Urban Forestry

Did you know that the City of Charleston's street trees intercept 28.3 million gallons of stormwater annually? The City's street tree inventory includes 15,244 publicly managed trees along the streets in Charleston but does not include an estimated 35,000 other trees located in parks, traffic medians, wooded buffers, and drainage areas. Charleston's streets are planted at near capacity, with 80% of possible planting spaces filled.

Healthy urban trees can reduce the amount of runoff and pollutant loading in receiving waters in three primary ways:

- Leaves and branch surfaces intercept and store rainfall, thereby reducing runoff volumes and delaying the onset of peak flows.

- Root growth and decomposition increase the capacity and rate of soil infiltration by rainfall and reduce overland flow.

- Tree canopies reduce soil erosion and surface transport by diminishing the impact of raindrops on barren surfaces.

(Source: City of Charleston, South Carolina Municipal Forest Resource Analysis June 2006)

The City of Charleston also began an innovative Street Tree Program in 1983 that allows City of Charleston residents to purchase a tree, at the wholesale cost, to be planted by the City along City streets within the public-right-of-way. The type of tree to be planted will be determined by the resident, the City's Urban Forester and Landscape Architect following a field survey of your neighborhood. Factos such as location of utility lines, width of sidewalks, set backs, building architecture, amount and quality of sunlight, tree height, canopy spread, root structure and salt tolerance will be taken into consideration to insure the appropriate type of tree is selected for each site. In the fall, the City will buy trees wholesale and arrange for their transportation and planting. In keeping with sound horticultural principles, palmettos will be planted durng the warmer months.

The resident's main responsibility, after a tree has been placed with them, is to keep the tree properly watered. Watering will demand some attention during the first year. A watchful eye and prompt alert will also aid the Department of Parks in case of any unforseen problems with the new tree. After the first year, the trees will be pruned and maintained as a part of Charleston's Urban Forest.

Trees can also be purchased as a living memorial or gift.

For more information on the City's tree planting program, contact the Department of Parks at (843) 724-7321.