Dutch Elm Disease

Tour Parkway Trees at Your Next Block Party

Tour Parkway Trees at Your Next Block Party

Oak Park is known for its human diversity, but its arboreal diversity is equally noteworthy.

This was not always the case. During the first half of the 20th century, a uniform canopy of elm trees dominated Oak Park’s urban parkway landscape. Over the past 50 years, most of these elms have fallen ill due to Dutch Elm Disease, a fungus spread via the elm bark beetle or through intertwined underground root systems. The Village of Oak Park vigilantly and methodically removes these sickly trees.

A Posthumous Appreciation for an 86-year-old American Elm Tree

A Posthumous Appreciation for an 86-year-old American Elm Tree

As I left church a couple of weeks ago, I noticed a huge base of a tree trunk on the parkway of our church property. I felt a mix of surprise, anger and sadness. Clearly it was a very large tree that I hadn’t really paid much attention to. In the coming weeks, I started seeing more signs of other trees that had been cut down. These images of previously large, beautiful trees that had stood for years, now shaved off at the ground haunted me, and I wanted to know more.