Building your dream home on that wooded lot
By Amy McDowell
Wooded
residential lots cost thousands more than treeless lots, but if those trees
aren’t protected during construction, they can be severely damaged. Often the
damage isn’t visible and the slow physiology of trees means they may live for
four to seven years after construction crews have left the site, slowly
spiraling into decline and finally death.
Soil compaction
from heavy equipment and building materials is the most common damage. Ninety percent
of a tree’s roots are within the top twelve inches of soil. Soil compaction may
crush or tear the fine roots, but the loss of air space within the soil profile
can be long lasting and even more devastating. Soil organisms can take decades
to loosen compacted soils and return them to a healthy environment for tree
roots.
The most
important step to protecting the trees on your building lot is to ring them
with a barrier that is not easily moved by construction crews. Metal stakes and
bright orange snow fence works well. Place the barrier at least one foot from
the base of the trunk for every inch of trunk diameter. For example, a tree
with a two-foot diameter trunk must have a barrier at least 24 feet from the
trunk.
Even after
construction is complete, continue to guard the root zone. Don’t let a finish
grader add or remove soil within the barrier zone. If you seed or sod the new
lawn, use care not to drown the tree by irrigating too frequently. After the
turf is established, water no more than once or twice a week.
A three-inch-deep
mulch ring around the tree will protect the trunk from mower and string trimmer
damage, and the wider the ring the better it is for the tree’s roots. Some
arborists say a mulch ring that runs clear to the drip line of the branches
would be a tree’s dream-come-true, although they realize that much mulch is
unrealistic for most homeowners.
For large
construction sites with complicated traffic patterns around trees, you might
want to consult with an ISA certified arborist on how best to protect the
trees. Information is available at www.isa-arbor.com or 800-ISA-TREE.
