From Kildare to Lexington: An Arborist Exchange Report
by Simon Wallace, Senior Executive Parks Superintendent, Kildare County Council, Ireland
Simon Wallace (left) and John Saylor
• Photo by Valerie Saylor
The view over Daniel Boone National Forest as seen from the Natural Bridge • Photo by Simon Wallace
At the end of October, 2013
I travelled to
Lexington, Kentucky as part of an exchange with John
Saylor who is an arborist with Lexington-Fayette Urban
Council. Lexington is a Sister City to my home of Kildare
County in Ireland, a link that came about due to the
importance of the equine industry in both places.
Lexington prides itself on being Horse Capital of the
World and I quickly learned why this is so as I flew into
Lexington Airport. The only thing visible from the air was
miles and miles of stud farms (where breeding takes
place). On my first day, John took me to the outskirts
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of the city where the farms are located. Before John
worked for the Urban Council, he was self-employed as
a tree surgeon and worked on many of the stud farms
maintaining the trees. It quickly became evident to me
that Kentucky has a vast array of native trees including
various oaks that John pointed out. This brought home
to me the relatively small selection of native species
Ireland has in comparison.
John’s position is called Arborist Senior and is based
in the Environment Department within the Council. He
works in conjunction with Council Urban Forester Tim
City Trees
Queary to manage the urban trees for the municipality.
The Council Department of Streets and Roads and the
Parks Department are also involved in the management
of trees in the City. As opposed to how things are done
in Kildare, in Lexington residents are tasked with managing their own trees so that they are not a hindrance
to foot or vehicular traffic.
One of the big challenges to trees in Lexington is
Emerald Ash Borer. Luckily we don’t have this problem
in Ireland but there is serious concern about the introduction of Ash Dieback Disease coming in from Europe.
www.urban-forestry.com
This is a fungal disease that causes dieback but fortunately is not as devastating as EAB.
John explained about his main area of work, which is the
“Reforest the Bluegrass” programme, begun in 1999.
The aim of the programme is to recreate pre-settlement
stream forests that were once native to the Bluegrass
Region. The planting schemes take place each spring
at a location in Lexington and involve the public. John
is also carrying out a tree canopy survey of Lexington
which he hopes will inform future tree management
policy in the city.
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Wallace was struck by the massive, mature ginkgo trees in Lexington. Photo by Simon Wallace
On the first day, after meeting John’s colleagues,
we visited a park called McConnell Springs, where
William McConnell is reputed to have been the first
settler of Lexington, in 1775. Unusually, the park is
located in a once-industrial area of the city. Within
the 25-acre (10-ha) park many native trees have
been planted and there is one particularly fine veteran bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa). Invasive species such as honeysuckle, poison ivy, and euonymus
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pose a challenge to the native plantings.
Day Two involved a visit to High Bridge near Wilmore,
where John lives. This was the first cantilever bridge in
America when it was built in 1876. High Bridge is a landmark in the area because of its unique design but also
for the view it affords of the natural beauty of the area,
including the Kentucky River running underneath it.
Later that day I went to Keeneland Racecourse with
City Trees
John and his wife Valerie to get a taste of Lexington’s
famous horseracing. The racecourse had an impressive selection of trees around it—in particular, a very
majestic sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) with its distinctive white-barked trunk, something unfamiliar to us
in Ireland.
On Saturday, John and myself, both being keen cyclists,
took a cycling trip to Shaker Village, about 18 miles (30
km) from where John lives. The Village has been faithfully restored to how it was over 100 years ago and is now
a living history museum. In the Village, there are several
impressive specimens of gum tree (Liquidambar styraciflua) and an avenue of maple (Acer sp.) trees. We left
Shaker Village to cycle out to Old Fort Harrod State Park
to see an osage orange tree (Maclura pomifera) which,
but for a forked trunk, would be National Champion.
What a specimen this was, with its unusual fruits.
On Sunday, John and his family took me on a road
trip to see two of the most famous natural features of
Kentucky, Natural Bridge and Cumberland Falls. Natural
Bridge is so called because of its large, memorable
sandstone arch, but equally as memorable is the natural forest area which surrounds the feature. Some of
the species that grow natively there but that I was only
familiar with as cultivated trees include Northern red
oak (Quercus rubra), bigleaf magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla), hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), yellow poplar
(Liriodendron tulipifera) and maples. It was fascinating
to see these trees growing in their natural environment,
and their autumn colour was also impressive. Autumn in
Ireland has some good colour but not the vivid reds and
oranges that were visible at Natural Bridge.
On Monday it was back to Lexington where John took
me around some of the parks and open spaces owned
and managed by Lexington-Fayette Urban County. On
the journey in from Wilmore to Lexington we passed the
estate of a local railroad entrepreneur, R.J. Corman, who
had a liking for the colour red, as his office buildings,
machinery, bridges, vehicles, planes, and helicopters all
were deep red. He also had a trail around his property,
lined with maples—red maples, of course! My favourite
colour is also red but I’m not sure I could be as keen
on it as Mr. Corman was.
John took me to many sites that had been used for
the “Reforest the Bluegrass” programme, including the
225-acre (91-ha) Hisle Park, site of the reforestation
SAVING
ASH TREES
IS GOOD POLITICS!
82% of homeowners expect
city officials to adopt an
environmentally-sound method
to protect city ash trees from
Emerald Ash Borer.*
*In a survey of 607 homeowners.
In Lexington (shown), shade trees close to homes make summer liveable, while in Kildare, light-starved residents frequently request trimming or removal of trees close to homes. Photo by Jim Rebmann
For more information visit:
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Visit www.arborjet.com or call 781.935.9070.
City Trees
arborjet.com/municipality
Street trees in many Lexington neighborhoods enjoy wide tree lawns and medians. Photo by Jim Rebmann
activities in 2013. It was interesting to see the recently
planted sites like Hisle Park in contrast to those that
dated back to the start of the reforestation scheme in
1999. On these park visits, John pointed out invasive
species, especially the Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana).
In Ireland, Callery pear is a popular street tree due to its
compact habit, semi-evergreen foliage, and ornamental
flowers; to date, it hasn’t caused problems as it produces little or no fruit for us.
Veterans Park was another of the sites we visited; the
most impressive feature within this was an enormous
bur oak in the park’s woodland. If this tree could talk,
I’m sure it could tell some interesting stories. The park
also had a disc golf course around the park. This was
something I hadn’t seen before, but maybe I’ll have to
introduce it to Kildare.
Day Seven involved more visits to see some very
impressive street trees around Lexington. Most
memorable for me were some mature ginkgo (Ginkgo
biloba) trees. Although we can grow them in Ireland,
I have never seen some as mature as these. It was
also unusual to see such big trees so close to houses. John explained that this was due to the need for
shade in the city because of the heat in the summer.
I wished I could move some of these city residents
to Ireland. In my work a frequent request is to prune
or remove trees growing close to houses. This is
because some Irish people are obsessed with light,
possibly due to our wetter climate and the lack of the
warm summers that Lexingtonians enjoy.
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We also visited Lexington Arboretum, operated by
Lexington-Fayette Urban Council and the University of
Kentucky. This arboretum of 100 acres (40 ha) is only
in its infancy, having been established in 1991. It offers
a “Walk across Kentucky,” which features the different
regions within the state and the trees and other plants
particular to each region. (Again, this brought home to
me the huge variety of native species in Kentucky.) Later
that day we paid visits to more of John’s colleagues
in the Parks Department. I was envious of the huge
resources they have relative to my own in Kildare.
My final day in Lexington included a visit to the City’s
cemetery, with an impressive collection of mature
maples and cherry trees. The cemetery is also the
burial place of Kentucky statesman and tree lover Henry
Clay; beside his tomb is a national champion mature
basswood or lime (Tilia americana). After this visit it
was off to Lexington Airport to catch my flight back to
Ireland.
I would like to thank John Saylor and his family for the
hospitality shown to me during my visit and also to his
colleagues in Lexington-Fayette Urban Council for their
cooperation in facilitating my visit to Lexington. I would
also like to express my gratitude to the SMA for selecting me for the exchange. I found the experience very
educational; I gained an enormous amount from it and
hope to keep my contact with John into the future.
City Trees