Clearance Options

[Climb020]

Well being the other thread was locked I decided to open it up but in another manner. I would like to hear REASONABLE option for municipalities. I know that there are city workers on this site and possibly the info in this thread could be used to keep everyone happy.

Of course the option of cutting down all trees at the curb is not ok. There are many Tree City's and I am sure that this would just not due. I have seen in some towns that the tree where planted 20' off the curb and not right under the primaries. It still keeps the streets looking nice while still keeping the lines pretty clear and not needing as harsh of a prune.

As well I am sure there are very suitable trees to plant under the wires. Please give names and mature heights of these trees that you think would be good options.

AGAIN THIS IS NOT A UTILITY BASHING THREAD. I WOULD LIKE INTELLIGENT COMMENTS AND OPTIONS THAT COULD POSSIBLY BE USED.

 

[diltree]

In my opinion there are only good options for new developments. Most of the circuits that have been up for a while are not going anywhere, and most are in close proximity to trees's. There was never any foresight when planning in the olddays, now the only existing option's are to trim for clearance or remove.

 

[RedlineIt]

Climb020,

May I recomend the book: STREET TREES, A Manual for Municipalities, by Richard D. Schein, PhD, and a Prof at Penn State.

ISBN 0-9636359-0-5

Has a chapter on trees and Utilities, including a section on overheads and the clearances needed for various voltages.
Photos on how to do it, and how not to do it.

And a big list of trees for situations: from under wires, to trees in planters, to trees subject to roadway salt spray, etc, etc.

Good place to start.


RedlineIt

 

[jonseredbred]

Cleveland pears seem to be popular in my area for re planting. My area is mostly old village. Parkways are only 3' wide. not much choice other than under the lines.

 

[(WLL)]

thank u Al Cherry

thanx 2 a man named Al Cherry we now share beneficial info with the euro people which have bin en established country far longer than America and have introduced us 2 a treecare method known as pollarding.the problem with planting trees under wires would not be a problem if the ignorant greedy americans were excepted by the euros long ago. thanx 2 Al we now share this most important very old but new 2 us/me/americans thanks again Al but its far to late to be of any immediate help but will be very helpful in the future. lets face it with the way global warming is we need all the trees we can get tall short skinny fat ugly dangerous topped whacked gutted healthy does not matter what kind of tree it is we need them all. thanx to money and greed we are going to burn up the world after every thing is /has bin concrete asphalt and cut down every tree there is just to make a dollar we / me is and are forced to keep the economy burning what is wrong with the world. greed money ignorance racism war hate:bang:

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

thanx 2 a man named Al Cherry we now share beneficial info with the euro people which have bin en established country far longer than America and have introduced us 2 a treecare method known as pollarding.the problem with planting trees under wires would not be a problem if the ignorant greedy americans were excepted by the euros long ago. thanx 2 Al we now share this most important very old but new 2 us/me/americans thanks again Al but its far to late to be of any immediate help but will be very helpful in the future. lets face it with the way global warming is we need all the trees we can get tall short skinny fat ugly dangerous topped whacked gutted healthy does not matter what kind of tree it is we need them all. thanx to money and greed we are going to burn up the world after every thing is /has bin concrete asphalt and cut down every tree there is just to make a dollar we / me is and are forced to keep the economy burning what is wrong with the world. greed money ignorance racism war hate:bang:

I must be getting old, but that internet shorthand is annoying.

The discussion on tru ploarding vs. topping has been around for decades. It has been addressed in talks and trade pub's by Shigo, Coder, and a plethora of other people.

The big problem is that it takes a shorter cycle, and more time to work then normal urban forestry. Once strated you are married to it, or the tree will need to come down.

After several cycles, the muni's will need to reevaluate budgets. then the program gets abandond. So true pollarding should be left for a select few of very important areas.

I've tried it for a few clients and churches, but inveribly they try o do something with the project that ends up damaging the tree.

 

[M.D. Vaden]

Certainly, big downtown areas are different from urban neighborhoods, but I noticed that a change should occur in suburbs, where applicable.

Some yards had trees that were not columnar, planted at least 8' to 12' away from the sidewalks.

Over 25 to 20 years, these non-compact trees spread limbs that reached at least 1/3 of the way across the street.

And the trees had the entire portion of the yard to grow roots in.

I think that cities should allow some residences to skip a curb area tree, if the homeowners will retain larger specimens in the landscaping, under proper care.

I have no idea how a system like that would be implemented. But if it could be accomplished, it could be more effective in many neighborhoods.

Our yard was like that too. We had no street trees, nor were required too. The sidewalk was against the curb. But we had a Norway maple that was planted in 1978. And the limbs reached half way across the street. The neighbors even used it to park under for the shade. The trunk was located about 10' into our yard.

I've read that the average life of street trees can less than 10 years.

Maybe urban forestry should seek trees which are planted in such a way that their life span is greater than 25 years, and just stick with that pattern where applicable.

 

[OTG BOSTON]

times are changing.................

In Boston we have made many changes to our planting guidelines recently. We now plant smaller ornamental trees under powerlines. (purple leafed plums, kwanzan cherries, etc.)
We have also increased the minium tree pit size to 24 sq. ft (3x8 being the best case scenario)
We have just completed our first ever complete street tree inventory, and had a fly over by the usfs to determine the total conopy cover for the city (including priv. trees). From this data it was determined that we need to increase the number of street trees from approx. 35,000 to approx. 65,000:bang:
So basically we have to double the amount of trees we have planted. No small task on its own. Then the feds increased the minimum sidewalk width from 36-48'' to comply with ADA standards. So now a sidewalk has to be seven ft. wide, not including the curb, to plant a tree:bang: .

 

[Castenea]

As well I am sure there are very suitable trees to plant under the wires. Please give names and mature heights of these trees that you think would be good options.

Well for things that look strange: DC has several streets with 10" oak or elm stems growing through three phase. I would not want to work anywhere on these trees, as many of them show signs of truck impacts. I suspect the trees pre-date the wires.

Biggest problem with Bradford pears they get a hair cut at 4' and then no trimming for the next five years, thus fall apart about 15 years after being planted.