10
THE DAVEY BULLETIN
|
September/October 2018
Pictured from left are Daniel Misch, ecosystem specialist, WSSI, Chris Cowles, senior urban
forester, WSSI, and Aren Flint, associate consultant, Davey Resource Group, showing the
Baltimore class tree roots from a field excavation.
FIELD NOTES
PROTECT TREES DURING CONSTRUCTION
Earlier this year, Chris Cowles, a senior urban forester
with Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc. (WSSI), a Davey
company, conducted two separate day-long workshops
centered on tree preservation during project design
and construction.
"Many people believe tree preservation to be a subset
of arboriculture," Cowles said. "But I look at it the other
way around, arboriculture being but one subset of
tree preservation."
For Cowles, tree preservation is rooted in arboriculture,
client advocacy, intentional design, and mindful construction
processes. While it's a shift from focusing on the individual
trees, it's an approach that works and has earned repeated
work with high visibility clients, including many university,
corporate, and national historic landmark sites in the
mid-Atlantic, Washington, D.C., and 22 states across
the country.
Key course objectives encouraged attendees to make trees
an element of design and to find a place for trees in the
construction goals and plans. During his presentations,
Cowles also emphasized the critical component of tree
preservation lies within the roots.
"Success in tree preservation focuses on design and
construction that protects and enhances the root system,"
Cowles said. "As arborists and foresters our focus historically
has been on the above ground portion of the tree."
The construction preservation workshops were held in
Baltimore, Maryland, and Fort Washington, Pennsylvania,
and were sponsored by Half Moon Educational, Inc.,
a non-profit training group from Wisconsin. Attendees
included construction management, landscape architecture,
civil engineering and architecture professionals.
Chris Cowles works with
the client, project designers,
and construction managers
to answer these questions,
regardless of project size:
1. Which trees merit
consideration?
2. Which design
modifications could
help these trees thrive?
3. How can the construction
process be adjusted to
make survival more likely?
4. Which protection and
stress measures can
we use to support
these trees?
5. How are the trees doing
after construction, and
how can we improve
their circumstances
when needed?
