Beverly Hoffman
One New Year’s resolution
Published on Tue, Jan 18, 2011 by Beverly HoffmanRead More Hoffman
Earth Ministry, www.earthministry.org, formed in 1992 in Seattle with a mission “to inspire and mobilize the Christian community to play a leadership role in building a just and sustainable future.” It has supported a network of “Greening Congregations” by suggesting sustainable practices. At one of its services, the following was read:
“Great Spirit,
Give us hearts to understand,
Never to take
From creation’s beauty more than we give;
Never to destroy wantonly for the furtherance of greed,
Never to deny to give our hands for the building of earth’s beauty,
Never to take from her what we cannot use.
Give us hearts to understand that to destroy earth’s music is to create confusion,
That to wreck her appearance is to blind us to beauty,
That to callously pollute her fragrance is to make a house of stench,
That as we care for her she will care for us. Amen.”
The prayer offers us a vision for the earth and prods us to make resolutions to care for it. We must reconsider whether we need to use pesticides in our yards. We must question overfertilizing, which makes the plants thirstier and increases our water usage. The prayer’s basis is the doctrine of stewardship (which usually is preached from pulpits about giving or tithing) but its emphasis is on the way we tend to the earth’s needs.
Save the treetops
If we want just one concrete way we can be kinder to the earth, let’s consider halting the practice of topping trees. Cass Turnbull, of Seattle, created Plant Amnesty in the hope of ending “the torture and mutilation of trees and shrubs.” Her focus has been on correct pruning techniques and her book “Guide to Pruning” is a classic. My copy is well-used.
On Plant Amnesty’s webpage, www.plantamanesty.org, there are five reasons listed for not topping trees:
1. It doesn’t work.
Most people top trees so that they fit into a specific sized space — under the eaves or away from the house. Ironically, topping does just the opposite. It will keep a tree small only when the tree becomes so damaged from shearing that it doesn’t have the strength to re-establish itself.
When a tree is topped, its grow rate actually increases. Its efforts turn to recreating the missing leaf area. It needs all of its leaves to manufacture food for the trunk and roots and so works overtime to regain its original size.
2. It’s expensive.
Once a person begins topping a tree, he is committed to doing so again and again, every few years. Each time a branch is topped, suckers or water sprouts grow and try to replace the lost appendage.
Topping also reduces the appraised value of your trees. Appraisers, using the International Society of Arboriculture’s guidelines for evaluation, can subtract hundreds of dollars from the value of a tree. You even can sue a tree company for wrongfully topping a tree.
A proper pruning not only improves the health of a tree, but also allows the tree to stay “finished” longer since it doesn’t stimulate an upsurge of regrowth.
3. It’s ugly.
Most people are reminded of limb amputations when they see topped trees. But that isn’t even when the tree is its most grotesque. That comes later when thin-limbed water sprouts, out of proportion to the trunk and other branches, regrow and spike out to look like a witch’s broom.
Some trees take decades to grow into their peak magnificence. In several hours that process can be ruined by tree topping.
4. It’s dangerous.
Dr. Alex Shigo, renowned scientist and author, states that topping is the most serious injury you can inflict on trees because they become hazardous.
• They can rot from an invasion of organisms.
• They can starve by removing the leaves that feed them.
• They develop weak limbs from the suckers that grow to replace the branches.
• They become less wind resistant, with no caliper developed to withstand storms.
5. You look bad.
As people understand the damage created in topping, they are less likely to be patient with someone who topped a tree just to get a better view. There are ways to thin a tree or limb it up (removing from the lower branches) to open a view, which is kind both to the tree and to your neighbors.
Bev Hoffman’s Sequim Gazette column appears the first Wednesday of each month. She can be reached via e-mail at columnists@sequimgazette.com.
“Great Spirit,
Give us hearts to understand,
Never to take
From creation’s beauty more than we give;
Never to destroy wantonly for the furtherance of greed,
Never to deny to give our hands for the building of earth’s beauty,
Never to take from her what we cannot use.
Give us hearts to understand that to destroy earth’s music is to create confusion,
That to wreck her appearance is to blind us to beauty,
That to callously pollute her fragrance is to make a house of stench,
That as we care for her she will care for us. Amen.”
The prayer offers us a vision for the earth and prods us to make resolutions to care for it. We must reconsider whether we need to use pesticides in our yards. We must question overfertilizing, which makes the plants thirstier and increases our water usage. The prayer’s basis is the doctrine of stewardship (which usually is preached from pulpits about giving or tithing) but its emphasis is on the way we tend to the earth’s needs.
Save the treetops
If we want just one concrete way we can be kinder to the earth, let’s consider halting the practice of topping trees. Cass Turnbull, of Seattle, created Plant Amnesty in the hope of ending “the torture and mutilation of trees and shrubs.” Her focus has been on correct pruning techniques and her book “Guide to Pruning” is a classic. My copy is well-used.
On Plant Amnesty’s webpage, www.plantamanesty.org, there are five reasons listed for not topping trees:
1. It doesn’t work.
Most people top trees so that they fit into a specific sized space — under the eaves or away from the house. Ironically, topping does just the opposite. It will keep a tree small only when the tree becomes so damaged from shearing that it doesn’t have the strength to re-establish itself.
When a tree is topped, its grow rate actually increases. Its efforts turn to recreating the missing leaf area. It needs all of its leaves to manufacture food for the trunk and roots and so works overtime to regain its original size.
2. It’s expensive.
Once a person begins topping a tree, he is committed to doing so again and again, every few years. Each time a branch is topped, suckers or water sprouts grow and try to replace the lost appendage.
Topping also reduces the appraised value of your trees. Appraisers, using the International Society of Arboriculture’s guidelines for evaluation, can subtract hundreds of dollars from the value of a tree. You even can sue a tree company for wrongfully topping a tree.
A proper pruning not only improves the health of a tree, but also allows the tree to stay “finished” longer since it doesn’t stimulate an upsurge of regrowth.
3. It’s ugly.
Most people are reminded of limb amputations when they see topped trees. But that isn’t even when the tree is its most grotesque. That comes later when thin-limbed water sprouts, out of proportion to the trunk and other branches, regrow and spike out to look like a witch’s broom.
Some trees take decades to grow into their peak magnificence. In several hours that process can be ruined by tree topping.
4. It’s dangerous.
Dr. Alex Shigo, renowned scientist and author, states that topping is the most serious injury you can inflict on trees because they become hazardous.
• They can rot from an invasion of organisms.
• They can starve by removing the leaves that feed them.
• They develop weak limbs from the suckers that grow to replace the branches.
• They become less wind resistant, with no caliper developed to withstand storms.
5. You look bad.
As people understand the damage created in topping, they are less likely to be patient with someone who topped a tree just to get a better view. There are ways to thin a tree or limb it up (removing from the lower branches) to open a view, which is kind both to the tree and to your neighbors.
Bev Hoffman’s Sequim Gazette column appears the first Wednesday of each month. She can be reached via e-mail at columnists@sequimgazette.com.
© 2009 Sequim Gazette. All rights reserved. 147 West Washington, Sequim, WA 98382 • 360.683.3311 • Email the Webmaster