Popular Myths ~ the Big 5

The following myths are common ones that interfere with proper tree care and landscape management. Over the next few months I will take each of the myths and delve into it more deeply. In the meantime enjoy your visit to the web site.

MYTH 1 ~ NATURE IS BALANCED ~European settlement in the Americas did not upset the 'Balance of Nature'. Europeans changed the pattern, timing, type and degree of disturbance and introduced new inputs (plants, animals and land utilization practices) that, to varying degrees, have led to changes to the environment. There has been, and will no doubt continue to be debate as to the positive and negative aspects of these changes. The bottom line is that mankind, the earth and our fellow creatures that inhabit it, are always responding to some sort of disturbance.

MYTH 2 ~ TREES (AND WOODY PLANTS) HEAL WOUNDS ~Trees compartmentalize injured tissue. Excessive injury (which includes a properly made pruning cut) can lead to a host of problems, including pre-mature tree death. On the other hand, a comprehensive tree care program, which includes proper pruning based on a sound knowledge of tree biology, can promote the health and longevity of our trees.

MYTH 3 ~ FERTILIZERS ARE PLANT FOOD ~ PLANT FOOD IS PRODUCED IN THE LEAVES OF PLANTS THROUGH THE PROCESS OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS. Fertilizers can provide valuable nutrients, and materials that help build and restore the soil, all of which will promote plant health. Excessive pruning weakens a tree and sets in motion a whole host of problems that often lead to insect and disease problems, and pre-mature death.

MYTH 4 ~ SOILS OF VARIOUS KINDS CAN BE BOUGHT AT THE LOCAL LANDSCAPE SUPPLY STORE ~ Land can be bought and sold. The soil that is on it ceases to be soil once it is turned with a shovel or plowed with a farm implement. The resulting material can retain a productive capacity, but like the bulk loads or bags of material you buy at the local landscape supply yard, it is no longer soil. SOIL IS FORMED IN PLACE OVER TIME AND HAS CLEARLY DISCERNIBLE STRUCTURE AND CHARACTERISTICS. The materials you buy are planting mixes and supplements - they are not soil.

MYTH 5 ~ ROOTS GO DEEP, AND NOT FAR BEYOND THE DRIP LINE~ Most roots are shallow - within the top meter of soil. A large percentage of those roots are often within the top one foot of soil. Some roots may go deeper, depending on the type of tree, and often the local soil conditions. Roots need air. Trees growing on soils with a high clay content tend to be shallow rooted because of the nature of clay soils. Roots often grow well beyond the drip line, e.g. a tree with a drip line at a point of 25 feet beyond the trunk could have roots that extend out 100 feet or more beyond that.

Phil Coker

An Arborist' Analysis of the Climate Change 'Crisis'

Man-caused Global Warming, Balance of Nature, Planting Trees will save the Planet, and other myths perpetuated by the doom and gloom, sky is falling, environmental and green communities - a Concise Discussion.

Any naturalist or Climatologist in Texas or elsewhere worth their salt, should know that the earth has gone through warm and cold cycles since it's beginning, and will continue to do so, regardless of man's efforts to forestall one or the other. Does this mean it is OK to pollute and otherwise wreck the earth? Of course not. But, despite what some members of the 'Environmental' community would have people believe, there is no consensus regarding the belief that man is responsible for 'Global' Warming' or 'Climate' Change' - which brings me to my second point.

THE BALANCE OF NATURE IS A BIG, FAT MYTH, and the insistence of the so-called environmental community in perpetuating it is one of the most insidious and dangerous threats to a healthy, diverse environment. Nature, of which we are an integral component, is constantly changing within a temporal and spatial framework that stretches to infinity. The labels "Good"and "Bad" are often a function of political and economic expediency rather than a rational, honest consideration of reliable information.

Planting trees will NOT save the planet. Planting trees in the inappropriate place has the potential to do as much harm to the planet as does the ill-conceived clearcut on an erosion prone slope. The earth is comprised of an infinite number of microsystems that combine to form various macrosystems. While man knows much about the systems we have discovered, and can name some of their components, we have a relatively rudimentary knowledge of how they really work. That being said, we have fed and clothed ourselves for thousands of years, and while we can certainly point to environmental losses, we can also observe on a daily basis the immeasurable resiliency of this planet.

Like it or not, we are at the top of the biological pyramid. We have a responsibility to preserve our species, and an intellectual and spiritual mandate to care for the earth. How we do that will always generate a spirited discussion. That we need. What we do not need are the likes of Al Gore, unprincipled scientists, and President Obama making flamboyant, irresponsible, and blatantly inaccurate and misleading statements about the earth's climate.

Phillip R. Coker - Certified Arborist #PN-0100A

'Tall Tales and Winged Friends'

There are many reasons why I chose to become an arborist. I guess you could say that the one that 'fuels the fire' is the joy of being 'in a tree' vs. being on the ground and just admiring one. One of my favorite tree stories centers around a relatively tall Douglas-fir that I had to cut down while I was in Washington State. It was in a tight spot and had to come down in short sections. It was a cold, rainy day, and the snow level was reported to be at about 500'. The tree was located on a hill that was about 400' in elevation, and the tree appeared to be about 100' tall. I must say that I was curious as to what the conditions would be like in the tree. You guessed it! I started seeing snow as I got close to the top. There wasn't a lot of accumulation in the tree, and we were able to proceed without any problems. It really did make for an interesting day!
Another reason I chose to be an arborist is that I just enjoy talking to people about trees. Trees are incredibly complex organisms, and the inter-connections that they have with all elements of life are infinite in scope. There is one thing I would like to say here, and I will expand on it in future articles. We cherish our trees and forests, and want to protect them. That is admirable, and I am often the first in line when such support is needed. However, sometimes the best way to protect an individual tree, or the forest and the resources that it represents, is to cut one or more trees down. The forces outside our living rooms are like the winds. They ebb and flow, at times with a benign, almost imperceptible presence. At other times, they bull through with raging force that wreaks havoc on everything in their path. Many ecologists and naturalists recognize, and I agree, that preserving the environment is not a question of maintaining a "Natural Balance", but rather a question of learning how a resource has historically responded to disturbance, and what these disturbances were. We can then make comparisons with current conditions, and develop plans to manage the resource on sound ecological principles within the context of a societal framework.
A third reason that I love to work with trees is the close contact I have with birds and other critters. I have been eyeball to eyeball with chickadees, played hide and seek with squirrels who were not quite sure what it was that they were hiding from, and fought off hummingbirds who mistook my bright yellow hard hat for the mother of all nectar producing flowers. I have been dive-bombed by blue jays for being too close to their nest, and chastised by crows for reasons known only to them. One bird that really generates a lot of excitement, whether seeing it from in a tree or on the ground, is the Pileated woodpecker. Old timers in the "Piney Woods" of east Texas, once referred to this bird as the "Good God" bird. Most folks who saw it for the first time, simply could not believe that they were seeing a woodpecker that was as big as a crow! The sight of one flying through the woods causes one to blink a few times just to remind themselves that they are in the here and now and not in a time warp of times past.
With a little careful planting, you can enjoy the wide array of bird life we have here on the Gulf Coast. Oaks are a good choice, providing you have a yard with ample space. Oaks provide food, shelter, and shade for humans as well. My mother has has yellow-crowned night herons nesting in her live oaks for many successive years. It is quite dramatic to look up into the tree canopies and see a dozen or more of these large birds just hanging out. It can be trying at times, particularly when the young hatch and the parents start bringing food home. Baby herons are just as messy as are their human counter-parts, and the sidewalks become littered with bits and pieces of crayfish and shrimp! The inconvenience, however, is well worth the chance to be up front and close with "Nature". River birch (Betula nigra) and dogwood (Cornus florida) are also good wildlife trees. Both trees are Texas natives. River birch does best on sunny, moist to wet sites, with loamy soils. Dogwoods will tolerate drier conditions and somewhat heavier soils. They prefer partial sun, although they will do reasonably well in full sun. Both trees are good sources of food and shelter for many species of birds.
Trees are also valuable plants to many species of butterflies. Oaks, redbuds, black cherry, hawthorns, Mexican plum, ironwood, holly, birch, pines and willows are just a few of the trees that are beneficial to butterflies. One of the most dramatic events I have ever witnessed occurred during one of the monarch butterfly migrations that took place in the 1960's. Not only were there clouds of monarchs everywhere, but there were multitudes of shrubs and small trees that had been transformed into living murals by the throngs of butterflies that were resting on them.

Until next time, enjoy the marvelous Texas outdoors!