Audubon Magazine features Eugene’s trees & the people who care for them

Below are excerpts from a story about Eugene, Oregon’s trees in Audubon Magazine. It includes insights from Eugene Urban Forester Mark Snyder and Friends of Trees Eugene Director Erik Burke. Read the full story here.

… What’s happening above ground is only half the battle for Eugene’s urban forestry crew. “When I was a kid I thought tree roots went down to China,” Snyder says. He explains it’s a common misconception that tree roots grow down. In fact they grow out. The best way to imagine a tree’s root system is to think of a large, Bordeaux red wine glass, he says. The large, top portion is the crown of the tree and the stem is the trunk. “Think of that wine glass sitting on a big plate or a platter,” he says. He motions his upturned hand acting as this imaginary plate. This is the tree’s root system. “It’s all shallow,” he says. “Ninety five percent of the tree root system is in the top 18 to 24 inches of soil.” …

The nature of the root system also makes choosing a location to plant critical to a tree’s survival. “Right tree, right place,” says Erik Burke, Eugene’s director for the Friends of Trees program, reciting the mantra of many a tree organization. Where a tree is planted should determine what species would be the best fit. Planting a tree in a place with less than four feet between the sidewalk and the curb, what urban arborists call the planting strip, is virtually impossible. There’s a city-approved street tree list that determines the size and species of tree that can be planted given its allotted planting strip size and soil type. …

You can read about Friends of Trees Eugene’s Arbor Day planting on April 7, 2012 and see photos below taken by Jessyca Burke at the planting.