I have a dogwood in my front yard that needs a proper trim. I'm quite handy but I wonder what you think I should do hire an arborist or just research myself and try to use a light touch while trimming branches?

Why does our HOA (who says the city requires it) make us plant a tree between the sidewalk and the street so that in the next 10-20 years the sidewalk is all fucked from the roots, and low branches make it annoying for anyone over 5ft to use the sidewalk?

How do I pick species that can handle the current climate in my region and the predicted one if shit really hits the fan?

You are wrong. Every tree planted makes a difference, so your garden does, and mine, and the gardens of people reading this thread. Let's just do both, plant more trees and stop big corporations from doing more damage.

Really, even the tiniest thing helps. Even a pot of parsley on the windowsill. Please do not give up and seed something.

I don't think we are talking about global warming, tree are very good at local climate control. The shade plus evaporation from the leaves can lower the temperature by several degrees.

In this study they observed that cities area with trees can be up to 12°C cooler than area without trees. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2298675-trees-cool-the-land-surface-temperature-of-cities-by-up-to-12c/

I was just looking at Google maps street view from previous years in my neighborhood. There used to be trees in front of almost every house, now it's less than half. It's really frustrating. The street used to look so much lovelier.

Agreed! Sounds like an interesting system. Many areas require trees planted as part of development but it’s great that they specify size and a long maintenance timeline. In my area the builders have no responsibility after sale and so they plant tiny ornamental trees or inappropriate species. As a result, many new developments will never have the level of canopy needed to keep things cool.

I agree in principle, but this just sounds like hell to me.

Definitely! San Francisco has a program where they cut into concrete to create more space. Wish more cities were willing to be that radical.

No such thing! Unless maybe you’re talking about thinning to reduce fire danger.

It won’t solve climate change alone but every little bit helps and more importantly it will keep cities cooler to prevent mass deaths from heat.

But yes we need to both aggressively cut fossil fuel use and plant trees where appropriate.

Calculation is 1 tree = +1 shade