Street Trees of KC

E-bikers get the best feel for the canopy of trees in our city. That canopy is both grand and neglected. Glorious and sad.

When I ride Route G: Benton, with its aging canopy of pin oaks, I wonder what our boulevards were like before the Dutch elm disease destroyed nearly all of the American elms that lined most streets. If you look carefully, you will spot the occasional surviving elm, and though many of these trees are a shadow of their former selves, you are still able to see why they were so popular–their vase shape forming Gothic arches over the street. Nothing has come along to fully take their place.

*A remaining stand of American Elms along the Brush Creek route.*

When the elms were wiped out, pin oaks became a popular replacement. They grew large and fast, but instead of growing upward, their branches often hang down. Pruning them into the shape of an American elm is only partially successful. And now, as with many fast growing trees, they are showing their age. Benton Boulevard is lined with them, and yes, the consistent tree canopy makes it a beautiful street, but not like before.

*Remaining American Elms across from Honey Locusts along Swope Parkway.*

Other streets had the misfortune of being lined with ash trees. The Dutch-elm-carrying beetles got the American elms; and now the emerald ash-borer is wiping out the ash trees. Along the e-bike routes, when you see a dead or dying tree, chances are it’s an ash.