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Here in the modern inner-city, there is no sound which reminds
us more of the joys and promise of springtime than the sing-
song chatter of jackhammers, crunching up the sidewalks and
making way for new street trees! How we love to wake up to it!
In Baltimore, trees are spaced at minimum intervals of 20 feet
(~8m), which is approximated by centering them in front of every
2nd rowhouse (the commonest dwelling unit). Tree pits are tra-
ditionally about 4 feet square (~1.5m). When we can, we try
to increase the area of these older pits. Oftentimes pits are
cut smaller, however, because the dimensions of a single block
of sidewalk concrete are typically under 4 feet.
Gary and I have often discussed strategies for giving those poor
trees some more breathing space. We would like to simply join
all the pits into one long one. Heck, we'd like to replace *all*
the concrete with recycled brick and block, loosely fitted in sand!
Another idea is to cut mini-pits in front of the odd houses, be-
tween the trees. Those folks could then enjoy a little slice of
nature in front of their own homes, the trees would fair better,
and area drainage would improve, helping out the local streams.
Delirious with Spring Jackhammer Fever (SJF),
Richard@Flora.Com
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Richard Tryzno Ellsberry | [http://flora.com] | Baltimore / USDA Zone 7
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