Forestry

Scope of work

Trees in our parks and along the Right of Ways within the City limits.
Emergency calls with safety concerns affecting individuals/homes as well as road sight issues are addressed with first priority. All other trimming, and maintenance services happen on a call to call basis.

Tree Planting

Typically occurs in the Spring and sometimes the Fall. We traditionally plant around 150 trees annually.
We do not always replant a tree in an area where we have removed them. While we do take requests for replants, the decision is at the supervisor's discretion. Things like potential visual obstructions, and overhead lines can be limiting factors in their decision.
Varieties planted can include, Maples, Oaks, Sweet or Black Gum, Ginkgo, Honey Locust, Hornbeams, and Lindens. Less frequently planted ornamental trees such as Redbud, Chokecherry and Crabapple as well as some Sycamore, River Birch and Beech trees are planted but they are much less common.
It becomes the homeowners responsibility to care for and water a newly planted tree.

Tree Health, Trimming and Removals

Tree requests involving trimming or removal are first evaluated by our crew for best course of action
Bark and limbs dropping can be a symptom of bad tree health however some trees do this even when completely healthy. Other factors like carpenter ants, bees/wasps and bugs can be a symptoms of poor tree health but are not typically the cause of the issue.
Sponginess of wood, hollow trunks/branches, and cavities in the wood can be tell-tale signs of a dying or dead tree.
Following the removal of a ROW tree, you can expect some ruts from equipment or dropping of logs. If they are sizable, we will do our best to pitchfork them out while there to remove the tree.
Turf damage will be fixed and seeded following the removal of a stump. You can expect to have a stump remain about 8 weeks. Stump removal uses different equipment than our regular tree maintenance/removals, so to maximize efficiency, we complete stump removals when we have a larger quantity to remove.
Some stump removals require a MissDig to locate utilities. Please refrain from removing flags until the stump is removed.

Pine Street Forestry Yard:

Trimmings, limbs and chips from City Right of Way Trees are contained at the Pine Street Forestry Yard. While you are unable to dispose of your items here, we do welcome your removal of the wood chips, and logs for your personal use. A Forestry Yard Waiver must be completed prior for all individuals entering the facility. With a completed waiver, you may enter the premises any time the gate is open. This is a self-service offering only. Please do not dump here or leave items behind or this service could be discontinued.

Forestry Yard Waiver

COMMON TREE ISSUES

Mildew & Black Tar Spot

Powdery Mildew and Black Tar Spot are caused by fungal spores currently present in your soil. During times of high humidity and warm nights, the spores make themselves visible on your leaf. You can often find powdery mildew on Crimson King Maples and Black Tar Spot on other Maple varieties. Although unsightly, these symptoms rarely affect overall tree health. Proper leaf sanitation in the Fall (leaf removal, not mulching affected leaves with lawnmowers) can mitigate future occurrences of these issues.

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Female high school basketball player shooting basket

Black Tar Spot

Powdery Mildew

Oak Wilt

Importance: Oak wilt kills healthy red oaks. White oaks can also be affected but are more resistant and less vulnerable to mortality from the disease. Once a red oak becomes infected with the oak wilt fungus, the tree will die, and there is no treatment to save the infected tree. Once an oak wilt infection is confirmed, however, treatments are available to save surrounding oaks and stop the spread of this disease.

What is at risk? All red oaks are susceptible to oak wilt. Red oaks are common urban and suburban landscape trees. The loss of these trees can have a significant negative impact. In the forest, red oaks are also an important producer of acorns for wildlife habitat. Using 2011 Forest Inventory and Analysis data along with the current average stumpage price for red oak saw logs, it is estimated that the value of red oak timber in Michigan is approximately 1.6 billion dollars.

The threat: Oak wilt moves slowly on its own through root systems and travels short distances overland when new spores are moved by beetles from an infected tree to a freshly pruned or injured tree. Oak wilt can be moved long distances when people move infected firewood from one location to another. Look for red oaks that suddenly drop their leaves in the summer. The disease spreads, killing nearby oaks from one year to the next. Currently, oak wilt is generally distributed throughout the Midwest and Texas.

What can you do? DO NOT prune oak trees during the growing season. If you need to prune oaks, DO NOT prune them between April 15 and July 15. DO NOT move firewood: oak wilt is spread by the movement of infected wood.

Report Suspect Forest Pest Infestations to State of Michigan

Dutch Elm Disease

Signs and Symptoms—Symptoms differ between trees that are infected through root grafts and those infected via beetles. Trees infected by root grafts wilt, their leaves turn brown, and the trees die rapidly, usually in the spring. When the disease is transmitted by bark beetles, the first symptoms are often yellowing and wilting of leaves on one or several branches. The leaves eventually turn brown and fall in mid to late summer. As the disease spreads to adjacent branches, additional branches die, and eventually tree mortality results. This often takes 1 or more years.

Slight symptom differences also occur among the beetle vectors. The smaller European elm bark beetle feeds in small twigs, usually high in the crown of mature trees. This results in the initial wilt symptoms on higher and smaller branches. In contrast, the native elm bark beetle bores into the bark of branches 2-4 inches (5-10 cm) in diameter to feed.

(www.fs.usda.gov)

Verticillium Wilt

Verticillium Wilt is a vascular wilt of hardwoods caused by two closely related species of fungi. This fungi is soil-borne and enters through roots or wounds in the tree near the ground level.

Signs and Symptoms—Typical symptoms include chlorosis, wilting, marginal and interveinal necrosis of the foliage, branch dieback, and mortality (fig. 1). Symptoms vary among hosts and are not always completely diagnostic. Symptomatic wilting is most obvious on warm, sunny days. The disease often progresses from the lower crown upward, but it is not unusual for only a branch or portion of the tree to be impacted.

(www.fs.usda.gov)