Saw this riding into work. The sign on the tree reads:
Why are the trees wrapped in plastic? An attempt to save them from the winter moth — which is why there are so many dead trees in the neighborhood (+ gas leaks).
Presumably, the gas leaks are responsible for dead trees, not winter moths responsible for gas leaks.
In any case, ever seen this done?
I think there are two types of moths — one where the eggs are laid on the bark (“winter moths”) and a type that lays eggs in the soil. For the winter moths, the wrap is applied in the fall (to kill the eggs), not spring.
I’m sure the V-14 resident tree expert can enlighten us.
The photo that is posted is an good opportunity to ask: What exactly is Newton doing with tree planting? Here we see trees planted in a strip that includes a public walkway, certain utilities underground, and may include utility lines overhead. If those specific trees do not have lines overhead, there are similar trees on the other side that do. So, Newton is all for access to sidewalks — how will a there be wheelchair and other access should those trees grow to where the plastic wrapper wants them to grow? Gas issues; so why is the tree lover concerned about gas if the trees are planted on gas lines? The evil “Nstar” in any blizzard or wind storm — so why are there trees, more concerning mature trees, planted DIRECTLY under power lines??
Either stop this madess of planting trees on the birm, or have a plan that safeguards other concerns
I saw a tree wrapped last November, about, I think on Pleasant St. in West Newton. I think he may have been a little late wrapping. For it to work it has to be done before the female moths crawl up the trunks to lay their eggs. They have to crawl up because the females can’t are almost wingless and can’t fly; the moths you see flying around your lights are male. I think it also helps to stuff something like polyester fiberfill under the wrap, so the females can’t crawl UNDER the plastic.
UMass Extension has a good page on Winter Moth including a description of its life cycle: http://extension.umass.edu/landscape/fact-sheets/winter-moth-overview
Where are these trees? I’m interested to how they do, especially since there are a few in a row. You can wrap one tree, and the tiny caterpillars could ‘balloon in’ from neighboring trees. I only read about the plastic in Peter Hotton’s Globe Handyman column late last fall and Marc Welch thought it was a little late to try, but this fall I’d like to do some kind of controlled test.
I’m not familiar with moths that lay eggs in soil, but I’m not an entomologist.
Hoss, Newton has been very thoughtful about it’s street tree plantings for at least two decades now. I was one of the many tree huggers in the 1991 Newton tree census/mapping project. Newton at that time was planting Bradford Pear trees as street trees, to overcome the dangers of a monoculture of Norway maples. Bradford pears do not grow tall enough to mess with the power lines, do not bear fruit, have little leaves that take care of themselves in the fall and have shallow roots, as far as I remember, so they do not interfere with the utilities. They are blooming all over Newton right now and look gorgeous.
Marie Jackson – I did notice today a major section of one particular street was planted with the type of trees you are mentioning (shorter, flowering trees). If this is an example of the majority of trees planted along Newton birms in the last 2 decades, I’m delighted. Is it? (The trees you are mentioning in fact do look gorgeous)
Marie is right, large maturing trees are not being planted under utility wires any more. But we’re not planting Bradford pears either, because they are prone to branches breaking. The pears currently being planted are other varieties such as Aristocrat and Callery.
Thanks for the update Julia. Love the sewer video.
@Hoss:
re ‘gas issues’ – I have seen many street trees die from leaking natural gas mains. Most of the trees were too young to have roots down far enough to affect the mains and in most cases the gas mains are way below the root zone any way. The gas leaks come from aging pipes and joints – some now approaching 100 years old. This is one reason our gas utility is threading plastic tubing inside the old gas mains.
re ‘access’ – the streets in my neighborhood are lined with trees, many quite old. There are simple ways to ensure tree roots do not adversely affect sidewalks and create problems for those with accessibility challenges. All of these have been done in my neighborhood. They are easy and comparatively inexpensive especially given the temperature and air quality benefits from the trees: 1) plant the right kind of tree, 2) use paving materials (like brick or concrete squares) that can be shifted and relaid when disrupted for whatever reason (like roots, construction, ice, etc), 3) install rubber squares or surfaces over the area with roots (http://rubberway.com/comparison.html), etc.
All it takes is a little creative thinking and a problem solving attitude rather than impugning other people’s motives with pejorative name calling.