Willow Benefits - Hugging My 4 Willows
National Tree Benefit Calculator
Excerpt:
Your 36 inch Willow will intercept 3,764 gallons of stormwater runoff this year. Urban stormwater runoff (or "non-point source pollution") washes chemicals (oil, gasoline, salts, etc.) and litter from surfaces such as roadways and parking lots into streams, wetlands, rivers and oceans. The more impervious the surface (e.g., concrete, asphalt, rooftops), the more quickly pollutants are washed into our community waterways. Drinking water, aquatic life and the health of our entire ecosystem can be adversely effected by this process. Trees act as mini-reservoirs, controlling runoff at the source. Trees reduce runoff by: Intercepting and holding rain on leaves, branches and bark Increasing infiltration and storage of rainwater through the tree's root system Reducing soil erosion by slowing rainfall before it strikes the soilEdina launches tougher rules against tree teardowns
Excerpt:
“Cities are looking at the landscape for more of its functional value,” Holman said. “Along with the aesthetics, they want to make sure the builder or homeowner understands that the landscape performs functions like energy management, stormwater management, heat island mitigation.” For example, a mature oak tree can intercept more than 5,000 gallons of stormwater that would otherwise run off into sewers, according to an unofficial tree benefits calculator used by the DNR.Comment: Image is from Wiki. But we have 4 large ones this size or more across the back of our property
Interesting. Our house was built in 1870 and of course has an old stone foundation, but the basement is bone-dry. I'm guessing the two massive oak trees in the yard help with that! Never thought about that benefit.
ReplyDeleteAlways knew you were a tree-hugger, Jim. :^)
ReplyDeleteOne thing of note here is that with a half acre yard, absorbing ~4000 gallons of water is equivalent to absorbing only 0.14" of rain annually. OK, multiply that by a few dozen trees, and you're getting somewhere, but keep in mind as well that one's lawn also absorbs a lot of water--a fact of which Californians are acutely aware right now.
Which is a long way of saying that while I love trees, the big thing keeping one's basement dry is proper drainage around the foundation. In an 1870 home like Tobin's, this is further helped by the fact that they didn't have backhoes to dig foundations, nor did they have trucks to haul away the extra soil. So those homes tend to be on a little "hill" that is in reality simply the displaced soil from digging the foundation--and that keeps things drier.
In other tree news, I was quite happy to get confirmation from our village yesterday that the mulberry tree that leans over our driveway is, in fact, in the public right of way and they'll be removing it this fall.
ReplyDeleteI'll deal with the mess of the oaks and maples. The mulberry trees are another thing altogether.