What’s this?
One day this fall, I walked out from my front steps and when I reached the boulevard I noticed newly planted trees. Oh, what’s this? A nice surprise from the City of Port Moody! They were obviously bare but luckily one had a tag still attached to it.
I had absolutely no clue what tree species they were: Gymnocladus dioicus (Trade marked Espresso) didn’t ring a bell. And that’s mildly distressing for an arborist. So of course I googled it right away and entered it into my ‘blog ideas’ file.
Meet the Kentucky coffee tree
Now that I knew the species name, I had a second question: why this tree species? What made the City of Port Moody buy and install Kentucky coffee trees on their boulevard? There had to be a good reason because I know from my work experience at the City of Coquitlam that tree species decisions aren’t made lightly.
Thank you J F Schmidt
The source of the information below comes from J F Schmidt. Thank you!
The Kentucky coffee tree Espresso sports large, frond-like, double-compound bluish-green leaves (yellow in fall) which form a canopy of dappled shade. Where they are, we’ve been trying to grow lawn so in the future we can expect the grass to struggle.
The tree is city-tough and gives us an airy, tropical feel.
One crucial feature of the Espresso cultivar is that it’s seedless. That makes a huge difference in the neighbourhood and for landscape maintenance crews. I hear people calling trees “messy” every year and considering the tree’s mature size it would be an avalanche of debris every year. Seedless is good in this setting.
Conditions
The list of conditions is the real kicker. The Kentucky coffee tree tolerates heat, drought, cold and alkaline soils. I believe the crucial factors are heat and drought, as the city looks into the future on a warming planet. It doesn’t usually get that cold on the West Coast and the soils are definitely acidic. Here’s where my second question is answered. Why plant the Kentucky coffee tree? It tolerates heat and drought!
One faux pas
Considering the tree’s mature height of fifty feet and spread of thirty five feet, I don’t believe the city planted them with enough room between specimens. Although it’s unlikely I will be alive to see the problem develop.
Full marks to the City of Port Moody for planting trees with a warming future on their minds. I can’t wait to see the trees leaf out in 2025.
