Urban forests
are an important part of city ecosystems. They improve air quality, provide
shade, increase property values, and improve our quality of life. Urban forests
can be described in a variety of ways, including vegetation in local parks,
public areas, private land, and in or around communities. The high elevation
desert landscape of Albuquerque New Mexico is no exception to this. Silver
Hills, one of the oldest neighborhoods in southeast Albuquerque, began their
urban forest in the 1920's. The neighborhood includes University Boulevard,
Gold, Lead, Coal, and Silver Avenue. Silver Hills has always been known
for its large beautiful shade trees, Siberian Elms, plantings encouraged by
Clyde Tingley, chairman of the Old City Commission who lived on Silver Ave.
Siberian Elms,
or Ulmus pumila, are known for being fast growing and hardy in their youth, but
as they grow older they become susceptible to insects and disease, and have a
relatively short life span. By the
1970's the original elm trees of Silver Hills were coming to an end of their
lifespan; they seemed fine on the
surface, however they were slowly rotting away on the inside and becoming a
public safety hazard. The city and Silver Hill Neighborhood Association began
to take action in 1977, with the formation of the Silver Hill Reforestation
Project. The project began the plan of removing all the original elm trees and
replacing them with the standard tree pallet across Albuquerque, most of which
are very high water trees. 
On June 15, 2000
the Neighborhood Association invited nursery man, soil ecologist, and
local businessman Michael Melendrez to present a seminar on which native and
adapted trees are the best trees for Albuquerque's urban forest. The
neighborhood was worried that it would lose the ambience that the elm trees
created if they replaced them. That’s when Michael Melendrez came in and
explained that in a short period of time they could
have better trees, that are native to the southwest, drought tolerant, longer
lived, and less susceptible to insects than elm trees. In addition to listing the best trees for
Albuquerque’s future, Michael educated the Neighborhood Association on the
importance of also fixing the ecology of the soil using bio-mimicry techniques
so that the future landscape of trees and grass would be more stainable and
need less water. The southwestern native
trees that were discussed for the area included; Western Soapberry, Texas Red Oak,
Chisos Red Oak, Bur Oak, New Mexico Live Oak,
and Chinquapin Oak, plus a non native but adapted species called the
Chinese Pistache. The neighborhood was so impressed by Michael’s seminar that
they insisted that the hired architect use only Michael’s trees, rather than
his standard selection used often in Albuquerque. Picture of trees to be replaced:
In the fall of 2001, Trees That Please was contracted by the City of Albuquerque to apply Soil Secrets products, formerly known as Mycorr-Beasties, to the entire medium and parkways of Silver Ave within the historic district. Michael Melendrez, his father Sam Melendrez, and employee Dr. Mike Karr, and Trees That Please Associate -Dan Garrison, hand spread the various materials, which at that time, made up the protocol of Mycorr-Beasties.
The objectives of the project
was to restore the soil ecology, make the soil more porous and able to absorb irrigation
water, replace high analysis fertilizers, and keep the grass and trees green
and healthy. If it worked, the City and the Neighborhood Association would
require it be specified into the reconstruction of the new landscape plantings
that would take place a few years later in 2004. The site was evaluated
for a period of time while the funding for the reconstruction was obtained. As
it turned out it did work, it instigated, stimulated, and supported a healthy
soil ecology necessary to grow healthy trees. Soil Secrets molecular biology
became sole source on the project along with trees grown by Trees That Please
Nursery. Today the trees planted in Silver Hill have grown into large
healthy trees that the neighborhood has grown to love, and are beneficial to
Albuquerque’s urban forest. The images of the trees shown in this blog came
from Trees That Please Nursery and are currently thriving in Silver Hill.
Soil Secrets no longer sells
Mycorr-Beasties, as their current lineup of products are much more advanced
than what they could do in the early 2000's. Since the years of the
Silver Hill Project, Soil Secrets has grown up.
For the Proof of Concept research and Molecular research, they hired Los
Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, and the New Mexico
Consortium Labs, to help prove that they were making a unique molecular biology
products including TerraPro which contains the active ingredient of
Supramolecular Humic Molecules, a Soil Pro-Biotic consortium of beneficial soil
bacteria called BioPack and the most concentrated mycorrhizal fungi
product in the world called EndoMaxima.
Mycorrhizal fungi help plants get nutrients and water out of the soil
and protect plants from disease. The
Supramolecular Humic Molecules discovered and manufactured by Soil Secrets are
bio-identical and are the carbon rich molecules
that defines the essence of a healthy soil. To complete the protocol
Soil Secrets makes a nutritional calorie
that feeds the soil food web called Protein Crumblies.
Trees That Please Delivering Trees:2004
Trees That Please Delivering Trees:2004
At the present time, some of
the largest farming company's on Earth are using Soil Secrets to restore soil
ecology, decrease the amount of water needed to grow a crop, improve the crops
nutrition profile and improve the growers profit margin. A massive Highway construction project in a
western State is also preparing to use approximately a million dollars worth of
Soil Secrets product, as the sole source for the project and in New Mexico
the State Abandoned Mines Agency is specifying Soil Secrets for reclaiming
uranium mines near Grants.
Picture taken:2006 Planted trees
Picture Taken:2009 Notable Growth
Picture Taken: 2014 Autumn Colors
Last Pictures Taken: 2015
By: Amanda Melendrez
Trees That Please Nursery