November 2016 Tree Update

So far this year, Newburyport has lost 132 street trees as all were deemed high hazard by our Tree Warden, Wayne Amaral. Additionally, there are two trees almost directly across from each other on High Street near Twomey Funeral Home that are leaning so severely over the road that they will need to be removed. One is a Northern White Ash that tends to learn towards the light naturally but this year with the stress of the drought, it is now leans at even more precarious angle. The tree across from it is a Maple. Fortunately, despite the horrific conditions this summer, we lost none of our new street trees to the drought thanks to the watering efforts of the contractor and extension into November.

Soon to be removed near Twomey's Funeral Home!

Another recently planted High Street tree met its demise in a car accident. Someone drove up onto the sidewalk, ran over the tree before taking out a huge section of the wrought iron fence in front of the old convent adjacent to the Immaculate Conception Church on Green St. Branches were broken off the top, bark gouged out on the trunk and the rootball was partially uprooted. The Tree Warden will have it replaced.

This High Street tree will be replaced after damaged sustained from a car than lost control, ran it over before taking out a section of the fence behind it.

Fence destroyed in front of the old convent at the corner of High and Green Street.

Trying to keep up with the above losses, the Tree Commission, Department of Public Works and Friends of Newburyport Trees are working collaboratively behind the scenes. As reported in the Daily News, twenty-four more Princeton elms were planted after the completion of the new sidewalks on Green Street, adding to the six that were planted earlier this Fall. The Princeton elms are a hybrid specially bred to resist Dutch elm disease. Two trees were also planted on Merrimack Street on the right hand side just before approaching the round-about near the Chain Bridge.

New trees on Merrimack Street approaching the round-about near the Chain Bridge

Thirty new trees now line Green Street

One of the new Elms planted this month on Green Street after sidewalk work completed

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Plans are in the works for two trees to go in front of the Five Cents Savings bank on State Street, another on Forrester, and this Spring the old Willow stump next to the Bartlet Mall pond will be replaced with a memorial tree, a Copper Beech donated by the Kudym Family in memory of Don Kudym in hopes that it will provide much needed shade for the existing benches on hot summer days.

The stump of old Willow behind the benches will be replaced this Spring with a Copper Beech

     The Horticultural Society has donated four more Cherry Trees to join the hardy Cherry sapling planted this Spring, thanks to the generosity of the Eigerman Family. It should be spectacular some day for the next generation when these trees reach maturity and their blossoms' reflection appear in  the pond below!

An example of a Copper Beach at full maturity as seen on High Street 

Also scheduled for Spring 2017 planting are twenty trees along High Street and nine more throughout the city, all funded by the Bromfield Grant. The Department of Public Works is looking into funding trees on any city streets while they are undergoing construction, except for Water Street where the narrow sidewalks unfortunately leave no room.

Jane Niebling, FONT member is trying for a grant from a local bank to purchase trees and do some attractive landscaping at the triangle in front of the now demolished Famous Pizza. The Community Preservation Commission denied our request for $17.000 this year so this project is on hold. We can thank the CPC however for the trees we now have on Green Street. They allocated CPA funds six years ago but the planting had to be delayed for the sidewalk completion.

Triangle in front of the now demolished Famous Pizza in need of attractive landscaping

For information on how you can contribute to Friends of Newburyport Trees to support our future tree planting projects, you can contact anyone of us: Jane Niebling, Cris Crispin, Hugh Kelleher, Kim Kudym or Jean Berger. Or visit www.Fontrees.org