What We Have
This article is all about
what we have here in the Yorkshire Woods neighborhood. We don't stop to think
about it in our day to day activities, but we are very lucky to live in a
neighborhood with a mature urban forest. We live on streets lined with
beautiful trees. We live in homes with mature plantings and with nice lawns and
shrubs and trees. If you have ever toured a new development in the suburbs you
will know how stark and ugly new homes are when they are sitting on empty lots
without any landscaping. And the people in those developments will have to
invest a substantial sum of money to even begin to landscape their properties.
And they will also have to invest a great deal of time in waiting for their
landscape to mature. It will be many years before their trees will provide
shade and their shrubs will be of adequate size to create hedges. Their lawns
may never have the potential ours have. Even though they usually have sod laid
down, they usually have the sod laid directly on the clay earth. When our
neighborhood was developed there was 4" of topsoil put in place to create
a good base for lawns, shrubs and trees.
It is time we took an
inventory of the value we have here. There is a monetary value. When your home
is appraised, the appraiser adds dollars for each tree and shrub. There is also
a value in the livability of our homes and neighborhood. Landscaping softens
the hard edges of the built environment. Humans were meant to live in and with
nature. Our landscaping helps keep us in touch with ourselves. I encourage you
to look around your yard and garden. Look at your street and the entire
neighborhood. Identify the trees and shrubs and flowers that are a part of the
environment you enjoy.
Here are some examples I have
noticed.
1. On Cadieux there is a line
of street trees that create a beautiful streetscape along the apartment
buildings that line the street there.
2. The Park on Lakeview has
some beautiful majestic old trees.
4. Lansdowne has some nice
Canada Red Chokecherries on the berm area. These were planted 5 or 6 years ago
in conjunction with The Greening of Detroit and have matured nicely. They bloom
in the spring with burgundy and green leaves and then turn all burgundy. (I had to mention these as I was involved
with the planting. It is an example of how we can improve what we have)
There are some costs that
come with these benefits. Mature landscapes require care and maintenance to
remain healthy. Overgrown shrubs and
hedges require regular trimming. Lawns require a regular schedule of watering
and cutting. Mature trees need the services of qualified tree surgeons. But the
benefits are overwhelmingly worth it. Cool shade in the summer, protection from
cold winds in the winter, added value to our properties and the comfort of
living in a beautiful place. There is one other cost involved. Nature needs
renewal. All the living things we enjoy grow old and eventually die, even with
the best care. So we need to invest in the trees and shrubs and plants needed
to renew our landscape. Done properly, this is an ongoing process. We need to
continually replace those plantings that die with new items. This is a chance
to try out new varieties.
Photos of Our Neighborhood
Here is a link to a page of
photos I have taken of our neighborhood.
Yorkshire Woods Landscaping Photos
You will notice that we have
quite a variety of beautiful plants, shrubs and trees. That is an inheritance
we need to preserve and add to and hand down to our children. We live in a
garden. We can make it a Garden of Eden for ourselves and our children. This
can only add value to our daily lives and dollar value to our properties. In
future articles I will give specific details about how we can maintain and
improve the beauty and livability of our yards and neighborhood.
Bill Czygan 23 March 2006
Comments or suggestions to bczygan@yahoo.com