I graduate college in *checks* seven weeks. Holy shit balls. In one week I go to Daytona Beach, FL for gymnastics nationals. In June I officiate my two best friends' wedding. Just heard back from Thread, a organization that connects four residents of Baltimore to a young high school student in Baltimore. The group supports one another. The commitment is ten years. It sounds like a great idea so far, so I'm going through with it. Will do an orientation and get matched with a "family" in a few weeks. I want to plant a proper tree at the corner of my block. Right now there's a sapling serviceberry tree and some rose bushes. The bushes trap trash--I'm in a marginal neighborhood where people don't give a fuck, and I've seen people toss their stuff right then and there. And the serviceberry tree is just the lamest, most stunted sapling I've ever seen. I don't want to ask permission from the city: I wanna buy a London pine that'll grow into something massive. I think it would look so cool.
Seattle actually has a directory of historically and agriculturally important trees, they call the Heritage Tree Program: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/projects-and-programs/programs/trees-and-landscaping-program/heritage-tree-program And, because Seattle is good with data, they also make the location of all these trees available in a useful form: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/projects-and-programs/programs/trees-and-landscaping-program/seattle-tree-inventory-map And I took a subset of that data and put it into Tableau so people could see where the cool Heritage Trees are located (note, this is not my visualization, because I don't want to link my actual name to my Hubski name)" https://public.tableau.com/profile/amanda.pype#!/vizhome/HeritageTreesinSeattle/HeritageTreesinSeattle So trees are a kinda cool think to dig into, in cities.
As much as I see the appeal to take initiative and plant a tree on your own (I personally dream of turning my backyard into a mini meadow), I would really encourage you to talk to the city instead. Cities often work with arborists to determine the best tree for a location, that will work with the soil type, water availability, be appropriately hardy for the environment, etc., but most importantly, won't have a root system that will cause damage to sidewalks, building foundations, etc. Additionally, you might want to look into whether or not your city is a participating member of Tree City USA. If they aren't, maybe you can find a way to help encourage them to join. After all, one tree on a corner is great. A tree on every corner though? That's a thing of beauty.I don't want to ask permission from the city: I wanna buy a sapling that'll grow into something massive. I think it would look so cool.
That's a good point, that there's a plan independent of me. Baltimore is the third-oldest active member of Tree City USA. I spoke with someone from the city's department of natural resources who at one made it seem that it's ok for residents to plant trees if they water them in the beginning. I should make sure though. My mom has a London pine planted in her sidewalk. She lives in the city. It's like 60 feet tall
Los Angeles went through and planted a shit-ton of camphors. They annihilated the sidewalks in 20 years and dripped staining red berries all over everything the entire time. You could literally ski down one slab and halfway up the other because (A) they were slick with crushed camphor berries (B) the edges would literally jut a foot or more up from the next slab over. I used to rescue handicapped guys on scooters all the time. They'd try to make it to the grocery store and they'd be on the sidewalk and then the sidewalk became shit and by the time they realized how fucked they were they'd tried backing up a mobility scooter and failed and high-centered or hung a wheel into traffic. Camphor trees are dope. But they give no fucks about sidewalks. And neither does LA.
How do you know that was a Camphor tree in Totoro? God that movie is special. That's it, gonna watch it next.