E-R Article: April 24, 2002

Minding Chico's trees

Think that tree needs pruning? Don't top it; Learn the right way
By MARY NUGENT, April 24, 2002

Roger Cole of Chico knows why people get carried away pruning trees, and why it is often done incorrectly.

"Part of it is a psychological thing. People get scared that when a tree gets big, that it might fall over or drop a limb. So they think they should top it and make it smaller," said Cole.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, said Cole. That thinking actually hurts the tree and can even kill it. "When you top a tree (cutting the top branches off a tree), you make it weak and then it might fall," he said.

"The other thing people do is cut all the branches off. But leaves produce food for the tree, and the more leaves you cut off the less sugar the tree can produce. The roots starve, which means the tree is starving.

"The rule is, don't cut off more than a third of a tree; it might fall over. Trees need their leaves."

Cole is the founder of CTrEE, which stands for Chico Tree Enhancement and Education and writes the grant that pays for it. CTrEE is a part of the nonprofit Streaminders, a local chapter of the Izaak Walton League.

CTrEE was hired by the City of Chico to do a restoration of Bidwell Park and prune the city's trees, said Cole. More than 140 volunteers have helped CTrEE to improve the health of more than 3,000 young street trees in Chico since 1993.

Cole leads "Tree Pruning 101" workshops where interested people from the community can learn about tree health and proper tree pruning from trained crew leaders, while helping Chico's young trees (see story this page).

"Our goal at CTrEE is that more people know that topping is bad practice and what good pruning actually is," said Cole.

He shares an analogy about why trees should not be topped. "If we cut our hand, we replace those cells. When a tree gets a cut, it constructs a chemical wall and walls the injury off, which is a portion of the tree.

"Trees are! large and long living, so topping seems like a successful strategy. B ut a Forest Service researcher pruned some trees and then two, three, five and seven years later he dissected the trees to see what happened.

"He found that cutting on a tree starts 13 serious problems. And since you're introducing rot directly into tree, that rot gets into the trunk. That's hard for a tree to prevent.

"Just like a wound can get infected, if you top a tree you open the whole tree up to that rot. It's just a matter of time until it dies; it's dying from inside out."

When it comes to pruning trees, Cole remembers his father's simple philosophy. "He did tree pruning when I was a kid. He used to say, the best job is if you couldn't tell."

He thinks about the trees chopped down in March on Bruce Road by developer Andrew Meghdadi. The City of Chico authorized Meghdadi to cut down 33 trees, but he had 115 cut down, mostly Blue Oaks.

"Blue Oaks grow very slowly," he said. Research shows it takes, on average, 25 to 50 years for a Blue Oa! k to grow an inch.

"But I feel good there are a lot of people from Chico who showed up at the City Council chambers (to protest it). That made me proud that so many people care about the trees."

Cole grew up in New Jersey and studied architecture at Fairleigh University, graduating from Kansas State University in 1978 with a degree in planning.

He came to Chico a year later with a friend and has stayed, living now in Forest Ranch. Prior to starting CTrEE, he worked in construction and design.

Cole's family is "all over the country," and his favorite area of California is the coast at Fort Bragg and Mendocino. When he has free time, he hikes and reads.

Cole said generally, he likes most trees. "We have 20 acres and lots of trees," he said. "My favorites are Douglas Firs and Ponderosa Pines because they are very drought-tolerant and grow well in Chico. They're good landscape trees. Ponderosa Pines make a better yard choice than Redwoods."

T! here are a couple of trees Cole could do without. "I don't like Tree o f Heaven or ailthanus. It's a weed tree and spreads like crazy. If you prune it or it breaks, it stinks. I also don't like the Purple Robe Locust trees. Its growth habits make it fragile and it grows fast."

Another nasty choice is the Black Locust Root Stock. "It's really horrendous, with sharp thorns," he said.

Besides his work with trees, Cole also is involved with local streams. "One aspect is the restoration in lower Bidwell Park and the other is Lindo Channel bank protection. I did a study, and the city paid me and Kristen Cooper Carter to write a grant and we got it. That grant was for $324,000."

Cole has a spring schedule of tree pruning workshops. The first is tomorrow. His workshops are held annually.

"People tell me trees look different after their workshops because they know what they're looking at. Even if they're not doing the pruning themselves, the knowledge is good if they're hiring someone.

"You can learn these things in three t! o six hours. Really, you just have to pay attention," he said.