Tuesday, July 17, 2012
As new reports surround us, Ken Walbrant thinks it probable that invasive emerald ash borers have already infested some Wauwatosa trees.
For any Wauwatosa residents interested in helping save city-owned ash trees along their streets with an inexpensive treatment, the time is now. With confirmed reports this summer of new infestations of emerald ash borer to the suburban southwest and, now, much nearer to the north, Wauwatosa is outflanked by the tree-killing bug. So nearly surrounded are we, Ken Walbrant, Tosa's superintendent of parks and forestry, believes it is "certainly plausible" that the insect has already taken up residence in some trees in our city, somewhere. Walbrant – a self-described "tree guy" – has made it his business to know a lot about the Asian beetle that has destroyed millions of ash trees east of Wisconsin and was first discovered in the state in 2008 …
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Trees have come down on blocks south of North Avenue, and neighbors are trying to learn to live with the effects of that – and of what more they know is coming.
Compared to other residents of North 90th Street south of Meinecke Avenue, Susan Barnhart might at first seem to be faring better than most. Actually, she could make a good case for having it worst. True, her property in the long 2000-2100 block is served by an alley, so unlike some neighbors farther north, she'll have driving access to her home throughout construction of the Meinecke Avenue Sewer Project. And true, she lives on the east side of a block on which it was the trees on the west side that were choosen to be cut down, leaving her – for now – with the shade of a towering old elm. Trouble is, just before learning about the coming upheaval of the sewer project, Barnhart and her husband decided to sell their home. "We have had no …
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Residents may also opt to pay more for a larger tree than the city would normally plant, although it isn't necessarily recommended.
As a gesture of goodwill, it probably won't go far enough with some residents of North 90th Street who remain angry and distraught over the disruption they will suffer during the Meinecke Avenue Sewer Project. But those who are losing street trees in the reconstruction project will be given more choice in replacements than many Tosa residents would have. In recent years, the Forestry Division of the Public Works Department has greatly diversified the types of trees it will plant along the city's streets. But it still has a master plan that assigns certain trees to certain city blocks. In most cases, if you were to lose a street tree in front of your property, its replacement would be selected from the master plan, and you would have …
Jim Price
11:51 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
While the Amur cork tree remains on the city's list, it hasn't actually been able to buy any for the past three years and probably won't be able to get any anytime soon. Nurseries are selling them off in smaller sizes than the city would purchase – because they are so popular. Not all invasive species are invasive everywhere, but It has been identified as invasive as close as Illiinois. I imagine… more ›