Lacking secondary growth and wood, palms create a wood-like skin through primary thickening and lignification. They are far closer relatives to banana trees than to oaks. This fact would prove to be prophetic. All photos courtesy of the author. Even [...]

The author inspects his handiwork while exposing the roots of the street tree that was destined to be saved. All photos courtesy of the author. I arrived at the site in a tony section of town with some prior experience. [...]

The specimen Stewartia was planted too close to the linden to the right. All photos courtesy of the author. I had scored an end-of-the-season deal on a specimen Japanese stewartia tree (Stewartia pseudocamellia) I’d had my eye on. I’m not [...]

The width of the planting hole should be at least two times the root-ball width, even wider if the soil is compacted. Photo courtesy of the author. A wise person once said (or said something to the effect of), “When [...]