Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-04-24
80 Field Men Begin Job
Of Pruning Trees Here

The 90 field men of the Trees
and Landscaping Division Of the
District government should be
very much in evidence in COM
ing months.
BY the end of May, when most
Of the leaves are on the trees,
the pruning season Is in full
swing.
Jerome A. Lowe. acting SUPER
intendent of the division. is
quick to point out that the prun-
ing process, although an i'm
portant job. is only one Of the
many which Trees and Land
scapping handles.
Those trees, he said, point
ing to a row of elms lining the
street, (which some people take
so much for granted, are our
responsibility from the day
they're planted until the day
they die"
The business of maintaining
curb trees, adds Mr.. Lowe, Is
getting harder every year. The
Division plants each year be-
tween three and four thousand
trees, some of which are re-
placements. Most Of these are
oaks, naples, sycamores, lindens.
or ginkgos.
Mr.. Lowe attributes the diff
Guilty in raising young trees in
the city primarily to the increas-
ed use of concrete and macadam
In sidewalks which once were
brick or cobblestone. Use of
these materials apparently re-
stricts seepage, of life-giving
water to the tree roots and
causes a much higher percentage
Of runoff.
In addition, according to the
tree expert. the space allotted
for curb trees has been cut dras-
tically in recent years. Where
once a two or three foot strip
of earth running the entire
length of a block was left bare
for planting and watering, often
only pockets in a solid band Of
concrete are now left. Other
factors working against the trees
are the increasing height and
density of city construction and
heavy traffic. Cars and trucks.
explains Mr.. Lowe. shear off low
branches and their exhaust buru
tender shoots.
Good Citizens Help
The salvation of the trees
often lies with the people who
live near them.
You can tell a good citizen
by the condition of the public
trees in front of his house." says
Mr.. Lowe. People who realize
that besides being beautiful,
trees deaden street sounds, give
relief from the heat. and condi-
ton the air. take care of them.
A tree has to be given a bucket
or two of water during hot
weather and it has to be pro-
tected from kids and automobiles
until it's strong enough to take
care of itself"
After tree has been planted,
the Division has two principal
Jobs: Pruning and spraying.
The pruning is done in the
summer months when ire trees
contours can easily be seen from
the leaf growth. In this phase
of their operation the District
gets a hand from a couple of
private sources. PEPCO trims
the branches around their lines
as does, to a more limited de-
gree. the Chesapeake and Poto-
mac Telephone Co. This is al
ways done. however, under the
supervision Of a trees and land
scaping man.
Storm Difficulties
The main obstacle to the
pruning program according to
MIR. Lowe, is the scheduling diff
ficulty which comes up after
every severe storm.
Were just getting over Hazel
now" he adds.
The third of the divisions
three principal Jobs. spraying, is
also one Of the most difficult. II
has to be done in dry weather
and invariably. according to Mr.
Lowe. 1t brings screams Of an
guish from outraged citzenry
whose cars have been given an
lnsecticide bath.