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TREE HUGGERS VS HUGGER TREES
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You've heard of Tree Huggers, but have you heard about Hugger Trees? Despite all the good that trees do for the urban environment, they also cause some problems. As trees mature, lawn and landscapes become difficult to maintain due to shade and tree roots.
Shade is great to combat the Urban Heat Island. However, many plants do not do as well in the shade and in competition with tree roots as in the open. As trees grow, their canopy not only shades parking lots, reducing the Urban Heat Island, but they also shade lawn and landscape below. In addition, the tree canopy also prevents rain from getting to the ground below while the roots compete for water and nutrients. This often leads to weak or loss of grass and shrubs below.
Roots can also cause damage to sidewalks, parking lots and irrigation. As seen in the pictures above, roots can create thousands of dollars in infrastructure damage. When a recent customer questioned why a sprinkler repair costs several hundred dollars, the right picture explained it quite well. Our irrigation technicians carry chain saws to cut out roots.
We will focus future newsletters on options to prevent and repair root damage and how to modify landscapes as they change due to maturing trees.
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