This tree has grown
too big for its location!
This pin
oak (Quercus palustris), at the intersection of
Umbria and Gates Streets in the Manayunk section of the
City of Philadelphia, is straining to make room for itself
as it grows. As you can see, it has grown around the
two posts placed by the curb to protect it from collision
by cars, and it is growing over the curb and down towards
the street. This tree is simply too large for the
hole it was planted in. It will eventually strangle
itself against the curb and the sidewalk, and it will die
unless action is taken to remedy the situation. A
similar tree (pictured at left, in October of 2004) just
up the street from it was removed in March of 2005; it had
pushed up the sidewalk on either side of it with its roots,
which is a common way that trees "behave" in constricted,
paved areas. [see more trees like this]
It is a common sight
in the city and even in the suburbs: a tiny new tree, planted
in a spacious-looking opening in the pavement. But
many of these trees will eventually out-grow their planting
pits and look like this! As a result, it is also common
to find large trees like this one, practically oozing and
overflowing around human-made solid obstacles such as fences,
posts, concrete, bricks, stone curbs, etc. (Trees
can even grow through fences.) Often the concrete
or asphalt around them is buckled, cracked, or pushed up
as the roots expand beneath. Take a walk around any
dense residential or business district where the trees are
more than a few decades old, and you are likely to encounter
trees in situations similar to the one illustrated above.
So, you may be asking
yourself; WHAT CAN BE DONE TO PREVENT THIS? The answer
is simple: Plant the right tree in the right
place. Don't plant a tree somewhere unless
it will still fit in that location as it grows. For
tight spaces, choose a tree that will stay small.
For more open spaces, where there is plenty of room for
the tree's roots to grow, choose a tree that has the potential
to grow large. For planting spaces under utility wires,
choose a tree that will stay small, or one that tolerates
pruning well. Do not plant a tree that can grow 60
feet tall if it will be under wires that are only 20 feet
above the ground!
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