14
THE DAVEY BULLETIN
|
March/April 2021
A spectacular and rare southern magnolia tree in Pittsburgh's
East Liberty Neighborhood has a new lease on life thanks
to the North Pittsburgh R/C office's efforts to preserve and
renovate its surrounding soil.
This almost famous tree appears in the most recent edition
of Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (1998, Stipes
Publishing). The world-renowned horticulturalist Michael
Dirr claims to have witnessed a mature southern magnolia
thriving in Pittsburgh and it is none other than this tree.
The health of the roughly 60-year-old tree was threatened
by construction taking place on the lot where it resides. The
North Pittsburgh office worked with Tree Pittsburgh and East
Liberty Development, Inc. to save this East Liberty landmark.
To help this tree, the first thing it needed was water, said
Rob Kruljac, assistant district manager.
"There was no mulch under the tree, it's in the city and
we were in a drought earlier in the year," he said. "I sought
out Tree Pittsburgh because they're near the tree and they
started watering it for twice a month just drenching the area
beneath the tree. The watering needed to occur before we
could tackle the root zone."
Kruljac and Ben Adams, PHC technician, worked together
on this project. The entire area inside the drip line of the tree
was worked with an air-spade to loosen the soil. Compost,
biochar and other organic materials were then integrated
into the soil to create a soil concentration to simulate the
tree's natural growing environment.
"While air-spading, we found the remnants of an old
sidewalk next to the tree," Kruljac said. "We were able to
pull that old debris out from under the canopy of the tree
and aerate the soil."
Kruljac sought advice from Chris Fields-Johnson, technical
advisor, Davey Institute, about how to use biochar and what
you can do with it in terms of tree preservation.
Kruljac is hopeful their work to preserve this tree will pay off.
"I'm interested to see how it blooms in the spring, and I
hope it continues to react well," he said. "Ben and I were
proud to work on preserving this tree for the community."
PRESERVING A SOUTHERN MAGNOLIA IN PITTSBURGH
VISION
Ben Adams performs soil renovation work needed to save
the Southern Magnolia in East Liberty, a neighborhood within
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
