Neighborhood tree huggers

nita Sieger frequently drives past her former house at Broken Bow Road to visit two red oak trees.

“They’re kind of like small children of mine,” she says.

Sieger planted the oaks after the death of a hackberry tree in their former front yard. The thought of a tree-less yard was unacceptable to her, but purchasing new trees was costly.

So Sieger became resourceful. She knew DART purchased property from the Knights of Columbus at Northwest Highway. Several trees would die as a result of the construction. She convinced DART to allow her to excavate five trees from the site. She gave three to a friend and planted two in her yard. Sieger moved several years ago, but she still monitors the oaks.

“On my way to work or on my way home, I choose a route that takes me there, so I can check on them,” she says. “I’ve seen them grow from decent saplings to beautiful shade-providing oak trees.”

Neighborhood advocate Amy Martin has been involved in several attempts to preserve neighborhood trees, but is concerned with how few young trees people have in their yards. “In a natural forest, there’s trees of all ages. I wish people would realize their trees are aging and need to bring in new generation before old goes away ... I really like how trees have to bend and adapt to one another. I think that’s a fabulous metaphor to be surrounded by.”

Oncor’s tree trimming practices tend to upset residents, but Jeri Huber took extreme measures to stop Oncor from chopping a tree at her White Rock area home. The 67-year-old climbed into the tree and refused to move until crews threatened to get a restraining order.