How homeowners can help grow Akron’s urban tree canopy
Autumn in Ohio has begun to kiss the leaves of honeylocusts and maples, which means tree planting season is upon us! It’s the perfect time to contribute to the growth of our urban tree canopy, and some Akronites will be fortunate enough to reap the benefits of the City of Akron’s Master Tree Planting Plan, released in 2016. This plan aims to plant over 50,000 trees in order to meet a goal of 40% overall urban tree canopy coverage and achieve a fully stocked urban forest over a period of 20 years. Many of these trees will be planted on the tree lawns of private residences, beginning in areas that have the lowest tree canopy coverage.
Private property owners have the greatest potential impact on our urban canopy, with about 82% of the canopy growing on their lands, according to the 2020 State of the Canopy Report released by Davey Resource Group on behalf of the City of Akron. The tree plantings will benefit property owners and their greater communities in many ways. Trees provide priceless environmental benefits: they increase biodiversity, improve air and water quality, reduce erosion, and mitigate climate change. They also provide physical, mental, and public health benefits, such as increased physical activity, stress reduction and improved well-being, and noise and crime reduction.
Beyond these environmental and public health benefits, the monetary value of a tree can be in the thousands, depending on the size and species. Several online tools can help property owners determine the value of a tree, so homeowners can weigh the value against the cost for maintenance and tree care.
Soon, residents in neighborhoods that have been slated for tree plantings this fall will begin to receive letters notifying them of the upcoming plantings. Residents who for whatever reason do not want to have new trees planted in front of their homes will be given a chance to appeal. Those appeals will be heard by the Akron Tree Commission during a monthly meeting. Last fall’s appeals were recorded and streamed live on the City of Akron’s YouTube page, with residents appearing on a video call to appeal to the Commission. Each resident was given ample time to explain why they don’t want to receive a new tree on their property.
Most of the residents’ concerns centered around the cost and labor involved with leaf removal and tree trimming, the unsightliness of trees that must be trimmed to grow around power lines, and the potential for sidewalk damage, as is seen in many Akron neighborhoods that have streets lined with heritage oaks and sycamores that have turned the sidewalks into unintentional bike and skate ramps (fun for bikes and skates, not so fun for wheelchairs, elderly, and stubbed toes).
However, some of these concerns have been considered and remedied with the strategies set forth in the Master Tree Planting Plan. In decades past, tree plantings in residential neighborhoods didn’t consider the size of the tree lawn or the needs of the tree, so roots would grow under sidewalks and branches up into power lines. Many trees planted years ago also had to be removed due to disease or pests, such as the Emerald Ash Borer.
One way to avoid major tree care labor is to plant varieties that are resistant to disease and that either don’t shed a lot of leaves or have very small leaves that can be easily swept into the yard to quickly decompose. The value of the tree, which can be calculated using a tree planting calculator, could be well worth the cost of regular maintenance. The U.S. national average cost of leaf removal for an entire yard is $280. Better yet, an electric-powered leaf blower starts at around $100. You can get a high-end electric-powered backpack leaf blower for about $500 – a small price to pay for cool shade all summer, vibrant leaves in autumn, and fresh air and wildlife all year.
Still, the labor of regular maintenance and care could be too much for the elderly or disabled. Folks on a fixed income or low-income households could struggle with the cost of leaf removal and tree trimming. That’s why some cities that are trying to grow their urban tree canopy cover have begun to offer incentives.
The 2020 State of the Canopy Report states, “In many cases with incentive programs, cities have established minimum tree density requirements and are utilizing incentives to allow property owners some flexibility with the minimum tree density…Some strategies that have been engaged in at other municipalities include the fee in-lieu programs to support variances in any tree replacement obligations, Heritage Tree Programs that protect special trees, arborist business licensing to encourage best practices in tree care, and incentive programs.”
Cuyahoga County’s Healthy Urban Tree Canopy (HUTC) Grant Program is one such incentive program, coordinated by the Cuyahoga County Department of Sustainability, the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission, and the Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District, with assistance from the Cuyahoga County Board of Health. This initiative promotes a healthy tree canopy in Cuyahoga County by awarding grant funds for tree planting and maintenance projects. Like the City of Akron did in 2020, Cuyahoga County released an update on the state of their urban tree canopy in 2019, as well as a Climate Change Action Plan. Both items emphasized the importance of a healthy tree canopy.
In 2023, the program received 31 applications for financial assistance, requesting a total of $1,683,421 in funding. The top 19 ranked projects were awarded funding, including eight maintenance and tree planting projects.
Akron residents should be on the lookout for updates on the USDA Forest Service Inflation Reduction Act Urban and Community Forest Grant Urban Forestry Grant for which the City of Akron applied this Spring. If awarded, one portion of this grant could potentially help offset the cost of tree maintenance and planting for private landowners in Akron. Residents across the City of Akron could benefit from such programs, but these programs could be especially effective in neighborhoods where asthma rates are high, Child Opportunity Index is low, and tree lawns are barren.
So, as the City of Akron prepares to begin their annual tree lawn tree plantings throughout the city, we talked to Jake LeBarre, District Manager of the Davey Tree Akron office to get his input on how homeowners can maintain and grow their piece of the canopy. LeBarre says that any resident interested in maintaining tree canopy growth should start with a property evaluation from a trusted tree service and landscaping company, which some companies offer for free.
“Well, the best thing to do, if they’re new to a property, or if they’ve been there 50 years, is just to get an evaluation of their property,” LeBarre says. “We can look at your property and evaluate what would be the priority…a lot of times you can break things into phases—what’s necessary, and what isn’t necessary.”
Such an evaluation can help residents determine the best type of trees to plant to meet the needs of the property and the wishes of the owner. For instance, if leaf removal is an obstacle, LaBarre recommends planting oak trees, which hold onto their leaves for a long time, sometimes through winter. Honeylocusts are another option because their leaves are so small they can be easily swept or blown away, and they will decompose much more quickly.
If tree trimming and limb pickup are a problem, LaBarre suggests staying away from maples and other faster-growing trees.
“Any maple likes to self-prune, so you’re going to find dead limbs everywhere,” says LaBarre. “So even if there’s just a light wind or an early rain, those limbs are going to drop off much sooner. The faster growing trees—maple trees specifically, cotton woods, tulips—they tend to self-prune. Their growth rings are further apart, so it’s not as dense of a wood, so as they’re healing themselves…they’ll tend to shed limbs on their own.”
Oak trees, on the other hand, are far less likely to drop branches, as oak is a harder wood.
Some trees and shrubs should be completely avoided during tree planting in Ohio. The most detrimental to our urban tree canopy is the Callery pear, also known as the Bradford pear, which has been banned in the State of Ohio.
“I’m actually staring at the lot next to us, and they just spread like a wildfire,” says LeBarre. “Now there’s probably eight acres covered with these little saplings.”
If you like pears as much as I do, that probably doesn’t sound so bad, but these pears are inedible. These trees do not possess many redeeming qualities.
As far as what native species to plant, LeBarre had a few recommendations.
“I do typically like the red maples,” he says. “[They have] a million different varieties that give you a lot of different fall colors, it just depends on what you’re looking for. Maple is generally a faster grower, but has a good branching structure, minimal insect issues, and not many diseases. Maple’s going to be biggest one for a shade tree, basically.”
LeBarre also recommends Canadian Hemlocks, aka Eastern Hemlocks, and Arborvitaes. Green Giant Arborvitaes tend to be more deer resistant.
“Emerald Greens, the deer like them, so if you have a fenced in yard like I do, I plant those in my backyard and they look really nice with a nice pointed apex,” says LeBarre. “They kind of keep shape a little bit better too, so they require minimal maintenance.”
However, LeBarre warns against White Pines:
“We try to stay away from the White Pines,” LeBarre says. “Yes, they’re a faster grower, but again, because they’re a faster grower, they tend to be weaker down the road.”
White Pines also produce a lot of pollen: “If you ever go out and see your vehicle has a hint of yellow on it, that’s probably because you have oaks or pines of some sort,” says LeBarre.
Other trees that can trigger severe seasonal allergy symptoms include Cottonwood, Oak, and Hickory.
Now that we know what types of trees are the best and worst options to plant for growing our canopy, how do we do our part in maintenance and care once those trees are planted? Homeowners who are able to do some DIY tree maintenance could save some money on tree services by taking care of some of the tree maintenance on their own.
“There are definitely things they can do to an extent,” LeBarre says. “Obviously, we don’t want to be telling people to be getting on ladders or using chainsaws, but routine maintenance, I would say, which would be the lower third of the tree.”
LeBarre suggests tools like a simple pole pruner or pole saw to remove the sucker growth and dead wood that you might be able to reach with such a tool, as some of these tools can go up to 12’ – 16’ tall.
On the contrary, some tree maintenance processes should always be left to professionals.
“Stay off the ladder,” says LeBarre. “Every homeowner needs to hear that. if it doesn’t seem safe for you to do it, if it’s not something you would commonly do, stay away from it.”
So, that leaves quite a bit of maintenance to the professionals. Does the value of a tree offset the cost of this maintenance of a tree over its lifetime? According to LeBarre, it most certainly does.
“100%…The biggest thing—when I look at my home that I bought 3 years ago, it didn’t have any trees,” LeBarre said. “It looked like a box on a property.”
Since then, LeBarre has planted many trees and shrubs, and he believes that between the simple aesthetic appeal from the road and the value of the water drainage, the cost of care and maintenance is well worth the value of the trees. If you want to know what the trees on your property are worth, visit Tree Value Calculator: How Much Is Your Tree Worth? or i-Tree and enter any details.
Sources:
City of Akron. (October 2016). Master Tree Planting Plan.
Davey Resource Group. (October 2020). 2020 State of the Canopy Report.
Sankar, Sashank. (January 2023). How Much Does Leaf Removal Cost in 2023? Lawn Love.
Cuyahoga County Planning Commission. (2019). Cuyahoga County Urban Tree Canopy Assessment Report.
Cuyahoga County Planning Commission. (2019). Cuyahoga County Climate Change Action Plan.