Features

October 24, 2009

One little reddish-gold leaf quivers on

By Mary Therese Biebel mbiebel@timesleader.com
Features Writer
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One little reddish-gold leaf quivers on a branch, then flutters gracefully to the ground. Soon it’s joined by another and another, until thousands have carpeted your lawn.

Is this the time of year to glare balefully at your trees as if they were fluffy old dogs and cats shedding on the furniture?

No way, urban forester Vinnie Cotrone says. Autumn is a time to grasp your favorite rake – they come in metal, bamboo or plastic – and head outdoors for “exercise that most Americans need.”

If your kids take part in the age-old ritual of jumping into soft piles of fallen foliage, he said, you can even turn a chore into a fun family activity.

Local tree-lovers agree, raking isn’t so bad.

“You’re outside getting fresh air and exercise,” said attorney Joseph Castellino, who bought his home in West Pittston because, for one thing, it had mature trees.

Not content with the originals, he planted younger ones and expects to add still more to his array of red oaks, white oaks, pin oaks, maples and fir trees.

“I have evergreens on the north side and deciduous on the south and west,” he said. “They keep it from being as cold in the winter, and they have a cooling effect in the summer. Hardwoods add value to a property.”

Indeed, Cotrone has statistics to back that up.

According to a study from the University of Pennsylvania, planting trees within 50 feet of houses in the Kensington section of Philadelphia increased home values by about 9 percent, or $3,400.

So, while you’re raking, you can think about monetary value and heating and cooling. And, while you’re piling those leaves and acorns into a recycling bag or bin, here are a few more benefits to consider.

According to information published by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, the tree cover lowers your risk of cataracts and skin cancer, reduces stress and tends to have a calming effect on drivers. Who, after all, enjoys hearing motorists speed through a residential neighborhood?

A University of Illinois study of Chicago public housing found that areas with trees experienced 52 percent fewer property and violent crimes as opposed to areas with little or no vegetation. The researchers suggest a greener environment brings neighbors outside, where they get to know and look out for each other, which serves as a deterrent to crime.

Another study looked at hospital patients who had a view of a grove of trees. Researchers found they needed less pain medication and were able to go home sooner than patients without that view.

“We need urban trees badly,” Castellino said. “We’re losing them. People are chopping them down.”

But, it doesn’t have to be that way, Cotrone said, adding that autumn is a good time to plant.

“There will be lots of communities planting trees this fall – Kingston, Wilkes-Barre, Forty Fort,” he said. “We are about to award our (PENNVEST) contracts for the planting of over 1,000 trees to reduce stormwater and water pollution.”

The planting should continue through December, Cotrone said, “unless we get too much snow on the ground.”

Various plantings are scheduled around the area, thanks to a $300,000 grant from the state’s PENNVEST program and smaller grants from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ “Tree-Vitalize” program.

Anyone who wants a tree should contact his or her municipality or shade tree commission, Malcolm Barber of the Wilkes-Barre Shade Tree Commission said because, even if your community doesn’t have a planting scheduled, officials will at least know trees are desired, so they can make plans for future plantings.

West Pittston resident Emily Valli wishes her yard was bigger – just so she and her husband, Art, could add more trees.

“Our property isn’t that large,” she said. “I have a pin oak and a king maple and a sweet gum and a birch tree I call ‘my white queen,’ ” said Valli, who looks on trees as friends.

While she appreciates trees for cleaning the air (100 trees can remove five tons of carbon dioxide and 1,000 pounds of pollutants per year) and preventing soil erosion, Valli said, there are more reasons to plant trees.

“We learn so much from them,” she said. “Look at the way they bend in a storm.

“I’ve been to Rome and Florence and England. I’ve been impressed by the cathedrals, but I don’t think they compare to the beauty of a tree,” Valli said. “I plant them because I love them.”

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