Last summer’s derecho was definitely an ill wind, but maybe it had an upside. The leafy greens of spring seem greener and lusher. An unexpected gift from the derecho? “There could be some truth to that," says the city arborist, Erik Dihle. "For example, if some limbs are lost, the trees will sprout and come out with additional flush of new growth between the break and where a branch is broken off. Trees have hormones just like people do, and the hormonal system will signal to the growing points of the trees to flush out with new growth,” he says.
The other spring colors are resplendent as always. The multi-colored azaleas never disappoint. The phlox drape lazily over the sidewalks’ cement back walls. The tulips are mostly gone, of course. But it’s all on schedule as summer arrives with its usual insistence.
Dihle and Peter Bieneman, manager of Green Field's Nursey at the corner of Falls Road and Northern Parkway in Baltimore, say climate change demands more care in selecting trees to replace the ones felled by the derecho. Bieneman says the big wind underscored a new reality for homeowners and gardeners. “A lot of shade gardens turned into sun gardens,” he says. “So people had to do a lot of shifting around of their plants.”
There was more shade on some city streets as well, of course, as Baltimoreans mourned the loss of big trees. Just the way it is, says Bieneman. “That’s the sad but true part of a big tree, is that you have to maintain it, and you have to be wary of its health because it can be a potential hazard." If you see something awry on your trees, get professional help, he suggests.
Both men say global warming means heat resistant, drought resilient trees are in order. Change is coming, says Bieneman: “I had a customer who grew a Live Oak in Baltimore City.” The Live Oak is a decidedly southern tree, found previously in states like South Carolina. There’s something romantic or adventuresome here, but again the underlying reality is climate change.
Even more than in the past, the arborist Dihle says, trees will be players in the effort to moderate heat.
“Trees are an important part of what we want to do to minimize the effects of global warming and increasing temperatures, mitigate heat island effects and what have you. So trees will be an important part of that.”