention).
Red Oak: Good tree once established. The nursery guys hate them because they don't transplant well. So what! Oaks are one tree that will grow well in the urban environment once established. In every case, a red,bur,white,shumardii,scarlet,etc oak will outgrow a red maple when used in tough conditions like urban areas or clay soils. If you don't believe me, then you have not been paying attention. Why is there only one street with Red Oak? (Oak Street, of course) I think more streets should have been planted in a variety of oak species. In 20 years, the results would have been dramatic!
Shingle Oak: I like Shingle Oak, but it is not well suited as a street tree for one reason only: it holds all it's leaves through winter. Most oaks drop most leaves early in the fall and this is important to get the sun down to the ground and melt the snow and ice. Sixth street was the only street shown to have Shingle Oak.
Now, I want to read your replies....
