Bismarck Tribune - North Dakota News - String trimmers destroying trees

String trimmers destroying trees

Jun 10, 2008 - 04:55:41 CDT

By PAUL SCHNEIDER
Bismarck

Bismarck's beautiful landscaping is sprouting into full bloom, and with it, the care and maintenance that our citizens enjoy in doing and viewing. However, there are some problems with trees that I'd like to help solve. It actually applies nationwide.

The misuse of string trimmers is killing and damaging trees by the thousands in Bismarck. The bark at ground level is unnoticeably being ripped and shredded on young trees and chiseled away on mature trees by well-meaning homeowners and lawn-care specialists, as well as tax-paid public employers.

Riding and push mowers are also doing their equal share of debarking by careless operators. At best, a mulch-covered water basin should be provided for trees to enhance their care and keep misguided powered equipment away. At the least, an adequate protective guard should be installed around the base. I've often seen these guards, in the lighter plastic forms, useless in protecting trees from string trimmers in the hands of those after every last blade of grass at the tree's base.

A case to prove my point: this last Sunday, my daughters and I enjoyed a picnic at Kiwanis Park, on the only park table that had so far made its way into the open from winter storage under a shelter. Near a playground, where we could also enjoy the children playing, were four dead and dying trees surrounding our table. My investigation found severely damaged bark from lawn mower and string trimmer abuse on each of them. On the way back to the car, I notice bark chunks torn from old mature cottonwoods at lawn-mower level - tax dollars at work.

Park board, city forester, state and county forest manager, grounds maintenance, lawn-care specialist and homeowners: It's high time to consider better care of our beautiful trees. Let a little grass grow around their feet.

News > Opinion

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Comments

expositor wrote on Jun 10, 2008 11:21 PM:

" Yes. It would be a slide show. The first slide would be... the LARCH. Next slide would be the LARCH. Next slide would be a tadpole. The next slide would be a MOUNTAIN LION. Followed by the next slide, the JUNIPER, not to be confused with the JUMPER, which is, of course, a low-growing cactus that only attacks the calves of funeral attendees on prairie cemetaries. Then the next slide would be the LARCH. "

GF Wannabe wrote on Jun 10, 2008 9:24 PM:

" LOL espositer!!
Actually, there is a String Trimming Tree 101 course. It is offered alongside 'How to Tell a Mountain Lion From a Juniper'. "

expositor wrote on Jun 10, 2008 6:36 PM:

" Well, then, the solution to this problem is obvious: appoint a supervisor over all string-trimmer operators. First, they will all need to undergo thorough re-education, in order to unlearn what they already "think" is proper string-trimmer operation protocol. Next, they will have to prove their worthiness by passing a rigorous series of grueling close-up string-trimming in "real-life" situations, for example, trimming around delicate flowers like petunias, marigolds, etc. Finally, a tree identification test: for example, the LARCH... "

Beesh wrote on Jun 10, 2008 11:37 AM:

" The worst are those pesky squirrels and rabbits with weed eaters! "

thanks wrote on Jun 10, 2008 8:09 AM:

" Thanks for the info. I am going to put the plastic around my trees for the first couple of years "

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