To the Editor;
The Marion Trees and Parks Committee is very gratified with the response to our latest Homeowner’s Guide to Marion Trees. If you do not have a copy, they are available at the Marion Town House, the Library, General Store and Post Office. Please pick one up.
I wanted to explain why there are some varieties that we no longer recommend planting. One is the Norway maple, of which many were planted over the years, but are now dying out and need replacing. Because they were so overplanted, they are now considered a “weed tree.” There are much prettier varieties: sugar, red, silver, sunset, tricolor, etc.
Another variety no longer planted as a street tree are ash trees, which in recent years have been devastated by the ash borer. Also, now we have a leaf disease attacking our beech trees and they have to be sprayed on a regular basis. Hemlocks, too, suffer from woolly adelgid and are dying out in our forests.
We also do not plant evergreens because, for the most part, they grow too large as a street tree and block the sidewalk. Now we plant much further into people’s properties (homeowners own 10 feet from the road edge) and we have to ask permission for that so we can get away from overhead wires and sidewalk construction.
We now don’t plant Kousa dogwoods because of the mess the berries create. River birch tends to spread their limbs and lean over and break with snow and ice. We have planted a lot of Princeton elms in the village, but they, too, can split due to their weight and growth habit. Finally, the honey locust that you will see around town can be messy with their seed pods and droppings.
Every tree has its habits and failings, but overall, we believe that they add to the beauty of our town and must be maintained and planted with care. If you have any questions, please reach out to anyone on our committee.
Thank you.
Margie Baldwin
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