Meridian Avenue Tree Canopy - An Update

Chris Latt, City of Miami Beach Urban Forester, sent the following email to update the Neighborhood Association regarding their plans for the Calophyllum trees on Meridian Avenue damaged by last winter's cold weather.

"The Parks and Recreation Department sent a Letter to the Commission (LTC) on [the] subject [of the Meridian Avenue tree canopy] to the City Commission in July, and remains very aware of and concerned about these trees. I will update and expand on the information in the LTC. The duration of the cold weather last winter was unprecedented, at least within the memory of most people, and this had results that could not be anticipated or prevented. The Parks and Recreation Department has five International Society of Arboriculture certified arborists on staff. We are members of the Tropical Arborists Guild, a South Florida professional organization that includes the region's top tree experts, including arborists and horticulturists from Fairchild Tropical Garden, Montgomery Botanic Garden, Vizcaya, Pinecrest Garden, and Jungle Gardens, as well as municipal arborists, University of Florida Extension personnel, tree company owners, and working arborists. This group has centuries of combined experience with the trees of S. Florida, but everyone was surprised by the extent of this year's damage to the region's calophyllum trees (the species on Meridian Ave.). A number of members remembered the record low temperatures of the 1970s, but did not see damage of this extent on calophyllum trees. The duration of the cold weather made the difference.

As stated in the LTC, the trees on Meridian Ave. were fertilized to ensure they had the necessary nutrients to support new growth. Our strategy was to wait a full growing season before we removed any possibly dead branches, so the trees would have as much time as necessary to produce new growth. When the LTC was written, most of the Meridian Ave. trees were producing new buds and shoots on the bare branches. It now seems that production of new shoots has stopped or slowed, so we may not get much more new growth. The new shoots should continue to grow and fill-in the crowns, but it appears that many branches are dead or unable to produce new shoots. These will need to be trimmed. We will delay trimming until at least the end of this year or perhaps until next spring. Growing conditions are still favorable so it is possible that we will still get some new growth this year. The argument in favor of waiting until spring is that when branches are cut back, this can trigger shoot production from the cut branch ends. The new shoots are tender and can be killed by cold weather, so it would be safer to wait until spring when the risk of cold weather is past. Ms. Tibbles mentioned the risk of breaking branches. The large branches, even if they are dead, will retain strength for several years so are a low risk of failure. Small branches, when they dry out can break in heavy winds, but even these will take time before they lose strength. Since these branches lack leaves to catch the wind, they will not be moved or bent as much as live branches by the wind, reducing the risk of breakage. I don't think these branches will present a big risk between now and spring. We will notify the neighborhood association before tree trimming starts."