Tree News

Spring 2022

2022 Arbor Day Tree Planting at the
Shaker High School Oval

This year in recognition of Arbor Day, the Tree Advisory Board partnered with Jeanne Wiemer’s Shaker High Environmental Science classes to plant a White Oak on the island where Aldersyde Drive meets Onaway Road on the High School Oval. Mayor Weiss welcomed High School students and Onaway Garden Club students. Several High School students read their favorite quotes about trees (shared with readers in this newsletter). Council member Anne Williams ushered in Arbor Day with an official Proclamation. Mr. Kalan, Garden Club sponsor and Onaway art teacher, spoke about the White Oak species. Shaker High student Chandler Boyd (“Chandler’s View Photography”) memorialized the occasion with his outstanding photography. Following the ceremony, the Shaker Schools Foundation hosted a reception for all at the High School. Next time you walk or drive around the Oval, be sure to notice what will surely become a huge shady sentinel for future generations of tri-campus students as well as the Onaway neighborhood. 
 
“To be without trees would, in the most literal way, to be without our roots.” -Richard Mayeb

Trees from Seed Growing in the Rolliston Road Community Garden

The Tree Advisory Board had a good idea. Why rely entirely on nursery-grown trees when you can germinate seeds and watch them grow into future tree stock right here in Shaker Heights? The TAB approached the Lomond Association Rolliston Road Community Garden, and they allowed us to have a plot in the back of the garden where we now nurture new tree seedlings for future tree projects in the City. It takes a good idea and a visionary, generous partner like the Rolliston Road Community Garden Board to make a tree sprout.

Onaway Community Triangle Park

The triangle of land formed where Warrington joins Fernway Road in the Onaway neighborhood has long been a community meeting spot where children play ice hockey in winter and family movie nights and picnics unite families in summer. Before the pandemic, two members of the Tree Advisory Board, Nate Smith and Ted Auch, thought the area could benefit from creating a more park-like setting with shade trees and shrubs. They created a landscaping design to achieve this goal. The Planning Department held numerous neighborhood meetings to get feedback from residents about community needs. Two grants, one from the City and the other from Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District, will fund the installation of trees, shrubs, benches, signage and a picnic table for the park. Such civic efforts prove that when neighbors come together with a common vision, they can improve our community.

Calling All Lovers of Historic Trees for the 2022 Heritage Tree Award Nominations!

Throughout Shaker Heights, there are notable trees. Some have historic connotations like the White Oaks surveyed by Moses Cleaveland when our land was part of the Western Reserve. Others hold special value, because their planting marked a familial or business event of importance. Past nominations have also celebrated trees of unusual size, age or form. Submit your 2022 nominations here. The deadline for nominations is July 31. Please help us by nominating a heritage tree!

How to Care for a New Lawn Tree

To Do:

• For a newly planted tree, quench its thirst: Fill the green gator bag once a week through summer and into fall. If the bag does not empty after a few hours, notify Public Works (491-1490) to adjust it.
• If applying mulch around the tree, make it 2-4 inches deep, keeping it 3-6 inches away from the trunk (think yummy donut, not dangerous volcano).
• Inspect trees for signs of insect infestation (dying leaves, holes in trunk), and report any to Forester Orlowski at 491-1490.
• Report any hazardous broken or dead limbs, and a dead tree too to Public Works Department.
• Protect tree roots when repairing a sidewalk.

Do NOT:

• Mow or use a string trimmer close to the trunk or roots of a tree
• Prune or disfigure it in any way
• Hang or attach anything (sign, holiday lights, etc.) to it
• Pile leaves/brush for collection near a tree, as machinery may damage the tree
• Allow contractors to push snow against a tree.

Get tips about tree planting and correct mulching.

What are Invasive Plants?

Many non-native plants and trees are invasive species. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has identified the main culprits and will soon add others like the Callery or Bradford Pear tree to its list. You can learn more about how to remove invasives, and which alternative native plants and trees to choose by reviewing information provided by the Doan Brook Watershed Partnership  or the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

And the Prize for the '2022 Invasive Plant of the Year' Goes To...

Amur Honeysuckle or Bush Honeysuckle was originally brought to the US from Eastern Asia for use as an ornamental in the late 1800s. Because of the exceptionally fast growth rate (April-November) and long leaf-bearing period of this noxious weed, it now out-competes native species and smothers native plant seedlings with its shade, killing the undergrowth.
 
Its branches are hollow and fast growing with opposite leaves arranged in a perfectly symmetrical pattern along the stem. Shaped like tear drops, the leaves can be three inches long. Bush Honeysuckle will leaf out before most other species and has tubular flowers about 1 inch long that start out white and turn to yellow. The blossoms are replaced by small clusters of red berries that are food for birds but highly poisonous to humans. Deer browse the foliage, but rarely kill the entire plant, unfortunately.
 
Amur Honeysuckle shrubs/trees thrive almost everywhere, but can be controlled and eliminated by cutting down the bush before it fruits and digging out the roots if possible. If you cannot dig out the roots, keep cutting the bush back until the roots are exhausted. This may take several years.
 
If you have missed the many warnings about the dangers of pesticides (including herbicides) to all living organisms, you should be aware of the real hazards posed to people, animals, water, bees and wildlife by them. Learn more.
 
Changing norms for sustainable landscapes are leading many residents to question the practice of cultivating the monoculture lawn that was the ideal of the Van Sweringens when they developed the suburban community of Shaker Heights over 100 years ago. The reasons for this change are multiple. Monoculture lawns support very few species. They lose nutrients when clippings are removed, and they require chemical inputs and large amounts of water to sustain them. Over time, soils in lawns can become extremely compacted, preventing rainwater from infiltrating. This increases stormwater runoff that flows into our infrastructure and dumps chemical pollutants into our streams. Gas-powered lawncare equipment burns fossil fuels that contribute to climate change by emitting large amounts of carbon, contributing to air pollution. In an effort to pursue a more perfect lawn, we apply fertilizers, much of which ends up running off the land into our watershed and Lake Erie, leading to algal blooms and low oxygen levels in the water, impairing the ecological health in our rivers and lakes.
 
For more information about sustainable land management, the Doan Brook Watershed Partnership has a Sustainable Landscaping Booklet. 

Shaker's First 'Growing not Mowing' Site

On the corner of S. Park and Courtland Boulevards lies a marshy section of grassland in the floodplain of the Doan Brook. The City’s mowers were often stuck in these sloping wetlands. Heavy storms overflowed the banks of the brook, uprooting the riparian border of trees and eroding the soil. To address these problems, the Stormwater and Greenspaces Committee of the Sustainability Committee received a $1,000 grant from the Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District matched by a $1,000 grant from the Doan Brook Watershed Partnership. The goal was to design a project that would install native trees, shrubs and plants to absorb stormwater, provide food for wildlife, prevent soil erosion and decrease carbon output through the cessation of mowing.

On April 30, sixty volunteers (including many energetic Girl and Boy Scouts!) met at the site. With equipment loaned by the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, volunteers planted 2 Smooth Alder, 20 Red Twig Dogwood, 1 White Swamp Oak, 30 Buttonbush, 15 Silky Dogwood, 5 Ninebark, 5 Silky Willows, 5 Blue Haw Viburnum and 3 Sensitive Fern. In two hours, the plantings were installed and the trees were staked, mulched and deer-protected. Encouraged by the success of this project, the Sustainability Committee and Tree Advisory Board have designed and will plant an extended woodland habitat project this fall at Lee Road and S. Park Boulevard on Saturday, October 15. Please save the date and join us!