Trees Translate Into Home
By Diane O’Neill

Trees translate into home for me. I grew up in Pennsylvania (Penn’s woods). In Kansas, I feel fortunate to live on land with many trees similar to those surrounding my childhood home. As a child, I lived and played among the trees. We had a neighborhood tree house where we all gathered to decide the day’s activities.

My favorite climbing tree was a maple. We used the pink blooms of the Hawthorn trees as decorations on mud pies. We loved gathering up piles of autumn leaves and jumping into them. We competed to see who could jump the highest over the young pines in my aunt’s front yard. Autumn was the time when the wild apple trees in the woods would yield fruit for eating and for ammunition to throw at one another. Autumn was always the best for living with trees as they provided such spectacular color. When I grew older, I left behind my feral childhood. However, I never lost my love for trees. I can always find a place to call home, as long as there are trees.

We want your stories! You can share anything: why you love trees, an experience as a child (or an adult!), a funny story about a tree, or even a story about your experiences with Heartland Tree Alliance! Please submit stories to treemail@bridgingthegap.org.

Common Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis): Hardy Angel of The City
By Dan Doughty

Hackberry is one of my favorite trees because it is one of the most distinct trees due to its course bark and its creamy white heartwood. Its bark looks like a muddy tire print and is so different from most other trees that I can spot a hackberry in a second. It helped re-spark my interest in helping trees in the urban landscape. The hackberry is quite content to live in diverse soil and moisture conditions and is even a fast growing tree that transplants easily. A healthy hackberry will grow from 40-80 feet tall but it does need regular haircuts (pruning) or it may make weak branch attachments which can lead to breakage and heart rot (just about the only thing that will stop it from reaching 100 years of life).

The other thing I like about hackberry is that it provides a large amount of food and cover to wildlife. The berries that it produces are enjoyed by over 45 wildlife species (especially songbirds and small mammals) and deer enjoy the twigs and leaves. The only downside that I can think of for a hackberry is that this fruit can stain concrete, so that should be considered when placing the tree. Not to mention, it’s a very widespread tree so you can appreciate it not only here in Kansas City, but you’ll see its relatives all over the south and the east coast.

Dana Buchanan submitted this photo of one of her favorite local trees. The tree is located by the river outside the Liberty area

We want to see photos of your favorite trees. Send us a picture of your favorite tree in the Kansas City area (species or a specific tree) and we’ll feature it in the next issue! Or if you have a favorite tree outside the Kansas City area, send us that too; just let us know where it’s from.