Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, November 9, 1995                   TAG: 9511090014
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-8   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: JOE HUNNINGS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LEAVING TREES ON A BUILDING SITE

A: It is good that you are considering this in your initial site planning, so the right trees are selected for saving. Many people become involved post- rather than pre-building when the damage from construction is already all too evident

According to Dr. Bonnie Appleton, extension specialist for nursery production, many builders leave the biggest trees, clearing out the small ones and important protective undergrowth and mulching leaf litter. It may make for a more impressive first impression, but what first impressed may later depress as the trees decline and even die.

When selecting the trees to be saved, remember that growing-space competition occurs in wooded areas. Said competition results in trees with crowns very different from the dense, well-rounded crowns the same trees could develop had they grown their whole lives in unrestricted space and sunlight. No amount of clearing around a "topknot" pine or a "short-armed" sweet gum will cause branches to develop lower on the trunks, magically expanding and rounding out the crowns. And try telling the wind not to snap in half or blow over these large trees, which once lived in wind-buffered togetherness.

Save more of the little guys, the little trees with more potential to develop "normal-shaped" crowns and that "scale the house" better. Also, little trees generally can be salvaged from construction ravage far more successfully than big trees. Let trees that have the potential to adapt to and live on the site for a much longer period of time have that chance.

There's a complication in all of this tree saving, however, be it big trees or little trees. Even though these trees have been growing well, be aware that the construction process will alter these sites. For example, when trees that grow naturally in the shade, in cool areas away from reflected heat, or in moist soil with high organic matter content suddenly have their environments or microclimates changed to more light, more wind, more heat, or poorer soils with more or less moisture because of drainage pattern changes, their abilities to adapt to the altered environments may be less than that of plants specifically selected for or imported into the "new" environments.

The peculiarities of these new sites need close examination before any tree, large or small, is saved. If the trees don't have a good chance of surviving in their new, man-made sites, you're probably better off clearing away the trees (whatever the size) to avoid creating aesthetically unpleasing sights and future hazards.

Joe Hunnings is the Virginia Cooperative Extension agent for agriculture in the Montgomery County Extension Office in Christiansburg. If you have questions, call him at 382-5790.