A RC H I T EC T U R E & E N G I N E E R I N G
Big Green Investment
The value of planning and maintaining landscaping
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building will never again look as good as it did at the ribbon cutting. In comparison, the ribbon cutting for a landscape marks the start of another five years or more to give it time to grow in and begin to mature. Then, depending on the maintenance it receives, a landscape will continue to evolve forever. As the adage goes, “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The secondbest time is now.” Landscapes are a long-term investment, and as such they can have high installation costs. They also aren’t always optional. Many jurisdictions in Alaska have specific landscape requirements for undeveloped and previously developed properties, including the Municipality of Anchorage, Fairbanks North Star Borough, City of Palmer, and City of Wasilla. These codes mandate the type and extent of landscape that needs to be installed, although they often leave it open (to various degrees) to how those requirements are met. A stipulation within these codes is that the landscapes are maintained in compliance with their permitted conditions, and some of these jurisdictions require bonds to guarantee that plants establish successfully. With significant recent increases in plant material costs and installation, this required landscape can represent a large investment. This also applies to the landscapes that an owner may choose to invest in without the code requirement. Here are some tips to protect that investment. • Purchase and install quality planting material. Industry standards set a quantitative basis for quality, including the American Standard for Nursery Stock. Poor quality 52 | February 2022
By Peter Briggs plant material is a bad investment and may cause future problems. • Install as much high-quality planting soil as possible. Good soils provide moisture retention and nutrients for tree growth, and the larger the soil extends, the more likely that a tree will be healthy and remain structurally sound. For example, research supports that an 8-inch caliper tree benefits from 600 cubic feet of soil for vitality. Many of our poorly performing landscapes can be attributed to poor or overly compacted soils. • Select the correct species. Whether to align with the space available, desired design, or for lower maintenance, use the right tree or shrub species in the right place. The wrong plant or the wrong location can create future problems as plants get larger, create maintenance requirements, or affect adjacent structures. • Maintain the investment. Trees require ongoing maintenance, including pruning. Work with a certified arborist or spend the time to learn how to prune trees correctly. With a good quality tree or shrub in good soils, with reasonable ongoing maintenance, vegetation will meet site goals and the community goals that are the intent behind landscape requirements. No matter how basic it might be, every site should have a landscape maintenance plan and schedule, with someone to implement it.
Investment Dividends The value of trees and shrubs on sites is well-documented. Beyond their aesthetic and intrinsic ecological values—including air quality, stormwater control, and habitat—they can also
be strategic for land valuation. A site with existing trees and shrubs that are preserved for development can offset landscape costs for you or a future buyer. The code valuation of existing trees typically emphasizes larger trees, so a strategy could be installing and maintaining trees in advance of development to let them mature to achieve minimum code sizes or count for more credit as larger trees. Let’s look at two examples. Within the Municipality of Anchorage, an existing spruce tree 10 feet in height or taller is equivalent to three new trees. A commercially installed code minimum sized 6-foot height evergreen tree has a value of around $800, so maintaining an evergreen tree in place offsets approximately $2,400 in costs. The same ratio and approximate costs apply for protecting deciduous trees 6-inch or greater in caliper (the diameter for a 6-inch caliper tree is the trunk circumference as measured 54 inches above the root crown). Otherwise, code minimum is 2-inch caliper deciduous trees (the diameter for a 2-inch caliper tree is the trunk circumference as measured 6 inches above the root crown). The City of Wasilla has a similar 3:1 ratio for these sizes of existing trees, but cost offsets are higher for the code minimum size for trees being 10-foot height or 2-inch caliper, whichever is larger. While there is some risk related to future development needs, informed estimates for where landscape will be needed can take into account adjacent roads, zoning, and typical development patterns for where parking lots would be expected. Provided that they are in good health,
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