What Can a Tree Do for You?

Besides providing pleasant shade in the summer and maybe a branch for a swing, what can a sugar maple tree do – along with producing huge piles of leaves?

Quite a lot, it turns out, from increasing the selling price of a house and lowering its energy bills, to creating a healthier, saner environment for adults and children, according the panelists at the event on May 19 hosted by Trees for Watertown called "What is a Tree Worth—for Citizens and Our Town?"

"We have the studies and surveys," said Ken Sheytanian, a lifelong Watertown resident, realtor, and Rotary Club member. "Two of the main curb appeals that people look for in a house is a tree-lined street and shade trees on the property. Trees raise the selling price of otherwise identical houses by as much as 20 percent."

Sheytanian was one of seven panelists at the open annual meeting of Trees for Watertown.

Trees for Watertown is a citizen advocacy group that's been promoting, planting, and protecting shade trees in Watertown since the 1980s. It currently has around 65 paying members.

"People sometimes don't realize that we have an urban environment (in Watertown)," said Peter Del Tredici, one of group's founding members, a research scientist at the Arnold Arboretum, and the author of Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast: A Field Guide. "Satellite images reveal that everywhere inside (Rte.) 128 there's a lot more impervious pavement and less tree canopy than outside 128."

One of the most surprising benefits of trees was laid out by the moderator, William C. Clark, a professor of International Science, Public Policy, and Human Development at the Kennedy School of Government. He cited energy studies, available on a website (www.itreetools.org) that estimated a large sugar maple tree on the south side of a house saves $85 in annual cooling costs. Meanwhile, two large evergreen trees on the north side of a home reduce heating costs by a whopping $850.

"So we don't have to just wave our arms around (about the benefits of trees)," said Clark.

Two other panelists focused on the health and psychological benefits of trees, especially for children – benefits that also had economic advantages.

Mari Ryan, a local consultant on worksite wellness programs, lauded New York City's campaign to plant a million trees in urban areas that has more health problems, which nationally cost billions of dollars each year.

Ryan listed many health-related benefits of trees, including reducing pollutants, which alleviates asthma-related problems, producing oxygen, circulating moisture, creating a buffer from noise, and increasing concentration among kids who spend more time outside. 

"People are more inclined to go outside and walk on a tree-lined street," Ryan said. "Where do you go on a vacation? – to the mountains or the seashore, to a place with lots of nature and less stress and noise."

Taking an even more holistic approach, panelist Louise Forrest, a landscape designer, teacher with Citysprouts, and priest, emphasized that trees can teach kids how to relate to the larger world with "respect and awe." She also reflected on trees as archetypes, from the Tree of Life to Tiffany window designs, and also cited a post-9/11 group that is planting trees.

From a parent's viewpoint, Elizabeth Pratt, a new TFW member, promoted "the edges of parks – those little shrubs and messy natural areas." She pointed out that children view trees in a different way and are "drawn to the Harry Potter areas," saying that kids are drawn to imaginative play like they are in the forbidden forest in the popular books and movies.

Speaking last, panelist Susan Falkoff, a town councilor and chair of the Department of Public Works Committee, lauded changes in the town's policies that no longer allow the paving of land up to the base of a tree along a street and less use of salt in snow removal.

Falkoff also stated that the issue of promoting and protecting trees is one that needs to involve not just a single group or committee, but the town manager and departments of planning, public works, recreation, and education.

"There are pocketbook issues that can convince people who are impervious to other arguments," Falkoff said.

The audience, too, offered a number of ideas, including a town-wide campaign to get households to each plant one tree, and working more closely with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation, which controls many trees in Watertown, particularly in the Charles River watershed.

Concluding the meeting, Trees for Watertown president Ruth Thomasian reminded attendees that "a good idea is just an idea – it's nothing until it's done. We need people to join us in promoting better stewardship of our trees."