Climbers' Corner • Tree Academy
Monday • Tuesday • Wednesday
Conifers for Urban and Community Forests: The Good, the Bad, and the Underused
Summary
Evergreen and deciduous conifers are an often over-looked component of urban and community forests. If selected properly, conifers can add species diversity, vertical structure, and a wide array of ecosystem services in urban and suburban landscapes. Unfortunately, a handful of landscape conifer species—including Colorado blue spruce, Austrian pine, and Scotch pine—have been widely overplanted in much of the United States and suffer from a myriad of pest problems. In this presentation, we will discuss conifers that have become problematic. We also will present a series of alternative conifer selections, including many that are well suited to a range of sites, yet are underused in most landscapes.
Conference Proceedings Documents
Presenters
Dr. Bert Cregg (Ph.D., Forest Resources, University of Georgia)
is an Associate Professor and Extension Specialist in the Department of
Horticulture and the Department of Forestry at Michigan State University. Dr. Cregg conducts research and extension
programs on management and physiology of trees in landscapes, nurseries, and
Christmas tree production. He has
published over 50 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals and is a
frequent contributor to professional trade publications including the Great
Lake Christmas Tree Journal, and the Michigan Landscape. Dr. Cregg is a co-founder of "the Garden Professors"
blog, which engages hundreds of readers daily on the science of tree care and
landscape horticulture; visit them at: https://sharepoint.cahnrs.wsu.edu/blogs/urbanhort/default.aspx.
This presentation is co-authored with John M. Ruter, University of Georgia Department of Horticulture.
Dr. Ruter’s research and extension activities are
focused on nursery crop production in the southeastern United
States, and he has been in charge of the development of the Coastal
Plain Research Arboretum since 1991. He is an adviser for
the native plant community-based landscape at the National Environmentally
Sound Production Agriculture Laboratory, and he
has published over 300 scientific and popular articles.
Among Dr. Ruter's awards and honors are the “Award of Merit”
given by the Garden Club of Georgia, Inc., for his work in preserving
and promoting native plants. In 2000, he received the D.W.
Brooks Faculty Award for Excellence in Research given by the University
of Georgia. Dr. Ruter received the 2002 Distinguished Achievement
Award for Nursery Crops given by the American Society for Horticultural
Science as well as the William F. Kosar Award from the Holly Society
of America. He is co-author (with Tom Cox) of Landscaping with Conifers and Ginkgo for the Southeast.
Climbers' Corner • Tree Academy
Monday • Tuesday • Wednesday