Street Tree Vandalism and Rejuvenation
Written by Michael Yallop
Introduction
I recently read an article By Dr Duncan Slater (Slater, 2018) in which he talked about what happens to pruning wounds years after the cut has been made. As my interest lies in the science based side of arboriculture, it sparked my interest. One particular point that stood out to me was the rejuvenation of a young street tree after it had been snapped out (i.e.; the top broken off the tree). It is an issue I was dealing with in my work and that’s why it struck a cord. I had been involved in the planting of new trees in parks and housing estates, unfortunately some of these were to replace already broken trees. At the time of writing this article a variety of trees had been planted and overnight, some had been broken. Even in that small space of time vandals had wreaked havoc on our new planted trees.
A New tree, a new target
Each year the council plant many many trees to replace trees removed from parks, open spaces and streets. Many of these are snapped out or the top is broken off. As mentioned earlier, even right after being planted. Often the councils approach can be to dig up and remove the remains of the tree be it alive or dead. In many cases a tree that is removed is not replaced due to potential damage. It’s fair enough for them to assume such as it would be a pointless exercise to keep doing so in certain cases. It’s very common to drive around many estates and see trees broken. Little is done on the follow up to find a culprit, it’s just put down to the society in which we live.
It’s not a new phenomenon, not something that has arrived in the past 20 to 30 years. Maybe it has got worse but it can be difficult to combat. Changing the method of staking can help the problem of vandalism. In some cases it does help to change how it is done, but I have learned that with a single stake, the tree can be broken between chest to waste height. Double and treble staking has given similar effect. The problem here is the stakes are used as steps to climb up and hang off or pull from the tree in order to break it. Damage to trees can be in any area. (Kunzler, 2017) mentions a number of reasons in her paper on tree vandalism. The obvious mindless vandalism, blocking a view or home owner disputes. What I have commonly come across is just vandalism. An individual or group of people passing a tree and may feel that it would be better if it was shorter, if only they knew the truth. Many trees are snapped shortly after planting and there location (i.e.; park or housing estate) doesn’t matter. The problem here is that trees like the Cedrus atlantica in the picture (Figure 1) are an expensive loss. If many trees are lost on a street then the cost adds up. Pathways and high to medium usage areas are the common spots for damage. Areas where people pass through late at night can give cover , an ideal time for unwanted pruning if I could call it that. Cul de sac’s and some older estates just don’t have these issues in high percentages. Feedback from some home owners is that well ‘’if you replace the tree will it attract more anti-social behavior outside my house.
Rejuvenation, take it or leave it
Taking a closer look at the trees we see that in most cases the main leader is snapped out. In most cases we see the tree snapped low on the main stem taking the majority of the braches or crown with it. Not great odds for survival. In other cases we have branch damage where its main stem is not broken but significant damage is caused to the branches/crown or to the bark.
A lot of what im talking about is stem and branch breakage. It’s most common in small trees but in a small number of cases we get bark damage to medium to large trees. Ring barking or taking slices off the side to cause damage to the tree, usually as they don’t want it there.
Dr Slater mentioned in his article (Slater, 2018) that the street tree he came across had been completely snapped out. He began minor formative pruning and over time maintained the tree to create good form and a balanced crown. Figure 2 and 3 shows broken limes (Tilia spp) on a road in Dublin. These have been broken at about the height of the stake which acted as the fulcrum.
We can see the tree has grown new shoots off the side since it was broken, some shoots will have possibilities for the future. These type of shoots allowed Dr Slater to prune his tree to form a new crown. In 10 years, the tree, which was 1.5 metres tall with no branches grew to about 10 metres with a healthy crown with good forming structure. Over this period he intervened 3 times.
The parks department have come across a number of damaged trees in one particular park, oaks (Quercus spp) and cherry’s (Prunus spp) all in one area were damaged. The cherry’s (An example seen in fig 4 & 5) were dug up and placed in a small wooded area. Unfortunately little pruning was done and they were left to their own devices. But none the less they came on surprisingly well to form a tree of some value to the wood land. The oaks (Quercus spp) in figure 6 to 9 were next to a path and were left in place, they regrew with an adequate crown. As the tree grows it will become clearer to its suitability for the future.
Unfortunately a tree to be left in a streetscape would need maintenance because as they mature. we would be unsure of the security of the structure of the tree otherwise. The larger Pinus Wallichiana (figure 10) in the picture had received some damage to branches when it was young. Although the main stem was not snapped, severe damage was caused to it but it has recovered well. The lower growing branch should have been removed when the tree was younger. Formative pruning would have helped.
It will take a long time unfortunately for the tree to regrow into something that resembles a decent tree. In a lot of cases this is not always feasible as we want instant effect from the tree, not a branchless looking stick. Another issue is getting the time to have someone to go back and take care of these trees, especially where there are many trees. I think the likes of the Cedrus atlantica (Figure 1) which is in a park setting can be hard to get to re grow. Its location in the park I think allows for experimentation to allow it to continue growing and see how it develops. It’s very easy to remove it at a later stage.
This tree was planted on its own and was to become a specimen tree within the park. Was being on its own the issue? Was the tree stake an attraction or was it just broken because they could .
(Black, 1978) said that going back as far as 1978 they were abandoning the use of twin stakes and cross bars in Washington. I would agree here as it makes a platform for the vandal to stand on as earlier stated. From our own research it seems that the tree stake can attract the culprit to the tree. The new post does stand out. Having planted trees with stakes and some without, a higher percentage of non staked had been less vandalized. But this is ok in area of shade from high winds. Left alone your new tree could be toppled.
Trying to reduce the problem
I don’t think this problem will ever go away. Like global warming or dodgy politics I think we’ll always have to deal with it. I think we can minimise the issue. It’s a broad area to cover. Id hope we could make more people aware of the issue and aware of the importance of trees in the community. I think more work with schools to liaise with the teachers and students is important. Educating from a young age, the idea that the area around young people is there own. Damaging trees is harming no one but themselves. The wonderful effects a tree has on our environment and for our wildlife is also important to highlight. There has already been some great work done by Crann-Trees for Ireland, Trees for schools, The tree council of Ireland, the local authorities and many others, my list could go on. Without the great work put in by all involved the problem would be much greater.
Is there a way we can practically help to combat the issue? The less obvious the newly planted tree is to the passers by could help to limit damage. Single staking as much as possible to avoid making pull points. It would be great in the early years for street trees if we could use tree guards but unfortunately costs do not always allow that. We can’t spend our days and nights driving around to watch each tree, so we must get the community involved here to keep an eye on the new trees. On my travels around planting street trees, I’ve met people who want a tree outside there house and those who don’t. I think making contact with the householder is hugely important before planting. There’s no point in planting a tree in a place with a high possibility of harm. The old saying, ‘’right tree right place’’. Contact with people for street tree planting is key to get the public involved and show them it is their community.
My plan for the broken trees that I have come across is to take them under my wing and see what they can become. I live by the idea that you can take a tree away at anytime with ease but its very hard to put it back so ill prune them and look after them. Maybe in time to come they might become something of value. It will take some time for them to form a proper crown. Another interesting tree to watch will be the cedrus atlantica in ( figure 1) and how it will grow. An experiment going forward into the future.
Many criticize Dr Alex Shigo but I still see him as the father of modern arboriculture so ill finish on something he once said , ‘’Education starts when you doubt something, Education occurs when you resolve your doubts’’.
References:
Black, M. (1978). TREE VANDALISM: SOME SOLUTIONS. Journal of Arboriculture, 4, pp.114-116.
(Black, 1978)
Slater, D. (2019). Trees over time. The Arb Magazine, (183), pp.54-59.
Kunzler, C. (2019). What Cities Are Doing To Fight Tree Vandalism • Alliance for Community Trees News. [online] Alliance for Community Trees News. Available at: https://actreesnews.org/alliance-for-community-trees-news/cities-fight-tree-vandalism/ [Accessed 30 Jan. 2019].
