OnFocus – Marshfield’s streets are covered with color as crab apple trees have bloomed early in spring.
We wanted to find out where these trees came from and why they are so vibrant early in spring so we contacted city forester, Mark Ryskiewicz to see what the city’s plan was behind these beautiful trees.
OnFocus: What kind of trees are blooming right now on the city’s streets?
Mark Ryskiewicz: Those are crab apple trees. The city put them in for growing specifically underneath power lines. They don’t get to heights above 30-40 feet so they don’t creep up into wires.
OF: How old are the trees?
MR: I’m not sure but if I had to guess, I’d have to say 30-50 years old.
OF: Was the look of the trees a factor when deciding what trees to put on the streets?
MR: I think they’re aesthetically appealing so I think that they would think that would have been a benefit that they would have considered. They look great when they’re flowering and that’ll last typically 2-3 weeks.
OF: Will you be planting more crab apple trees on Marshfield’s streets in the future?
MR: We aren’t planting any more crab apple [trees] on the terrace because they make up 25 percent of our terrace tree population so if a disease that was detrimental to apple trees came along, that would be a huge population of our canopy cover that it would take out. We’re trying to diversify and plant some different low-growing species underneath the utilities.
OF: Do you know what other trees you would be experimenting in?
MR: Yep, we’re trying Japanese tree lilac, Serviceberry, and Ironwood trees. We’re trying out an experimental tree, the Homefree Nannyberry tree. We’re pretty limited in our selection of the low-growing species but we’re definitely trying to diversify that a little bit. If a pest like Emerald ash borer or something was to come around and attack our apple trees, we would be in trouble.
These crab apple trees can be seen in bloom for about another week or two on sections of Felker Ave., Washington Ave., areas by Wildwood Zoo among others.
We welcome your stories! Contact us at [email protected]!