Beauty Project's Trees Dying

Ann Ar.bor has long been known for its trees. Old grads of the U-M fondly remember the shaded streets about town. The Chamber of Commerce advertises the beauty of Ann Arbor and its tree-lined plazas. And a few years ago Miss Elizabeth Dean left $2 million dollars to the city to care for its trees. But the city has had a running battle to preserve them. Dutch elm disease has attacked the graceful old elms. A variety of ailments has afflicted the maple trees. Now tree after tree along Washtenaw Ave., between Platt and Yost, planted there a couple of years ago in an attempt to beautify the roadside of that commercially-oriented stretch of road, is dying. "They seemed to be doing so well," said Ken Harris, formerly city forester and now assistant parks superintendent, "but this year many of the trees did not leaf out in the spring, and a lot of others are slowly dying. "We dug some of them up, and it seems to be a problem with the substraía of the soil. They are simply not getting proper drainage. Perhaps the salt thrown up by cars in the winter is a factor, too, although it's impossible to say for sure. There may be other factors also that we don't know about, but the primary problem is the drainage." The only cure will be, said Harris, removal of the soil down far enough to allow replacement with soil which will drain well. Harris hopes to be able to start on this program soon, to be done in time for fall re-planting. "At the same time," he continued, "we are reviewing very carefully the species that will grow best in that particular situation. Many of the hardest hit trees along Washtenaw were cork trees, which thrive in street situations all over town, but apparently not along Washtenaw. "The speed of cars along this street throws the salt spray a lot farther back from the road, and perhaps the cork trees simply can't take it as well, especially in poorly drained soil." He also noted that some of the trees are still under the grower's guarantee, and would be replaced free of charge to the city, but on most of them the guarantee has run out. "We're sick about the whole situation," he said, "because it sets back our beautification program in that area which needs it so badly."