Green Spotlight Series: Small Trees for Tough Spaces

It can sometimes take a small tree to solve a big landscape problem. Explore the toughest understory, ornamental, and native trees that can adapt to challenging growing conditions and still provide beauty and ecological function to your garden or landscape. Arborist Chris Roddick will share his over 30 years of experience planting, growing, and caring for trees from compacted contaminated urban soils to rural development sites with stripped-away topsoil. We’ll look at different tree species that can help build back soil health or remediate drainage problems, as well as trees that best provide food and habitat for wildlife while adding beauty to an assortment of garden environments.

Level: Intermediate to Advanced

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Instructor Bio:

Christopher Roddick is a practicing Arborist and was the head of Arboriculture and Foreman of Grounds at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for 30 years before moving to Northwest CT to start Sweet Birch Land & Tree.

Chris practices Conservation Arboriculture, a holistic approach to caring for trees and land that uses a modern understanding of tree and soil biology, ecology, and organic practices as a base for maintenance and cultivation decisions. He is an ISA Certified Arborist and a NOFA AOLCP.

By looking at trees as the center of tree-based ecosystems, Chris consults on veteran tree care and tree species selection and conducts specialized pruning. He advises on landscape design, selecting shrubs and herbaceous plantings that support trees and work together for beauty, function, and ecology.