Parks, Recreation & Leisure

Parks, Recreation & Leisure / Parks & Forestry

Tree Talk

Landscaping Tips | Plant of the Month | Tree Talk

Native Species
I have been reading garden and tree articles for almost forty years now and a recurring theme has always been the desirability of planting native plants and trees as they are ideally suited to our Ohio climate. It may be time to rethink that advice.

I was raised on an old apple orchard in Northeastern Ohio. The apple trees were in decline, approaching their forty year lifespans but the property also included the stumps of five mammoth American Chestnuts which had died from the Chestnut blight in the nineteen thirties. The chestnut was the dominant climax tree in much of the state but these trees are now all gone. Dutch elm disease was claiming the majority of the American Elm trees when I was a kid. Their presence as the dominant street tree in Ohio, lining East Broad Street four abreast, is but a memory. Gypsy moths are advancing into Franklin County- they are already at Little Turtle. They are a significant stress to the native Oaks. And now we have the Emerald Ash Borer. Having rapidly killed all of the native Ash trees in the metropolitan Detroit area, this Chinese pest is now in Toledo and Northwest Ohio. Initial data showed that the adult borer could travel a quarter mile and attempts have been made to stop the pest by clearing a two mile wide swath of ash trees around the infestation as a barrier. Newer information now shows that the bug can travel six miles and as a practical matter, most if not all of the Ash trees in the state are doomed. This includes the two mammoth trees in front yards on the north side of Waltham west of Northwest Boulevard, as well as the Blue Ash (Fraxinus quadrangulata) which was just planted in the Tree Commission Grove in the Lane Road Park as an example of an uncommon native tree.

The City Tree Commission has already had some discussion about the removal and replacement of the more than 600 Ash trees which line Arlington streets in the Public right of way should they be infested and killed. There are simply thousands more throughout the city on private property which may also be affected.

At this point I must stress DO NOT cut or remove any healthy ash trees- wait and see what happens. I would not plant anything in the genus Fraxinus however- Green Ash, White Ash or Blue Ash. As long as we all continue to enjoy inexpensive imported products from all over the globe, it is very unlikely that we will contain or stop the introduction of exotic pests. Diversity in planting is the only defense and selecting some of those trees from Europe and Asia only makes sense as a coping strategy. The Gingko is a fine street tree, it lines part of Coventry behind the Devon Pool. Katsura Trees flank the Arlington Avenue entrance to the Mallway. The Zelkova is a nice Asiatic approximation of the American Elm. Hardy Rubber Trees are found in several locations in Arlington as a street tree. If you still want a native species, plant something unusual such as the Cucumber Magnolia or the Kentucky Coffee Tree.

One of the most beautiful sights of my youth was seeing the flowering Japanese Cherry Trees which lined Ridge Road in Parma, Ohio from the City Hall north to the Brookpark Road City Limit. Today all of those trees are gone, and nothing has been planted to replace them. Planting a monoculture of identical street trees is simply unwise. Sticking to native Ohio trees may be just as unwise when we live in an interconnected world.

Parks & Forestry Division
Parks & Recreation Department
City of Upper Arlington
3600 Tremont Road
Upper Arlington, OH 43221
Phone: 614-583-5340