Garden District Civic Association
Baton Rouge

‘Tree City’ marks Arbor Day events
People learn how to care for live oaks

Suzanne Schexnayder moved into Baton Rouge’s Garden District about 13 years ago. Now, she’s helping lead an effort to protect the live oak trees for which the 80-year-old neighborhood is known. “I tell people, ‘I want you to get emotionally involved with your trees,’” Schexnayder said to a group of about 10 gathered in The Gallery at City Park Saturday morning for a seminar on live oaks. The seminar was sponsored by the East Baton Rouge Tree and Landscape Commission as an Arbor Day event. Arbor Day is observed Jan. 19 in Baton Rouge, said Peggy Davis, commission member.

The Arbor Day event is one of several requirements that Baton Rouge has to meet to maintain its designation as a “Tree City.” The Tree City USA program is sponsored by The National Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the U.S. Agriculture Department’s Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters, and provides direction, technical assistance, public attention, and national recognition for urban and community forestry programs in thousands of towns and cities in the U.S. “We’ve been a Tree City for more than 14 years,” Davis said. Some of the requirements to be named a Tree City include a municipal tree board, $2 per capita spent on tree care and planting and an Arbor Day Program.

Arbor Day originated in the 1850s in Nebraska where a journalist advocated tree planting in Nebraska where it was naturally a treeless plain. The day dedicated to planting trees spread to other states and to schools in the 1880s. Now, most states observe Arbor Day the last Friday in April but some states, such as Louisiana, observe it in January or February because that coincides with the best tree planting weather locally.

“Live oaks are a signature tree in Baton Rouge,” Davis said. “Live Oak TLC” was the topic of the talk by Steve Shurtz, city-parish manager of landscape and forestry. The key, he said, is mulching. “There comes a point where you have to decide between grass and trees,” Shurtz said. In forests, he said, grass grows only in open areas where there is no canopy from surrounding trees. In urban, tree-filled areas such as the Garden District, many people give up the fight to grow grass by using monkey grass. The other solution is mulch. “Mulch solves the mud problem,” he said. And it provides nutrients to the oak trees. Many people make the mistake of piling the mulch too deep around the tree trunk or not a wide enough span. He said mulch shouldn’t be more than four inches deep and should extend to the tips of the tree’s canopy. Mulch that’s too deep can cause the roots to rise through the soil and expose them to damage from the elements. Once a root dies, it doesn’t rejuvenate, he said. He also recommended 6- to 8-week old mulch. Fresh mulch invites pests, such as termites, he said. Other landscaping mistakes that can harm an oak include placing underplantings too close to the trunk. It’s common for people to plant aspidistra, commonly known as cast iron plant, underneath live oak. Aspidistra can choke a live oak, he said.

Live oaks have proven to be hurricane resistant, too, said Hallie Dozier, assistant professor of forestry at LSU. Only 4 percent of live oaks were broken during Hurricane Katrina and 6 percent were uprooted. Magnolias also survive hurricanes well. Pines, water oaks, and laurel oaks are the most likely to be broken or uprooted during a storm, she said. Looking after trees in one’s yard involves observation for decay, cracks and weak branches. “Like people, older, trees tend to be less flexible when they are older,” Dozier said. Another problem that can befall an oak occurs when someone does some tilling underneath the tree. This can damage the root system. A hazard that the Garden District has battled with its four boulevards is people parking cars under trees.

Schexnayder talked about efforts underway in the Garden District neighborhood association to protect the district’s trees through a program that includes tree adoption. Eventually, she said, district members hope to establish a trust for care of the trees. “I have no background in anything green,” she said. A Vermilion Parish native, Schexnayder lived in Tallahassee, Fla., in the 1960s where already there were ordinances enacted to protect the city’s trees. “That impressed me,” she said. The other thing that impressed her was the attachment people had toward trees in the Garden District. The neighborhood was built in the 1920s and the live oaks that grace the area aren’t there by accident. “There was a foresighted contractor who planted them. Now, almost 100 years later, we have these huge, old trees,” she said. Since the association started its tree adoption program two months ago, already 61 have been adopted. “We haven’t had to twist anybody’s arm,” Schexnayder said.