Photo Credit: © Can Stock Photo / Satori
Parks and trees seem to be inseparable. We can shade ourselves from the hot summer sun beneath a centuries-old Cottonwood tree, listen to wind whisper through a Ponderosa Pine’s needle, notice the biodiversity that is housed in a welcoming Maple tree, and so much more. There is a great deal of work to maintain trees for visitors to enjoy an aesthetic and healthy park. When you think about it, trees have different age limits, as do people. Oaks can live between 300 and 400 years. Maple trees can live 200 or more years. Cottonwood trees live about 70 years, with some surviving 150 years.
Tree Longevity And Soil
How long a tree lives begins with its roots. The foundation of a healthy tree is matching the soil structure and pH with the tree that grows best in that soil. This begins with a soil test, which provides the pH, excess lime and nutrient levels, organic matter content, and more.
When a tree grows in the proper pH range, it seems to remain healthy and does well against disease and insects. However, soil structure and pH are not independent of one another. A pH between 5.5 and 6.5 can assist nutrient leaching, but above that it becomes a barrier to plants obtaining nutrients. Alkaline pH makes nutrients such as zinc and manganese unavailable, creates toxic elements, and changes how the soil structure behaves—particularly in clay soils. A soil test every few years will determine what the soil might need. There are many soils consisting of percentages of clay, sand, and loam. A clear picture of the percentage of these elements will offer an indication of how the soil will behave.