Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVS) – aka drones – are all over the news. As they get lighter and more affordable, the applications for their use widen. Brian Ritter, an ISA Certified Arborist, Registered Forester, and current PhD candidate in Forest Resources at Clemson University, studied their applications in urban forest inventories, summarizing his research in… More
OpenTreeMaps are collaborative, crowd-sourced projects where citizens help inventory urban trees, learn about the environmental benefits trees provide and explore nature in their city. Kelaine Ravdin, owner of Urban Ecos, has worked as the project lead on OpenTreeMap projects across California, including Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles. Kelaine’s work blends a deep… More
In February I had the opportunity to speak with David Dockter, an arborist with the Department of Planning and Community Environment and Public Works in the city of Palo Alto, CA. As someone expert in trees who works within the building permit and planning department role. Dave has a unique perspective on working with developers… More
Humans have been managing plants for thousands of years – watering, saving seeds, protecting plants from herbivores. We began learning about horticulture initially through observation. Some of our observations were correct, such as which plants needed lots of sun and which could grow in the shade. Others, such as adding sugar to the soil for… More
I recently presented a webinar where I discussed three high-impact design decisions that affect long-term tree performance: tree spacing, sizing the tree opening, and water harvesting into soil below paving. Attendees asked a lot of good questions, and by far the most asked one had to do with the use of tree grates. As anyone… More
Cities are the cultural and economic centres of the world whose progress depends upon effective management and evidence-based policy making.” – ISO 37120 Briefing Note “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not” – Dr. Seuss, The Lorax Cities are growing rapidly and we all have a… More
In part 2 of this series, I gave an example of an i-tree study that analyzed the Chicago Region and encompassed seven counties. But i-Tree tools work on a much more granular level as well, so today I want to discuss about a study that looks at just one city: my hometown of Minneapolis, MN…. More
We’ve all taken shelter under a tree’s canopy during a storm, grateful for its ability to intercept rain. You may not realize this, but rainwater that passes through tree canopies is modified both volumetrically and chemically in processes that have been relatively well studied in forests. That modification, which encompasses several different components, is what… More
In anticipation of the American Society of Landscape Architects tradeshow later this week, today we’re highlighting an iconic tree planting project using suspended pavement – including archival photos and original section details – that took place in Denver in the early 1980s: the 16th Street Mall. -LM Denver has long been a place of significance in the… More
So you want to understand your urban forest better. Maybe it’s that you want to make the business case for its value, or understand where your tree canopy is strong and where it could still use work to help guide policy or budget decisions. In part 1 of this series, I gave a cursory overview… More
I meet many people in the landscape architecture community who have heard of i-Tree… but don’t really know what it does. Basically, i-Tree is a suite of tools designed to quantify the structure of a community forest as well as the environmental services provided by that forest. It can be used at a wide range… More
My window looks out on 9 Mile Creek, a rural looking creek in an urban/suburban environment in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. In the six years our company has been here, this is the closest I’ve seen water come to the parking lot. For a number of weeks this spring and summer, the large ash trees on… More
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