SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2004

It was 1988, the year of the Great Drought, and I was walking down 57th Street in Chicago to my favorite bookstore. As I approached, I saw the manager out front with a watering can, tending to the three or four Vinca minor plants that surrounded a 10-foot-tall ash tree in a sidewalk tree well. “Got to water the little plants,” he said cheerfully.

The little plants? They had probably cost about $5 max, whereas that ash could have well been worth $500. But that’s the thing about trees. We take them for granted, assuming their deep roots will get them through any water shortage. Yet their critically important feeder roots are actually in the top 6-12 inches of soil, extending horizontally to the drip line and beyond.

Trees in sidewalk wells face additional indignities. For true in-your-face proof, simply walk by the front entrance of Truman College at Wilson and Broadway in Chicago. Three rows of Norway maples line the space between the building and the sidewalk, with the first row, nearest the wall, planted fully in soil. The second row has soil on one side and concrete on the other, while the third is totally
surrounded by concrete. You don’t have to be Carnac the Magnificent to predict the results: normal-sized trees near the building, smaller ones in the middle, and stunted half-dead runts in the concrete.

Trees must also cope with our ignorance. A few years ago I noticed that the mature maple in the front yard of the next door condo was thinning at the top. The arborist who came out to investigate discovered that the balled and burlapped tree had been planted without removing the plastic twine around the burlap, so for 20+ years those roots had been slowly circling the tree and ended up strangling it. Nothing to do but cut it down.

Successful tree growing requires correct cultural practices but begins with picking the proper tree, a topic that tree expert Guy Sternberg examines in this issue (page 20). Sternberg, an arborist and owner of Starhill Forest Arboretum in Petersburg, Illinois, is also the co-author of the recently published Native Trees for North American Landscapes (Timber Press). Native trees rank high on his recommended list for Chicagoland.

In this issue we also showcase some surefire plants that will make your autumn garden a spectacular season-closer, investigate the role microclimates play in gardening success (or failure) and display myriad ways to use ornamental grasses in containers. Stunning private and public gardens, personal profiles, winter vegetable gardening how-to tips and a paean to snakes (we’re serious) round out our lineup.

Everything we plant plays a role in creating a beautiful garden, but nothing is more important (or more expensive) than trees. Think of all the care and attention we give to buying and maintaining a car. Then think of 10 years down the road. One of these purchases will have turned into junk. The other will have increased the value of your property, making you richer in more ways than one.