The Missouri Department of Conservation has been an
excellent source of bare-root seedlings for Columbia to
plant and raise in the City nursery, including evergreens.
One that has been successful in even the most stressful
conditions is the pitch pine-loblolly pine hybrid (Pinus
rigida × Pinus taeda). "It grows fast and gets big like a
loblolly pine but has the winter hardiness and drought
tolerance of a pitch pine," O'Brien says. The loblolly
genes also bring some tolerance to occasional standing
water left by flooding events. Other drought-tolerant
evergreens for Columbia include Serbian spruce (Picea
omorika) and 'Vanderwoolf's Pyramid' limber pine (P. flex-
ilis). "With pines, you do have to protect the trees when
they're young and small, because deer love to browse
them and rub their antlers on them," O'Brien says.
Like so many urban and community foresters,
O'Brien loves the beauty and adaptability of bald-
cypress (Taxodium distichum). He learned about
the underutilized, beautiful, feathery pond cypress
(Taxodium ascendens)—which doesn't produce
knees— by accident. "When a baldcypress seedling
order came in; I could see that one was not like the
others," he says. "I planted that one in a special place,
and it's thrived through weather extremes." >>
Brett O'Brien wrote for City Trees
about a multipronged approach
to curbing the spread of invasive
Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) in
and around Columbia, Missouri;
see "Pyrus, We Have a Problem."
See also "Partnerships Fuel Pear
Buy-Back Event in St. Louis" by
Tina Casagrand.
Photo of Stop the Spread interpretive sign by Brett O'Brien.
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