Arboriculture

Hawthorns, Crataegus spp., are beautiful small trees suited to urban landscapes. They have showy flowers in early summer and bright red fruits in the fall. Like many trees in the Rosaceae, hawthorn flowers have an offensive smell, sickly sweet with an overtone of burnt rubber. The flowers are attractive to a wide variety of pollinators including bees and beetles.

In Erie, Pennsylvania, hawthorns outside the courthouse are attracting considerable attention because of their odor. Workers in the courthouse and visitors are put off by the strong odors. At first, the source of the odor was attributed to Lake Erie or to a dead animal, but it was the hawthorns.

While hawthorns are beautiful and important landscape trees, perhaps they should not be placed right next to the main door of a public facility.

The suburban sound of lawnmowers is being replaced with the singing of wild birds in many yards. In St. Louis, more and more homeowners are establishing native plant gardens, friendly to birds and other wild animals. Native gardens often require less work than lawn maintenance and are especially suited for shady properties or those with drainage problems. Wild Ones, an organization promoting native plants and natural landscapes has an active chapter in St. Louis and in communities in 10 states in the US. Wild Ones helps promote native plants by holding workshops and member meetings, as well as handbooks and newsletters.

Landscaping has surpassed lawn care in dollar expenditures by homeowners, and the trend toward native gardens is growing rapidly. Arborists, nurseris and landscapers would do well to heed the trend. There are substantial business opportunities in native plant landscaping, and a dearth of expertise and of high-quality plant material.

The trend toward natives should also help accelerate the return of local nursery plant production. This is also a solution to the problem of moving alien pests and pathogens around the country. If homeowners are buying locally-sourced, locally-grown material, the chance of infection by introduced species is reduced.

Thanks to the Invasive Species Weblog for the heads up.