constance_chlore
Active Member
I don't do urban stuff (yet), but my colleagues tell me that a large fraction of urban tree mortality can be explained by "do they mulch or not?"
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- Thread starter Daveography
- Start date
archited
Senior Member
Quite true! Mulch is particularly critical for saplings whose root structure is near the ground surface and needs moisture for growth. It is less critical for mature trees whose roots have found their own moisture well much deeper in the ground.
Modification: For those trees with a broad root structure, the growth roots form an arc at the outer perimeter of the root ball and so there are still growth roots near the surface but they are farther from the trunk and therefore still have less need for mulch adjacent to the body of the tree.
Modification: For those trees with a broad root structure, the growth roots form an arc at the outer perimeter of the root ball and so there are still growth roots near the surface but they are farther from the trunk and therefore still have less need for mulch adjacent to the body of the tree.
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Out of Towner
Active Member
Since 1980, the Park has been managed by the Central Park Conservancy, in partnership with the public. Central Park is open 6 am to 1 am daily.
archited
Senior Member
^ That may be so but with literally dozens of entries to the park and no gates, it seems like it would be difficult to monitor and control. Anyway this discussion is drifting away from the thread topic.
Out of Towner
Active Member
It's literally impossible to prevent somebody from entering a park if they're determined to do it but operating hours makes it easier to legally kick out people if they're hanging around late at night and causing a disturbance. It's not uncommon for cops to get a noise complaint at a park and when they arrive to investigate, the offenders "play dumb" and claim that they don't understand, or that it wasn't them, they didn't do anything wrong, why are you harassing us, I have rights, don't touch me................and on and on. The "victim card" is more difficult for an offender to play when they're in a park outside of its normal operating hours to begin with. It shouldn't be that upsetting to people if they're unable to enjoy Warehouse Park 24/7 because they're not going to use it 24/7 anyways.
David A
Senior Member
I believe having a fence was mentioned by someone earlier, which depending on the size of the park could work well and I feel would work very well here.
constance_chlore
Active Member
This would be a disaster. Parks should feel open and welcoming and engage with adjacent streets/buildings. I don't know if any of you have been to Millennium Park in Chicago since they fenced it, but the vibes are just so off.
Glenco
Senior Member
Mulch does retain moisture in the soil but as has been pointed out it is very hard to maintain in public. Large rocks can be used that are less likely to get spread around by the wind or pedestrians and do not fix the nitrogen in the soil as they don’t decompose. Silva cells are a much better alternative by promoting deeper root growth.
macblender
New Member
Rocks heat up more and can really harm root systems as well. Same idea as grass growing with less than 6 inches of depth over old concrete it will heat and kill the roots
Glenco
Senior Member
Rocks have sufficient spacing in between and ventilate. They also allow rain to percolate down quite readily. Here is an example.
Glenco
Senior Member
Out of Towner
Active Member
Don't you think that there was a good reason why access to the park like the one you mentioned as an example needed to be controlled? It's unfortunate that it's necessary for some parks to erect an access barrier but if you've ever had the responsibility of ensuring public safety then you would know why they are erected, If you could offer advice to the people who decided to erect the fence - what would it be? I sort of doubt that saying "don't do it because the vibe will be off" would cut it. Some reasonable advice for them. What would it be..
CplKlinger
Senior Member
constance_chlore
Active Member
I'll just quote Chicago Tribune architecture critic Edward Keegan, writing a couple months ago:
These spaces are paid for by people and meant for them to use, and the policies that govern them shouldn't cater to those who insist on living their lives in fear. In the case of Millennium Park, the original justification was safety-related, but now that those concerns have dissipated city-wide the fences stay up because people are profiting off of them.
Garceyues
Active Member
From the rooftop amenity space on The Parks.