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<DIV><SPAN class=490405314-27032009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Thanks
Alison, and others who've responded.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=490405314-27032009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=490405314-27032009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>FYI,
here's some of the species we've tried. We are Zone 6a / 5b so we've got a
few more options:</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=490405314-27032009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=490405314-27032009>
<DIV><SPAN class=554210116-25032009><SPAN class=274454614-24032009><FONT
face=Arial color=#0000ff>1) Red oak - seems to be one of the best overall
for salt tolerance and tree health</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=274454614-24032009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>2)
London plane - good tolerance to the harsh median conditions, however they will
suffer bud dieback due to salt spray in the winter, mostly on the lower
branches, which causes witch's brooms on the lower part of the
tree.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=274454614-24032009><FONT face=Arial><FONT
color=#0000ff>3) Norway maple - excellent salt tolerance but they suffer
bad leaf scorch in late summer</FONT></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=274454614-24032009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>4)
Austrian pine - does pretty well, but we have to trim them up for
sightlines</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=274454614-24032009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>5)
We've tried black locust ("purple robe" variety) but this particular variety is
NOT doing well, mostly because it is so weak-wooded and breaks
apart</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=274454614-24032009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>6)
Callery pear - a recent trial but seems to be doing ok so far, and the
Chanticleer variety is more upright</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=274454614-24032009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>7)
Armstrong maple - seems to be doing ok in areas with lower speeds (not as much
salt)</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=274454614-24032009><SPAN class=490405314-27032009><FONT
face=Arial color=#0000ff>8) Honeylocust - also seems to do quite well, we
have some mature specimens on our highway medians</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=274454614-24032009><SPAN class=490405314-27032009><FONT
face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=274454614-24032009><SPAN class=490405314-27032009><FONT
face=Arial color=#0000ff>In terms of shrubs, we've used junipers and some
varieties of Rosa rugosa successfully. In the winter they look pretty
bleak and the roses tend to catch the garbage,
unfortunately</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=274454614-24032009><SPAN class=490405314-27032009><FONT
face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=274454614-24032009><SPAN class=490405314-27032009><FONT
face=Arial
color=#0000ff>Ian</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV></DIV></SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left><FONT
face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>
canufnet-bounces@list.web.net [mailto:canufnet-bounces@list.web.net] <B>On
Behalf Of </B>Alison Bond<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, March 26, 2009 6:27
PM<BR><B>To:</B> Canadian Urban Forest Network<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re:
[CANUFNET] Medians<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>Ian,<BR><BR>In Collingwood (zone
5a...in southern Ontario's snowbelt) we find that perennials tolerate snow
better than shrubs as they don't get crushed. We've tried Rosa rugosa,
False Spirea, and Gro Low Fragrant Sumac with no luck. Karl Foerster
Feather Reed Grass has been extremely successful in a 1m median (irrigated)
and curbside planting beds (not irrigated.) It is cut once a year in the
early spring (cool season grass that greens up early) so we have the benefit
of the grass in the fall/winter.<BR><BR>As for trees, we had moderate luck
with honeylocust in a 1m x 1m x 1m tree vault (the road engineers designed the
vaults and we came in afterwards to 'green things up.' Covering the
canopies with burlap over winter (not an easy job) improved the survival
rate. The ones that survived their first year seem to be doing
(relatively) well 4 years later.<BR><BR>Inspired by the Quebec City Urban
Forestry Conference tours, we recently tried planting one of the Dutch Elm
Disease resistant elm cultivars in a boulevard (zone 4.) After the first
winter there was 100% survival for the elms and serviceberry (A. canadensis),
if you can believe it. Honeylocust was third. Red oak (native to
the area) did terribly. We don't know if it was stock from a warmer seed
zone or if the red oak is just not able to tolerate that much salt and snow
(trees were often buried in 2m snowbanks.) Anyway, I'd try the elm in in
a median if I were planting trees.<BR><BR>Finally, I've noticed that if trees
are tall enough to have some of the canopy above the salt spray, they seem to
pull through. We planted four freemani maples in a boulevard. As
you may know, they grow almost too fast and the stock at planting was very
tall. The lower canopy was killed off by the salt but the rest of the
canopy seems to be doing OK...again about 4 years later.
<BR><BR>Alison<BR><BR>Alison Bond OALA CSLA<BR>Landscape Architect and
Certified Arborist<BR>Envision-Tatham<BR><BR>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 4:48 PM, Ian Wilson <SPAN
dir=ltr><<A
href="mailto:IWilson@kelowna.ca">IWilson@kelowna.ca</A>></SPAN> wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote
style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid">
<DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm looking for information on
low-maintenance plant materials and landscaping designs for road or highway
medians that have "stood the test of time". I just got a copy of the
new "Planning the Urban Forest" book and saw a photo of an interesting
median planting in Urbana, Illinois utilizing native plants, which got me
thinking about what other cities might be using for
medians.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2>The City of Kelowna has been developing
more medians in recent years. We've tried a variety of different
designs and plant materials. Medians seem to be among the most
difficult growing sites in terms of maintenance and plant health.
Here's some of the challenges that we have had:</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2>1) Getting enough soil volume
for trees and plants, particularly in narrower medians</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2>2) Salt spray due to winter
road maintenance in our climate. Some trees suffer bud dieback due to
salt spray. Others might suffer soil toxicity once the salts get too
high. One of the best trees we've found so far seems to be red
oak.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2>3) Sand accumulations in the
planting bed. Even if you have a nicely mulched bed, after a year or
two it all ends up looking like a bed of sand.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2>4) Worker safety in order to
maintain median plant materials and remove garbage and maintain irrigation
etc.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2>5) Landscaping medians on highways
with higher speeds - the additional wind and salt spray etc seems to be
particularly hard on plants when the traffic speeds are
higher.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2>We have several different designs that we
have tried, depending on situation. We're starting to move towards a
couple of different designs, one is more of a xeriscape design with trees in
a large planting bed and xeriscape plant ground covers (where we have the
space). Where speeds are higher and sand and salt accumulation is an
issue we're trying more hardscape with trees in "pits" and hard
surfacing, but unless we use Silva cells or something similar we run
into the challenge of limited soil volumes.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2>Anybody have some good designs or ideas
that they'd like to share?</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2>thanks, Ian</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV align=left>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>Ian Wilson<SPAN>, RPF,
Certified Arborist</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2><SPAN>Park Services
Manager</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>City of Kelowna</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Park Services</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Civic Operations</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2>1359 KLO
road,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2>Kelowna, BC V1W
3N8</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2><A href="mailto:iwilson@kelowna.ca"
target=_blank>iwilson@kelowna.ca</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Phone: (250) 469-8842</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Fax: (250)
862-3335</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><IMG alt=BestBlooming hspace=0
src="cid:490405314@27032009-2E44" align=left border=0></DIV></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
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