the Onebark blog

I was talking with a friend at an engineering firm last week, and they told me that Fulton County is no longer going out to sites to evaluate specimen trees prior to plan submittal. This is a growing trend among municipalities in Atlanta metro.

Some of our customers have been asking wether we complete specimen tree inventories and the answer YES, of course, and we are quite good at it. We've been successfully completing the inventories in Cobb, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Alpharetta, Roswell, and all over Atlanta.

I wanted to thank all who participated in the Advanced Fundamentals of Tree Appraisal workshop, and especially my co-presenter, Robert Swanson, who was in top form. The students were engaged and walked away with a better understanding of the tree and plant valuation process.

One student sent me an email immediately following the class:

I really enjoyed the class yesterday. I knew very little about tree appraisal until yesterday, and I feel could give a reasonable estimate of the value of a tree now.

-Michael Barnett

The Georgia Urban Forestry Council and the Macon Museum of Arts and Sciences were great hosts. They had coffee and lunch ready for everyone. I am really looking forward to the Advanced Fundamentals of Tree Conservation Workshop in April!

Palms are not just for warm climates. The Windmill Palm Trachycarpus fortunei is the most cold hardy Palm 'tree' that you can grow in the Piedmont, tolerating temperatures as low as 5 degrees Fahrenheit.

The trunk of this tree can mature between 20 and 40 feet, depending on soil and sunlight conditions. Full, blazing sun is the key to growing this palm. This tree, er...grass, can fit well into small areas like courtyards and entries. It is often seen as a framing accent near Mediterranean-influenced architecture.

One of my favorite contexts is the Windmill palm planted in a group, especially when palms of different heights are staggered in irregular patterns.

The trick to finding a palm species to grow in Atlanta is finding one that will tolerate the cold, heat, AND humidity.

The office of Community Development, in Cobb County, requires that all building and land disturbance site plans show the locations of specimen trees. A specimen tree study must be submitted with all land disturbance permits.

Onebark now provides the following services:

• Full specimen tree studies
• Tree location
• Tree density sampling

This poor tree, after having the top of its canopy ripped apart by a wind storm, developed a long wedge of decay along its trunk. The mushrooms are pretty to look at, but the Red oak leans right over the house. The decay is on the tension side of the lean, so the tree will have to go.

The mushrooms are probably the fruiting body of Ganoderma applanatum.