Joliet shows off city’s arboretum

Joliet — The Joliet Tree Advisory Board hosted a Tree Walk Wednesday evening with City Arborist Jim Teiber to encourage tree planting and inform residents about proper tree care.

The walk took place at the Arboretum at the Broadway Greenway. About 15 people attended the event, which was the first such activity the tree board has hosted since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were taken on a walk through the arboretum paths while Teiber pointed out the different types of trees planted in the park and explained some of their attributes, including which trees were good candidates for parkway plantings.

“We’re trying to diversify the kinds of trees we’re planting in the parkways through the city,” Teiber said. “You need to really pay attention to the size of the trees though and sidewalks because you don’t want roots lifting up the sidewalks or branches hanging over them.”

To address the overhang issue, Teiber and Tree Board President Rita Renwick discussed the importance of properly pruning trees to keep them shaped well and healthy.

Teiber said that unless a branch is already dead or damaged, it is best to prune trees in their dormant season between late October and early May, except for flowering trees, which are better off being pruned after their flowers have dropped off.

As the city forestry division explained in an announcement earlier this summer, trees are easily dehydrated in hot, dry weather, and pruning them of leaves in the middle of the summer growing season can stress them and lead to health problems or death.

Teiber also demonstrated that branches should be cut at an angle instead of flush to the tree so they heal faster and said that “dressing” the wounds on cut branches is not necessary and can actually cause more harm.

In addition to the informational walk, attendees received coupons for $1 off at the arboretum’s neighbor, Rich and Creamy, and the event included a raffle courtesy of The Fields on Caton, which grows many of the city’s parkway trees.

Joliet residents in attendance were able to enter a raffle to win a two-inch diameter tree from the nursery to plant in their own yard. The drawing was won by Ben Ingelson.

Renwick encouraged residents to consider planting trees on their property, noting that they lower energy costs by helping keep homes cool and improve property values.

“It’s very important to plant trees or replace trees that need to be taken down, because 80% of the trees in most communities are actually on private property,” said Renwick, who also encouraged the planting of native trees when possible. “In parkways we have to pick things that are hardy and can survive the elements and salt, but in yards native trees are preferable because they support the local ecosystem and all the birds and insects that evolved with them.”

Teiber explained that there is a list of acceptable parkway trees available on the city forestry website and that the department will answer questions for people looking to plant a tree in their yard or parkway, or if they want advice about a damaged tree.

Teiber and Renwick said they were pleased with the turnout for the event, and Renwick noted that the Tree Board hopes to host similar events once or twice per year going forward.