oct-nov 2009 wilminton tree press, delaware center for horticulture

8/9/2019 Oct-Nov 2009 Wilminton Tree Press, Delaware Center for Horticulture

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

City Gardens Contest.1

Hot Topics: Trees and Crime..2,3

TreeMinders....4

Volume 3 | Issue 4

Celebrating Outstanding Trees and Citizens: City Gardens Contest Tree Category

Earlier this month the Delaware Center for Horticulture held an

awards ceremony for the community members who entered andwon awards in this years City Gardens Contest. There werefour entries in the Tree Category. This category honors trees

that are an urban-appropriate tree that is properly mulched,

watered and pruned. The tree should also add to the diversity ofthe urban forest and to the overall beauty of the neighborhood.

These trees are all front yard trees and may or may not be street

trees. This years winner was Elizabeth Higginbotham of CoolSpring Neighborhood. The judges described the beautiful con-

trast of the purple leaves and red bricksas well as Elizabeths enthusiasm for her

shady sanctuary between the two drive-

ways of her duplex.

If you or someone you know wants to

enter next summers contest visit ourwebsite www.dehort.org for the entry

form and description of all the catego-

ries.
http://www.dehort.org/http://www.dehort.org/


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Itis hard to have a conversation about trees in the urban environment without people bringing up issues of lighting, crime, and ne er-do-wells lurking in the shadows or behind the bushes. We face the issues of criminality and vegetation each year in Wilmington,

and this year our eyes were opened to a problem with one of our highly used street trees.

When seven mature zelkovas disappeared from outside of Elbert Palmer Elementary School in Southbridge without the Christina

School Districts or the Delaware Center for Horticultures (the permitting body for the city for tree work in the right -of-way)

knowledge we were surprised and curious about what happened. We quickly learned that the trees were removed at the request of

the police in Southbridge. Why? The answer we were given even surprised those who had thought they had heard/seen it all interms of urban trees. People were stashing drugs in the branches of the zelkova trees. The zelkova pictured below is favored as a

street tree because of its medium height, attractive crown and leaves, and upright branching structure, which means it needs minimal

pruning and maintenance to keep it out of the way of pedestrians, road traffic, and away from buildings. This thick branching struc-

ture just happens to be at a convenient height for adults to hide paraphernalia in the tree.

DCH spoke with all the parties involved and informed the police about the appropriate permitting process, and owner approval that

are needed if future problems arise where there is a clear link between street trees and crime. DCH has informally decided to con-

sider more closely where we plant zelkovas and other trees with branching structure that may allow for this type of problem.

It must be noted that this particular circum-

stance is an anomaly not the norm. Even

though there is a fear of heavily wooded, low

visibility green spaces inviting the criminal

element it has been shown in studies from

the University of Illinois that green spaces

do not invite the criminal activity and may

even deter crime. Researchers Frances Kuo

and William Sullivan have performed many

studies on human-environment interaction

with a focus on the city of Chicago. They

suggest the reason vegetation would decrease

crime is because of increased surveillance

and mitigating psychological precursors to

violence. Their compelling research has

shown that, contrary to popular belief, green

space does not encourage crime, and lack of

green space may have a strong enough influ-ence to be considered a predictor in deter-

mining where crime will happen within a

particular housing project neighborhood.

All of Kuo and Sullivans publications are

available online through the University of

Illinois Urbana-Champaign Landscape and

Human Health Laboratory at

http://lhhl.illinois.edu/all.scientific.articles.htm.

Kuo, F.E., & Sullivan, W.C. (2001). Environment and

crime in the inner city: Does vegetation reducecrime? Environment & Behavior, 33(3), 343-367.

Left: An example of a Zelkova, which are heav-

ily planted in Wilmington. Luckily for us not all

trees have this risky branching structure. Right:

is the Thornless Honey Locust, Gleditsia triacan-

thos inermis, which has an open branching

structure and spread canopy which allows for

more light and greater visibility.

Stumps of the zelkovas outside of Elbert-Palmer Elementary photo by Patrice Sheehan

Hot Topics: Crime and Trees by Joanne Bateup Americorps VISTA
http://lhhl.illinois.edu/all.scientific.articles.htmhttp://lhhl.illinois.edu/download.php?article=3_article_Environment%20and%20crime%20in%20the%20inner%20city.pdfhttp://lhhl.illinois.edu/download.php?article=3_article_Environment%20and%20crime%20in%20the%20inner%20city.pdfhttp://lhhl.illinois.edu/download.php?article=3_article_Environment%20and%20crime%20in%20the%20inner%20city.pdfhttp://lhhl.illinois.edu/download.php?article=3_article_Environment%20and%20crime%20in%20the%20inner%20city.pdfhttp://lhhl.illinois.edu/download.php?article=3_article_Environment%20and%20crime%20in%20the%20inner%20city.pdfhttp://lhhl.illinois.edu/download.php?article=3_article_Environment%20and%20crime%20in%20the%20inner%20city.pdfhttp://lhhl.illinois.edu/download.php?article=3_article_Environment%20and%20crime%20in%20the%20inner%20city.pdfhttp://lhhl.illinois.edu/download.php?article=3_article_Environment%20and%20crime%20in%20the%20inner%20city.pdfhttp://lhhl.illinois.edu/all.scientific.articles.htm


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ThemapontheleftshowsWilmingtonPriorityPlantingAreasbasedontheUFOREStudyfromearlierthisyear.Ontherigh

tisacrimerateby

neighborhoodmapasgenerate

dbywww.neighborhoodscout.c

om.Thoughnodirectcorrelationcanbedrawnbetweentreesandcrimeitisclear

thatneighborhoodswithmore

treesarenotsubjecttomorecrimes.


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October:

Now-October 30thToms of Maine Grant Opportunity No More Charlie Brown Trees

You can vote once a day for Delaware Center for Horticultures Hedgeville Tree Planting Project at

http://www.tomsofmaine.com/community-involvement/project-sponsorships.aspx or follow the links from

www.tomsofmaine.com

October 7th: Tree Steward Volunteer Appreciation Movie Night and Award Ceremony 6:00pm-8:00pm at The Dela-

ware Center for Horticulture

Join us for a night of appreciation of YOU our wonderful tree program volunteers! A light dinner will be served and we will be

screening Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai . Please RSVP to Joanne Bateup [email protected] 302 658 6262 ext.118 ASAP

October 26th or 27th: Tentative Bare Root Dipping Day!Interested in getting hands on experience with the bare root process? Come get messy with the Tree Program as we prepare the

bare root trees to go to their new owners. Dipping usually happens in the early morning, but depends on when the trees arrive

from the nursery. For more information or to RSVP contact Annie Acton 302 658 6262 ext. 106 [email protected]

October 28th: How to Plant a Bare Root Tree Workshop

5:00pm-7:00pm at The Delaware Center for Horticulture

Come learn about the bare root process and how to plant your new bare root trees! DCH staff will be on hand to answer ques-

tions you may have about your new trees. Please RSVP to Annie Acton [email protected] 302 658 6262 ext. 106

October 31st: Fall Volunteer Bare Root Tree Planting9:45amWe are currently looking for experienced team leaders to join us for a spooky fall tree

planting and Halloween block party at various sites throughout Wilmington. Please

RSVP to Joanne Bateup, [email protected] 302 658 6262 ext. 118 to learn where to

meet or to receive a full agenda of the day.

November:November 7th: Final Tree Care Club of 2009

10:00am-Noon rain date November 21stJoin other Tree stewards and citizens to help clean up and prune the street trees in Wilmington! Learn proper pruning tech-

niques! If you would to participate please contact Joanne Bateup [email protected], 302 658 6262 ext. 118.

TREEminders

Phone: 302-658-6262

Fax: 302-658-6267

Delaware Center for Horticulture

1810 North DuPont Street

Wilmington, DE 19806

The Delaware Center for Horticulture cultivates a greener community; inspiring appre-ciation and improvement of our environment through horticulture, education and conser-vation.

For more Tree Program information contact: Patrice Sheehan 658-6262 ext. 112 [email protected] or

Joanne Bateup 658-6262 ext. 118 [email protected]
http://www.tomsofmaine.com/community-involvement/project-sponsorships.aspxhttp://www.tomsofmaine.com/http://www.tomsofmaine.com/http://www.tomsofmaine.com/community-involvement/project-sponsorships.aspx

oct-nov 2009 wilminton tree press, delaware center for horticulture

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