Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Making It Grow gets lots of calls from Charlotte, right up the road in North Carolina. Charlotte is rightfully proud of its urban tree program and the City does a lot to protect its valuable tree canopy, which provides numerous benefits to its citizens. As we watch the devastation from Hurricane Harvey, it should serve as an encouragement for all of us to plant trees in our urban areas. Charlotte’s trees intercept over a billion gallons of rainwater each year, vastly reducing the amount of storm water runoff; the have put a value of two hundred million dollars on this service. The leaves, twigs, branches and bark hold and retain water as its falls on a tree and the water that isn’t retained hits the ground with less force, reducing soil compact and lessening the chances of erosion.
Trees as Protection from Storms
