MannyDantyla t1_jd83r47 wrote on March 22, 2023 at 2:52 PM

Reply to comment by ztmwvo in I write The Washington Post’s Climate Coach column, where I help people figure out what they can do to help curb climate change. Ask me Anything! by washingtonpost

Not OP but I would say a pondarosa pine. But the long answer would be that you should just plant whatever you want because I think I saw somewhere that the tree needs to be several decades old before it really starts to capture carbon.

ztmwvo t1_jd84s57 wrote on March 22, 2023 at 2:59 PM

The actual wood and leaves of a tree are made of carbon, so the tree captures carbon the moment it is old enough to sprout leaves or needles.

Also, one has to take into account what happens after the tree dies. Presumably, a percentage of that carbon is released back into the atmosphere and leeched into the soil.

extrasuperkk t1_jda375n wrote on March 22, 2023 at 10:28 PM

You generally can’t plant conifers in hell strips. I would go to the city of Denver’s forestry dept web page and see what trees they recommend/approve of for these public rights of way, and then from that list, I would choose a native or a near native, like a Bur oak.