WILMINGTON — The city has embarked on its largest tree-planting project ever, with more than 400 trees rooted on public property in the central business and historic districts, though questions remain on their chances of survival.
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“We plant trees and holes and we water them and they die, and then we just replace them … it’s insanity,” Evan Folds, New Hanover County Soil & Water Conservation District supervisor, said in an interview with Port City Daily Monday.
The city has struggled in maintaining the overall tree population in the last few years due to rapid development and Hurricane Florence, whose wind and flooding downed or damaged (to the point of removal) 1,500 trees across the city. In an update last fall, the city assessed its tree canopy has decreased from 48.1% to 41.4% from 2016 to 2022.
In an effort to build back up trees across the city, the government entity — along with community partners like the Alliance for Cape Fear Trees — have led planting initiatives, resulting in 3,000 trees being planted from 2020 to 2021.
However, the city has marked 497 trees on its property for replacement this fiscal year — having not spent any money to replace trees in FY24 and FY23. Port City Daily asked how many were replaced due to death versus other removals but did not receive a response by press.
The city told PCD there could be a variety of reasons the trees died, including environmental conditions, vandalism, mechanical damage, transplant shock, bad genetics, under watering, and even over watering by well-meaning homeowners.
The Wilmington City Council approved a contract to replace 464 of the 497 this spring, though residents have raised concerns on the viability and city’s protocol for ensuring the trees have the highest chances of survival.
It is not a new concern. Port City Daily published an article in 2021 titled “Does Wilmington know how to care for baby trees?” where community leaders, including Folds, pointed out some potential missteps in the city’s protocols — putting on the onus on property owners to water trees, planting in hotter temperatures — and environmental conditions unfavorable to young saplings. He also attributes some trees’ short lifespans toWilmington’s poor soil.
Four years later, as the city embarks on its largest tree-planting contract ever, those circumstances remain the same.
The contract to plant 464 trees across the city was awarded to Thorpe Landscaping on Feb. 4 for $382,635 to replace these trees, $97,335 coming from the Parks and Recreation Department’s landscaping operating budget and $285,300 from tree mitigation fees.
The contract spans a large array of species; those with the highest numbers include highest totals include live oaks, Oklahoma redbuds and dwarf tulip poplars — all of which can thrive in poor soil conditions. Because urban trees present more challenges, the city does evaluate what species will be the most successful in harsher conditions, but there’s one thing all these trees have in common: They’re being planted slightly late in the year.
The American Standard for Nursery Stock — which the city looks to for compliance standards — recommends planting trees during the dormant season. That takes place in the fall after leaf drop — the idea being before the ground freezes, though this rarely happens in Wilmington — or early spring before plants begin budding.
In PCD’s 2021 article, Lloyd Singleton, executive director of New Hanover County Extension at the Arboretum, told PCD spring saplings struggle more. He said the ideal time is from mid-October to late March.
The city considers the spring planting season to be March through April. Thorpe began planting on March 24 and is expected to wrap in early May; as of April 30. After publication, the city informed PCD 300 have been planted so far.
The contract stipulates Thorpe — a first-timer to city tree planting and a project of this size — has 60 days to complete the planting.
“We are working very strong to to get that done before the eight weeks,” Dani Lopez, Thorpe’s project lead, said Friday.
PCD asked Lopez if they were concerned about the timing of the planting extending into April and May; she noted they were bound by the tenets the city set in the contract. Lopez also provided more details about Thorpe’s care for the trees.
“We have all the trees being stored at one of our tree lots, and have a whole irrigation set up so they are getting plenty of water prior to going in the ground,” Lopez said.
The trees are planted in a slurry of water and other compounds to keep the soil moist around newly planted roots. The saplings get about 20 to 25 gallons of water at the planting stage, in addition to the mulch Thorpe uses, which includes a slow-release fertilizer.
“And then every week that we don’t get about 2 inches of water, we are watering them consistently every week,” Lopez said.
The American Standard for Nursery Stock says water requirements for saplings is about 10 gallons of water per inch of caliper trunk diameter per week with daily watering potentially necessary immediately after planting. Thorpe’s contract states the size of trees installed is 2.5 inch to 3.5 inch caliper trees and 8-foot understory trees; per ANZI standards, this would amount to between 25 and 35 gallons of water.
Trees planted as late as April or May are placed under more stress, requiring even more water for stabilizing root growth. On top of this, the downtown portion of New Hanover County is under moderate drought conditions that are expected to continue into next month, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System. The system also reported March was the driest on record in 131 years, down 1.09 inches from normal rain conditions.
Port City Daily asked the city if there should be concerns about planting this late in the spring. Spokesperson Dylan Lee wrote: “The plantings started in early March and will wrap in early May—taking place during late Winter and early Spring.”
The city has experienced delays with this project having bid for it several times, originally planning for a 2024 planting.
The bid was first distributed in spring 2024, when Carlson’s Landscaping came in as the lowest bidder. The company later withdrew from the process, delaying the planting efforts past the end of last spring’s planting season.
The project was re-advertised in the fall, with bids accepted through Dec. 12. Carlson’s Landscaping applied — and withdrew — once again. Because of this, the city elected to go with Thorpe, the second-lowest bidder, and suspended Carlson’s Landscaping from bidding on city tree projects for 18 months.
Port City Daily reached out to Carlson’s Landscaping inquiring about them backing off the project twice, but did not receive an answer by press. However, city documents accompanying the Thorpe contract on Feb. 4 included an email from owner Richard Carlson, saying time limitations and nursery availability thwarted them from moving forward in the fall.
Thorpe will be responsible for maintaining the trees for 18 months before the city takes over; during this time, the company has committed to replace each tree once if needed.
Out of the 300 that have already been planted, 35 trees have died or are in trouble. They are all 3.5-inch caliper live oaks, the size and species selected for the Market Street corridor. The city reports this is the only species to have issues and staff are investigating the cause of the problems.
The city said it is typical for 5% to 10% of trees to not survive the planting; for this project, that would number up to 46.4 trees. The last planting contract it undertook, in FY22, included 200 trees; 58 of those were required to be replaced under warranty but the contractor refused, giving up their 10% retainage. The city doesn’t know why these trees died, and replacements for most of them are included in the current contract.
Folds said he would not be surprised if many of the 464 trees had to be replanted, but he was less concerned with the time of year they’re being planted in and more focused on the soil in which they’re making home.
“The reason we have to water is the soil can’t hold it,” Folds said. “So if we know that going in, we’re just setting ourselves up to fail.”
Folds said the antidote is living soil, which refers to a self-sustaining soil system diverse in microorganisms — bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes — that break down organic matter and release nutrients for plant growth. Benefits include better water retention and disease resistance.
Though quality ranges from area to area, Wilmington’s soil is typically more sandy and acidic, with high drainage that makes it harder for plants to retain water. Many areas also don’t have enough organic matter in the soil to support growing trees.
Folds noted that being able to sustain trees is not a simple fix or “product swap.” One idea could be to transfer compost generated from the landfill (even though the compost lacks a balanced soil food web) to support sapling plantings.
“For me, it’s a change in the philosophy of the [parks and rec] department,” Folds said. “It moves from a tree department to a soil fertility department in that respect. And when you do that, you’re mitigating the need to replace all of these trees, and you’re fixing all of your problems from the root cause, rather than from some cosmetic symptom-based approach.”
Folds said he has brought up soil conditions in broader conversations over sustainability with city staff, though his suggestions have failed to gain traction. After press, the city told PCD its Forestry Management Supervisor, Aaron Reese, said he has not talked with Folds, though did not speak for other staff.
The city has moved toward trying to better understand its urban forest in recent years with the development of its Urban Forestry Master Plan last year. It makes several recommendations, including to complete an inventory of all publicly owned trees and establish a proactive management plan for them.
Port City Daily asked the city if any recommendations had been adopted or put into motion; spokesperson Dylan Lee said progress is being made on all the recommendations.
Urban Forestry Manager Aaron Reese gave the provided updates on seven of the 11 recommendations at the Wilmington Tree Commission’s Oct. 16, 2024, meeting.
He said the city is seeking budget or grant funding to complete its tree inventory; the city has completed a study on its 1945 corporate limits in recent years. Reese estimated his team needed around $30,000 to $40,000 to complete this item, though the commission said a recent quote from a consultant was in the $300,000 range.
Other points of progress included:
- Working to finalize an MOU with the Alliance for Cape Fear Trees
- Updating the technical standards and specifications manual
- Changing position titles to city arborist and assistant city arborist
- Updated communication platform related to Tree and Conflict Study
- Obtained fire department assistance in after hours tree emergency calls
- Working with the city attorney’s office to develop a process for giving wood chip mulch away to the public for free
Reese remarked at the meeting a lot of the plans for future management rely on Wilmington finishing the tree inventory. Though the commission noted it was seeking funding through the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, the current Trump administration has frozen almost all federal grants in order to ensure their compliance with its goals and visions.
[Editor’s Note: This piece was updated Wednesday morning with answers from the city provided after publication.]
Reach journalist Brenna Flanagan at brenna@localdailymedia.com.
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