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2 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Power outages dot Josephine County following Wednesday weather ... Rowers from across country coming to Ashland ... Community Contributor: Loving the dandelions! ... Power outages dot Josephine County following Wednesday weather ... Rowers from across country coming to Ashland ... Community Contributor: Loving the dandelions! ... GREEN SPACE Ashland needs to make room for trees, arborist says Visiting adviser says many city trees are unhealthy and too close together Comment By Julie Akins For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Julie Akins For the Tidings Posted Apr. 8, 2016 at 8:48 PM By Julie Akins For the Tidings Posted Apr. 8, 2016 at 8:48 PM » Social News James Urban speaks for the trees. What he has to say in evaluating the street trees of Ashland is that many of them are not healthy. Of the trees along Ashland's main streets, he said, “Three out of ten are healthy. The rest need help.” Urban did say, however, that trees off main streets appear to be in much better shape because they have more room for root systems and because the soil around them has not been disturbed as often as main-street trees. Urban, a self-identified Lorax, advises cities across the world about urban arboriculture and soils, including the preservation and installation of trees in cities and rooftop gardens. Invited to Ashland by the Tree Commission, Urban looked around at the trees primarily in the city center to evaluate and advise the commission on their health. Urban told a standing-room-only crowd at Pioneer Hall that in many places too many trees have been planted too closely together. “Your codes need to be compatible with each other," he said, "Your code should say a minimum of 30 feet apart and a maximum of 50 feet. Let’s go back to the way we used to plant trees, much larger spaces. We need to plant trees for the long term.” Urban praised the city of Ashland for its tree diversity. He applauded the look and benefits of having a wide variety of tree species and surprised the audience with his views on non-native trees. “I’m not a total native person. Any adaptable species is fine. Disease is normally in native plants. Why not bring in trees that are adapted to withstand diseases?” Ultimately, Urban told the crowd that the benefits of trees more than pay for any costs associated with buying them, caring for them and planting them correctly. “Benefits of trees are amazing. If a child studies near a tree, she will get better test scores. Blood pressure will go down. Without trees, stress rates go up. A property with a tree in front is worth 8% more in its value. The benefits go on and on.” The tree expert demonstrated best soils for planting, complete with a table full of dirt samples, discussed best pruning practices and suggested, beyond leaving room for roots by digging trenches under sidewalks if necessary, the most important thing is in buying good trees. “No one would think anything of spending five thousand dollars for a street light, but if I said to spend that on a tree, they’d think I was crazy.” Bryon Holley, former tree commissioner and a recent victor in the fight to preserve the Cottonwood Tree on Clay street which was initially slated to be cut down, said he was excited that the current Ashland Tree Commission brought Urban to town for his evaluation and discussion, “It’s been interesting to see some of the issues he’s focusing on for the trees. We were talking about soil in the '90s.” Urban urged the crowd to encourage the city to provide space and good soil so that trees could live out a full lifespan. “We pop a small tree into one of those sidewalk grates, it dies, and we pop another one in expecting a different result.” He urged a culture of appreciating trees as an entire community and recognizing what he called many times an amazing value to cities. Holley agreed. “I think what he’s doing is recognizing the mystery of trees and how little we know about them,” she said. Members of the city of Ashland Tree Commission, Mayor John Stromberg and the city’s arborist as well as many members of the Parks and Recreation Department attended the meeting. —Email Ashland freelance writer Julie Akins at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/ @julieakins. By Julie Akins For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Julie Akins For the Tidings Posted Apr. 8, 2016 at 8:48 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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