Sick Canadian cherry trees along Ward Road replaced

The trees were originally planted along a stretch of Ward Road that divided the Sifton and Heritage neighborhoods around 1997, when the area looked a bit different, he said.

“When these trees were planted, not all of the infrastructure was in there as it is today,” Long said. “There are new power lines, water lines, more residences nearby.”

Roots from the trees had grown around some of that infrastructure, even before the trees got sick, he said.

Black knot disease causes rough black swellings or knots along woody parts of a tree. As the fungus clusters grow and spread, they end up choking the tree.

But those weren’t the only issues with the Canadian cherry trees, Long said.

“We’ve had numerous complaints because of the visibility due to the Canadian cherry trees,” Long said. “They like to send up suckers, or small branches (along their trunks) and those would hit cars or block street signs.”

It had become a hazard for pedestrians and for cars, said Elizabeth Tanner, another resident of the area.

“Some of the signs would have been easier to see if those trees were smaller,” Tanner said. “We were wondering why they took them out — if they were too big or if it was something else.”

Eaton said there have been several accidents in the intersection near her house, although she’s not sure if it’s due to the trees or traffic lights and road speed limits.

Of the four roadways going into the intersection near her house, three are 40 mph zones, but her street is a 25 mph zone, and drivers often don’t realize that, she said.

“There are a lot of accidents on this intersection. The lights are a little weirdly timed, too,” Eaton said.

Public Works replaced the 150 Canadian cherries with 57 katsura trees. Crews finished the project last week.

Long said he picked the katsura trees as replacements because they require less maintenance and are easy to grow. He decided to plant fewer of them to increase visibility in the corridor, he said.

“They’ll fill out fast, and I think people will find them to be as attractive as the cherry trees,” Long said. “They adapt very well to medians.”

The water table is also shallow in that part of Orchards, and katsuras are more tolerant of that sort of water exposure, he said.

“They don’t mind getting their feet wet, so to speak,” Long said.

He considered planting flowering pears along the street, but those trees — which are common along roadways in the county — have been problematic in wind storms. Many have fallen down in gusty fall and spring storms, he said.

“I was expecting to get a lot of phone calls (when we took the cherry trees out),” Long said. “But I think people were aware of the black knot fungus and other issues, so I think people have been very receptive of the change.”