Ever since my husband and I moved in 30 years ago, the most outstanding feature of our family’s Isle of Palms home has been the live oak tree centered in the backyard. Recently though, I’ve started to more fully appreciate the goodness this tree provides us and the ecosystem as a keystone species, while also paying more attention to other native trees around us — not just oaks and palmettos, but also the longleaf pine, a keystone species conservationists are trying to revive.
The electric company reminds us how much our community loves trees by stoking an outcry every time they pluck out our palmettos and cleave our oaks to ensure power line protection. Dominion Energy, the City of Isle of Palms, local businesses and residents should help compensate by strategically planting trees where they can thrive uninterrupted with a right-tree, right-place approach that focuses on native trees — not non-natives like Bradford pear trees, crepe myrtles or unstable Washingtonia palms.
Given the years it can take some native trees to mature, we should strive to replace what’s been lost with thoughtful urgency. To help make this happen, the city could tap some of the $240,000 it already has in an account that’s restricted for beautification purposes.
Likewise, it’s just as important for us to ensure the health and longevity of trees that remain. That’s a message I’ve heard from the city’s Zoning Administrator Matt Simms, a certified arborist, and other arborists he looks to for wisdom like his mentor Gerald Benoit, and Ash Connelly with SavATree. They recently joined forces in planning a tree tour at the Isle of Palms Rec Center that was part of the Art & Cars in the Park event.
As Connelly led the tour, she pointed out a big shift in American National Standards Institute recommendations for maintaining palmettos. ANSI now says to leave all green foliage intact for needed photosynthesis — even those fronds with brown or yellow tips — and only remove damaged or dead fronds. Similarly, minimal pruning is best for oaks and other hardwood trees.
“Every cut made on a tree is puncturing a hole in its vascular system,” Connelly explained. Even when pruning dead wood to protect against insects or potential hazards to people or property it should be done with care, so the wound can close successfully — preferably during cooler months when it’s consistently under 72 degrees.
Connelly also sought to dispel “a common industry misconception” that trees need to be thinned out so they don’t compete against each other. “They are communal,” she said. “They do support each other.” This underground network, dubbed the “Wood Wide Web,” is largely invisible to us, but important to the survival of trees — and ultimately ours as well.
By Susan Hill Smith
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