This week I read an article by James Urban that spoke about the importance of tree growth in urban environments. The article stated that most urban trees are neglected or poorly cited for several reasons. This primary and most important issue to address is an inadequate volume of soil surrounding the tree. The article states that 1000ft3 is the minimum soil volume needed by a large tree need for healthy growth, but often times that might not be enough. More often, a large tree will need upwards of 5000ft3 to grow in its natural, un-stunted form. This may sound like an absurd cost to any project, which it almost certainly is, however the article states that often times, the existing site soil is already a high enough quality to sustain trees. The principal issue is that generally the sheer space is not allocated. The second and near equally important issue is proper space left around the base of the tree. When 3d modeling/designing, trees are often ‘planted’ with paving right up to the base of trunk. In the real world, the scenario will likely end in stunted growth of the tree. It is important to allow at least roughly 6-9’ of space around the trunk. 40” for diameter of the trunk to swell and 3-6’ for surface roots to place themselves. However, with careful planning, surface roots can be diverted underground. This is pertinent to my studio project because of the large amount of trees (146 to be precise) that are planned to be in tree grates surrounded by paving. Knowing this, I may not have time do exact calculations, but I will definitely consider the allocated root space for each tree more seriously. This will give my studio project an added level of realism and further prepare me for professional practice when mistakes like this will not just result in a bad grade, they will cost 1000s of dollars.
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