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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend September 24, 2005 A Siberian elm growing in the parking lot of Evo�s coffeehouse is being nominated as Ashland Tree of the Year for its hardiness � despite its reputation for being a noxious, invasive species. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli INVASIVE SPECIES: The Evo’s tree By JOHN DARLING for the Mail Tribune The people at Evo’s coffeehouse fell so in love with the spindly little elm tree that sprouted through the concrete in their parking lot that they nominated it for Ashland’s Tree of the Year. Coffee quaffers loved its spunk and courage, told tales about it surviving with no visible earth or water and signed nomination forms for the struggling, six-foot sapling. But wait a minute. Summoned to the site, Pennie Rose, a member of the town’s tree commission, pronounced it a Siberian elm, one of the most hardy and invasive species around — and considered so noxious that even the Nature Conservancy Web site advises people to girdle it or cut it down. Horrified at the news, Evo’s owners circled their wagons for the scruffy "swamp tree," as Rose called it — and say they will persist in their campaign to honor it as the best tree around. Advertisement "It represents the spirit of Evo’s — hardy, for sure, but not invasive," said co-owner Debbie Lorray, petting the elm’s leaves. "It represents our ideals. All those qualities of hardiness and will to survive and thrive are what we’re all about." Evo’s co-owner Brandon Bryant played nursemaid to the sprout, chipping a foot-wide bed through 18 inches of asphalt-covered concrete with a pneumatic drill, then filling the hole with compost and steadying it with a bamboo pole. The tree became an Evo’s folk legend by braving not only a bed of cement right outside the entrance, but kids playing, adults milling around outdoor tables, dogs doing their duty on it and cars backing up to it, belching their exhaust. Said longtime Evo’s customer Rick Harris, "We love it. I watched it get born. It fought for its life and it’s our precious little baby." Ashland parks horticulturist Don Todt confirmed the Siberian elm’s renegade status, saying it has poor branch structure, often splits when old and "is not recommended as a street tree." Siberian elms were brought to this country in the 1860s for the very qualities that now make them undesirable — their rapid growth, hardiness and ability to thrive in poor soil and moisture conditions, he said. "But their disadvantages outweigh their advantages," said Todt. "The arborist I consulted says they shouldn’t be used under any circumstances." All this fuss immediately raised the question: Would the Tree Commission disqualify an invasive "junk tree" from being honored alongside past winners, such as the majestic deodara cedar in front of Safeway, the blue atlas cedar at Liberty and Pennsylvania, the gingko tree by the library and the Monterey pine at Briscoe Elementary School? "No, absolutely not," said Rose, an arborist for 30 years and owner of Living Art Enviroscapes. "There are no criteria or preconceived ideas for Tree of the Year, so they’re encouraged to do it. We consider a tree’s spunk, perseverance and survivability, as well as the humor in nominating it. Just because it’s an invasive species doesn’t mean it’s not a champion tree." While the Siberian elm is known to take over swamps and prairies in the Midwest, it poses no threat in Ashland, where most people quickly pluck it out of their yards, Rose added. Lorray said she didn’t like the idea of a non-native, invasive tree that readily seeds the area. But the two-story mother tree, crammed in at the edge of the parking lot, has been a good citizen, she said, providing a shady, park-like setting for customers. "If you listened to the negative stories of how awful anything or any person can be, what kind of world would this be?" said Lorray. "They say it grows all twisted and strange. Well, I like the way it grows twisted and strange. As of right now, we love our Siberian elm." Along the Bear Creek Greenway, where the aggressive elm might be expected to take over, director Karen Smith reports there are some, but they’re not being invasive. Lorray has a pile of nomination forms by Evo’s door and many customers have submitted them to the Ashland Tree Commission, which reviews them Oct. 6 and selects the top five. The public votes on these and the winner is announced at the Nov. 22 City Council meeting. Evo’s habitu� Jack Langford said the tree had "dodged all these bullets and touched me and others. It shows that when you have a dream, life is always going to give you unexpected help for it." Considering the problem of invasive species, Bryant said it’s not the tree’s fault, but man’s, because "man played God and altered the delicate balance of nature and moved native species — and at this point, well, a tree is just a tree. Who’s to say what trees are good or bad? You can’t blame the tree for being itself." John Darling is a freelance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected]. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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