O'Brien explains how Columbia's growing
population was one driver in moving his team from
landscape beautification to natural resources man-
agement: As development moved into wild areas,
the public sought more access to the natural areas
around them. Combined with this, increasingly fre-
quent droughts, floods, and tornados meant that
other City departments like Stormwater Utility were
getting more invested in climate change mitigation
efforts. As flooding has become more frequent and
devastating, Columbia's resources shifted toward
proactive and restorative riparian management.
"Everything became more integrated," O'Brien says.
You can read about a phenomenal collaboration
among Columbia's departments in the City Trees
story, "Collaborative Effort Spearheads Conversion
of Former Sewage Plant Site into Wetland Habitat."
When it comes to tree and shrub planting in natural
areas, the requirements for transplanting success,
tree establishment, and longevity are the same:
plant with good nursery stock, don't plant too deep,
remove girdling roots, keep mowers away with a
large mulching radius, and provide usable soil. "These
basics are key to resilience, but sometimes people
get in a hurry," O'Brien says. "Here in Missouri, we
generally have a clay base soil, and in most of our
urban planting sites this soil is often heavily com-
pacted and degraded. I've had good success planting
shared tree and shrub beds in islands created with
top-dressed topsoil, especially if we shallowly loosen
the underlying soil first with a backhoe. This way, the
newly available soil pore spaces for both water and
air greatly enhance fine root growth, allowing for
faster tree establishment and better tree health." >>
Stephens Lake Park, 116 acres (50 ha), has features that include an island over the Lake, 11 acres of outdoor aquatics
including childrens' spraygrounds, and a Level II ArbNet accredited arboretum. Photo courtesy Columbia CVB.
Columbia's growing population was one driver in
moving O'Brien's team from landscape beautification
to natural resources management: As development
moved into wild areas, the public sought more access
to the natural areas around them.
ucfsociety.org 37
