Arborist

I am extremely happy about the attention the press and citizens of Baltimore are devoting to the city's trees. The Sun's editorial ("Standing up for city trees" Aug 15) accurately highlights the crisis we face in increasing Baltimore's tree canopy while at the same time reconciling large budget cuts and promoting economic development. Upon my arrival this year I was briefed on the city's tree plan with the Grand Prix organization, and I agree it can be a win-win for both parties.

I am extremely happy about the attention the press and citizens of Baltimore are devoting to the city's trees. The Sun's editorial ("Standing up for city trees" Aug 15) accurately highlights the crisis we face in increasing Baltimore's tree canopy while at the same time reconciling large budget cuts and promoting economic development. Upon my arrival this year I was briefed on the city's tree plan with the Grand Prix organization, and I agree it can be a win-win for both parties.

St. John's College officials will wait to decide the fate of Maryland's ailing Liberty Tree early next week, after a state-commissioned arborist says whether the 96-foot tulip poplar can be saved.The 400-year-old tree on St. John's front lawn -- the only survivor of the original 13 under which colonists gathered in the 1770s to incite revolt against British rule -- took a beating last week from Hurricane Floyd.In the aftermath of the storm, officials of the Annapolis college discovered a 15-foot-long crack down the middle of the tree's trunk and a large branch breaking away toward a nearby dormitory.

Local arborists have been swamped with calls to deal with damage to historic cherry trees, common oaks and towering evergreens loaded down by the overwhelming snowfall. "We can't even begin to get a handle on it," said Frank Fogle, arborist for Baltimore's Davey Tree, one of the oldest tree services in the country. "We've been hearing from all the ZIP codes," said Fogle from Davey's Falls Road office. "Just got a call from Mount Vernon. A magnolia is breaking up over there."

Baltimore officials are considering seeking increased regulation of private trees after close to 20 historic trees were chopped down or pruned excessively in the Marble Hall Gardens apartment complex in Northwood. The trees, which stood in a courtyard in the 4200 block of Kelway Road, were mostly oaks and were probably 60 to 100 years old, said City Arborist Rebecca Feldberg. In the past two weeks, seven were chopped down and about 10 were pruned to the point where they were damaged, Feldberg said.

Two hundred pairs of eyes under orange hard hats peered up at Rip Tompkins yesterday as he perched in a dead, 60-foot oak tree, dismembering it branch by branch and lowering the pieces with ropes and pulleys.The surgical precision won a round of applause from his peers, gathered in Annapolis for the annual meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture.Barely recovered from a long week's cleanup after Hurricane Floyd, the arborists stood in the morning mist and drizzle at Quiet Waters Park watching Tompkins, a former world champion tree climber and co-founder of the Connecticut-based ArborMaster Training Inc., which teaches the right way to climb trees and take them down.

Rebecca Feldberg Occupation City arborist for the Baltimore Division of Forestry, the arm of the Department of Recreation and Parks that tends to the approximately 500,000 trees planted in city parklands, plazas and along streets. In the news Feldberg's division announced last week its goal of doubling Baltimore's tree canopy - the area covered by leaves - in the next 30 years. The canopy, which now covers about 20 percent of Baltimore, is expected to conserve energy, reduce pollution and raise property values as it expands.

Our big tree has some dead limbs and didn't look right last summer. We don't see any insects or diseases though. For the most knowledgeable, unbiased house call, we recommend that you contact a certified arborist to look at your tree. Many are associated with nurseries. To find an arborist near you who is certified by the International Society of Arboriculture, go to our Web site link under Trees, or you can call us at the number below. Arborists usually give a diagnosis and recommend treatment for no charge.

Gangster Al Capone's departing gift to Baltimore was heavily damaged in this weekend's blizzard. A 70-year-old weeping cherry tree, which the legendary mobster gave Union Memorial Hospital after he was treated there for syphilis, split in two Saturday, causing a major limb to fall to the ground. Each April, the East 33rd Street tree sends out cascades of pink blossoms. "I can't care if Capone was infamous or just famous, that tree he gave us was like a still-life fireworks display," said Stephen Alexander, a woodworker who spotted the tree damage as he walked his dog. "And I wonder what's going to happen to all that nice cherry wood."

THE PROBLEM : A tree marked last spring for removal still towered over Christmas shoppers. THE BACKSTORY: This is the time of year when many people are putting up trees, but Elizabeth Conkling wanted one to come down. In April, her sister had called 311 to request that the tree in front of Conkling's home in Ridgley's Delight be trimmed. Someone came out to inspect it and posted a sign on the trunk. It stated that the tree was both dead and diseased and would be cut down Oct. 2 or 3 - Conkling wasn't sure which because the sign had disappeared.

Gangster Al Capone's departing gift to Baltimore was heavily damaged in this weekend's blizzard. A 70-year-old weeping cherry tree, which the legendary mobster gave Union Memorial Hospital after he was treated there for syphilis, split in two Saturday, causing a major limb to fall to the ground. Each April, the East 33rd Street tree sends out cascades of pink blossoms. "I can't care if Capone was infamous or just famous, that tree he gave us was like a still-life fireworks display," said Stephen Alexander, a woodworker who spotted the tree damage as he walked his dog. "And I wonder what's going to happen to all that nice cherry wood."

THE PROBLEM : A tree marked last spring for removal still towered over Christmas shoppers. THE BACKSTORY: This is the time of year when many people are putting up trees, but Elizabeth Conkling wanted one to come down. In April, her sister had called 311 to request that the tree in front of Conkling's home in Ridgley's Delight be trimmed. Someone came out to inspect it and posted a sign on the trunk. It stated that the tree was both dead and diseased and would be cut down Oct. 2 or 3 - Conkling wasn't sure which because the sign had disappeared.

The problem: Unplanted trees appear to be dying in a Recreation and Parks lot. The backstory: Daniel and Melissa Burke have been puzzling over an unusual sight during their regular runs through Druid Hill Park. In early summer, they noticed unplanted trees with their root balls covered in burlap sitting in a city Department of Recreation and Parks lot within the park, sometimes under a sprinkler. "I thought it was great - there's going to be more trees somewhere in the city," Melissa Burke said.

Morgan Lisle Arborist A&A Tree Experts, Pikesville Salary --$52,000 Age --35 Years on the job --10 How he got started --After graduating from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Lisle needed a job but decided not to pursue art. Instead, he opted for a career outdoors, answering an advertisement for climbers at a tree-care company. "I didn't want to do art and be cooped up in a studio all the time. I was already into [being] outdoors and into exercise and fitness. This was really exciting."

Our big tree has some dead limbs and didn't look right last summer. We don't see any insects or diseases though. For the most knowledgeable, unbiased house call, we recommend that you contact a certified arborist to look at your tree. Many are associated with nurseries. To find an arborist near you who is certified by the International Society of Arboriculture, go to our Web site link under Trees, or you can call us at the number below. Arborists usually give a diagnosis and recommend treatment for no charge.

Baltimore officials are considering seeking increased regulation of private trees after close to 20 historic trees were chopped down or pruned excessively in the Marble Hall Gardens apartment complex in Northwood. The trees, which stood in a courtyard in the 4200 block of Kelway Road, were mostly oaks and were probably 60 to 100 years old, said City Arborist Rebecca Feldberg. In the past two weeks, seven were chopped down and about 10 were pruned to the point where they were damaged, Feldberg said.

The Bradford pear was born between the baby boomers and Generation X and reared in the suburbs. Now middle age is hitting with a vengeance.This lovely, low-maintenance tree, created by government arborists in the early 1960s, is known for the shock of white blossoms that coat its limbs in the spring.But, as it ages, the Bradford is also becoming known for something else."They can fall apart at any time," said Bob Rouse, staff arborist for the National Arborist Association. "You never can be sure.

Trees charm our city, purify our air and remind us that even in a landscape of concrete and asphalt, we are part of the natural world. They deserve to be treated well. But in Baltimore, trees are not treated well. I recently came upon a Baltimore Gas and Electric crew pruning a row of 16 Japanese Zelkova trees that were growing on the west side of Roland Avenue south of 40th Street. Clearly, BGE had felt threatened by these Zelkovas: The crew was hacking away at each tree, from one end of the row to the other, until a large, V-shaped space was created around the wires that passed through them.

Rebecca Feldberg Occupation City arborist for the Baltimore Division of Forestry, the arm of the Department of Recreation and Parks that tends to the approximately 500,000 trees planted in city parklands, plazas and along streets. In the news Feldberg's division announced last week its goal of doubling Baltimore's tree canopy - the area covered by leaves - in the next 30 years. The canopy, which now covers about 20 percent of Baltimore, is expected to conserve energy, reduce pollution and raise property values as it expands.