A new city tree planted to mark Arbor Day is a nod to Park Ridge’s past.
In marking the addition of an emerald sunshine elm tree on the grounds of the Park Ridge Public Library on Friday, urban forester Ben Reynoso said the city’s first tree inventory, taken in 1969, found that 60 percent of Park Ridge’s tree species at that time were elms.
“Today, we pay homage to our history by planting another elm tree,” he told a group of library employees, city personnel and residents gathered for the Arbor Day ceremony, which also marked Park Ridge’s 33rd year as a Tree City.
Today, roughly 7 percent of Park Ridge city trees are of the elm variety, said city forester Brandon Naser. Disease and age have largely diminished the species, he and Reynoso said.
Elms currently being planted tend to have more resistance to disease, Naser said.
The new emerald sunshine elm will grow on the Touhy Avenue side of the library campus, just off the employee parking area. It is one of 600 trees that will be planted around Park Ridge by the end of spring, Naser said. Over the next five years, an additional 3,000 trees will be added, he said.
“This is a great day to celebrate trees and the benefits of trees,” Naser told the crowd.
The new plantings come following the loss of approximately 2,200 ash trees in recent years due to emerald ash borer infestation, Naser said. The new elm planted at the library actually replaces a large ash tree that was lost, he said.
Ash trees once accounted for 10 percent of Park Ridge’s tree species and are in addition to the Dutch elms that have been lost due to Dutch elm disease, he said. The city is currently treating about 300 Dutch elms to prevent them from succumbing to the disease, Naser added.
Park Ridge marks Arbor Day each year with the planting of a new tree that can be viewed by the public. Last year, a triumph elm was planted outside Field School, replacing an elm tree that was removed from the parkway.
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