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Native Plant Synoptic Garden
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Monitoring
By the monitoring of plants, trees, and shrubs in the Native Plant Synoptic Garden, plant
health will be increased and monitoring will allow for prevention or quick remedial actions to
hazardous situations. Currently the Grounds Staff of the Washington Park Arboretum inspect all
plants at least once a week (Zuckerman and Stubecki, 2004). Special attention is given to
monitoring for signs or symptoms of abiotic and biotic stress in new plants. Some forms of
abiotic stress may be nutrient deficiencies, water deficit, sunscald, thermal injury, girdling or
kinked roots, mechanical injuries, and wind damage (Costello et. la., 2003). Some forms of biotic
stress would be stresses induced by pathogens, nematodes, insects, mites, rodents, birds, and
parasitic plants (Costello et. la., 2003). Both abiotic and biotic stresses can cause damage that
compromises the structural integrity of a tree or shrub and may result in mechanical flaws that
present a hazard to potential targets (Matheny and Clark, 1994). It is especially because of
potential hazards that monitoring of the Native Plant Synoptic Garden will need to be done
regularly. Because plants, trees, and shrubs are living organisms they inherently are
unpredictable and it is common place for limbs to drop or other hazards to present themselves
spontaneously. With the many trails throughout the arboretum and within the site, monitoring for
potential hazards must occur daily. In the course of monitoring for potential hazards, it is likely
that inspections by multiple staff members over time will also result in observations that do not
pose immediate hazards, but require remedial actions. For example, in monitoring crown
structure the arborist may discover discoloration in the leaves that is indicative of chlorosis or
possibly nitrogen deficiencies. It would then be appropriate to consider some form of remedial
action such as increasing or adding mulch if that would correct the deficiency over time, or
simply applying the appropriate fertilizer (Note: It is generally advisable to obtain a soil nutrient
analysis before making amendments to the soil; symptoms of nutrient deficiencies can also be a
sign of physiological problems within the woody plant and not a lack of a particular nutrient in
the soil).
There are a couple other reasons for monitoring that may overlap with what has been
previously said, yet are unique for Washington Park Arboretum. First, because the purpose of the
arboretum is to display a vast and diverse collection of plants from around the world, it has an
increased risk of introducing exotic diseases or pests acquired along with new collection
specimens. Also, even if pests are not introduced directly by the arboretum, the diversity of
species within the collection means that commonplace and exotic diseases and pests may be more
easily contracted or spread within the collection. Therefore, monitoring for these situations will
be extremely important in order to quickly recognize a devastating pest or disease such as Asian